It depends on how you define success here. If it's getting to a point where business is making profits and is sustainable mid-long term then I'd say it's still

It depends on how you define success here. If it's getting to a point where business is making profits and is sustainable mid-long term then I'd say it's still mostly about the merits. Now if we're talking about some guy in the Valley flipping a hyped up company then of course his success was a result of the beauty contest, but whether or not the company he made will succeed is still mostly about the merits. It's not to say it definitely won't. We need to distinguish between individuals being successful and the whole start up succeeding, if the company is crap in the end somebody will pay for it. Nonetheless from a stand point of an entrepreneur you have to participate in the beauty contest if you cannot self-fund your start up.