I'm really the last guy to believe in any excuses. I am not in any way saying what he did is bad, or that it fell into his lap, but the fact of the matter is that someone like me does not even have close to a shot at doing what he does in the same way he did. I cannot follow his path, because for me it will lead to nothing but frustration.

If I send anybody of importance an email or anything, it does not get replied. If I tried talking to anyone about funding, it will get ignored. I don't have references, I don't have people that will vouch for me, I don't have anyone that will introduce me, I don't have any name-brand colleges. He has them.

Now, if I tried to cold call the same people he gets introduced to, I will meet with failure. For me, the best path is to FIRST establish why these people would want to talk to me at all, either by profiling myself in some noticable way, or by showing them the money. That's the path that works for us normalos.

Insight into market segments are things that are learned the hard way - by work and focus. Most people will not have this, but will rather follow such paths and try to find funding, not understanding that these people are different from them.