Nope. Tried that, it didn't work. I built a popular open source project, worked for a startup which grew from nothing into a top 5 edtech startup in my country,

Nope. Tried that, it didn't work. I built a popular open source project, worked for a startup which grew from nothing into a top 5 edtech startup in my country, worked for a hotshot YC-backed company, joined a top 10 blockchain project in the world (at the time)... It never worked. Once the elites decided that you're not one of them, nothing will work. You need that pedigree. You need to be chosen top-down. You need MIT, Stanford, Harvard. Whatever you do, don't peek behind the curtains! If you learn how the sausage gets made before you're ready, you won't be allowed near the big machines. If you want to succeed, you need to find a way to become an elite's puppet, then you can reach high places. The expression "need to pull some strings" is quite fitting. Almost everybody up there is a puppet for someone else; everything happens through the pulling of strings. You need to have your own strings set up and attached before you can be hoisted up there.