[emerged]

It would most often be a Show HN post which then went nowhere. Just because you dedicated a massive amount of time on something doesn’t mean it will be a success. OP perspective still holds even if he’s done the thousands of hours thing multiple times without it panning out.

[dvh1990]

You can't guarantee results, but you can guarantee a good attempt to get results because the latter is under your control.

[Auracle]

True. I had one project pan out financially and the other was a complete dud. The wonderful feeling you get when you’re “done” though? That was the same for both.