My opinion is success is difficult to copy and luck plays a huge part.
A better way is to observe the people who failed and failed miserably, and learn from their failures. My model of the world is that, for ordinary people, you are going to be exposed to some opportunities to succeed from time to time, but in a random fashion. You only need to catch one or two to be successful. So the key is NOT to maximize your success rate, but to make sure you never fell into a hole you cannot climb back, and prepare for the next opportunity.
But so far I have not seen any serious conference that focuses on failures. Everyone wants to learn from the winners. I’d hold a losers conference if I got the time.
A better way is to observe the people who failed and failed miserably, and learn from their failures. My model of the world is that, for ordinary people, you are going to be exposed to some opportunities to succeed from time to time, but in a random fashion. You only need to catch one or two to be successful. So the key is NOT to maximize your success rate, but to make sure you never fell into a hole you cannot climb back, and prepare for the next opportunity.
But so far I have not seen any serious conference that focuses on failures. Everyone wants to learn from the winners. I’d hold a losers conference if I got the time.