[TheOtherHobbes]

The question is the extent to which that is true, and whether or not it's the primary factor involved in a success.

Work hard => success is a simplistic and misleading mythology, not an evidence-based reality. It also leads to toxic relationships with workers, because if a founder or manager believes that more hours = success they'll make some very stupid business decisions and trash the quality of life of some of their employees for no good reason.

If hard work (how is that measured?) isn't a primary factor - and plenty of research suggests it isn't - then the realistic way for founders to increase their chances of success is to understand that factors that actually contribute the most, and maximise those.