Making dozens of quick things to try them out (and then abandoning them) isn't such a bad strategy when searching for a good business idea. Obsessing over the backend of an mvp might be a net negative.

And if he had spent time obsessing over internal code details would the project rot less?

Things change fast in software. It's one thing if you're building the backend system behind a billion dollar bank. Obviously that's not what the author is talking about.

If you're trying to make the next Angry Birds, or Facebook, or Google, you need to get something out there now, the MVP, and iterate.