Are patents really a great indicator of success? I have a handful, and honestly its a much stronger indicator of networking/coworker relationships/legal force o

Are patents really a great indicator of success? I have a handful, and honestly its a much stronger indicator of networking/coworker relationships/legal force of a company. There a number of key people missing on many of the patents I am co-inventor purely based on these relationships. These patents also would never exist, if not for the legal team at the purchasing company. If the organization went for an IPO or alternate exit, the odds of patents are probably close to zero.