How to get RICH $$$

Notice how every "millionaire" books talk about what it takes to be rich? Persistent, hardworking, willing to take risk... these are your very typical characteristics of "millionaire-next-door".
I must, however, point to a very big flaw all these how-to-get-rich books and websites all shared. These websites and books only interviewed and researched the people who actually succeeded. And it makes sense because we want to know their "secrets". HOWEVER, for every millionaire next door, there is a failed entrepreneur (perhaps 7-8 failed entrepreneurs for every 1 millionaire).
I can bet that if you interview these failed entrepreneurs, you would find they hold the very same characteristics you see in the millionaire next door. That is, they are also hardworking, persistent and ambitious. Give it a second to think about it. Do you really think that people who start and own businesses (even tho it failed) are bunch of lazy bums that don't want their businesses to succeed? So what causes their failures? No one wants to know. I mean, would you like to purchase a book called "How to start a business and fail?" or maybe "Failure-next-door", or "Entrepreneurship was not for me"? The problem is, we don't want to hear about/acknowledge these failures. But they exist.
So what separate a millionaire next door from a failed hardworking ambitious entrepreneur?

Sometimes, I think it's just LUCK (timing, other variables that you are simply not in control of). Take this guy for example:
Stephan Paternot
http://www.smartmoney.com/mymoney/index.cfm?story=20010806&hpadref=1

He started the whole "social networking" concept. Where as myspace and facebook succeeded, he failed. Why? Because he came to the party to early. It was 1999. Noone was ready for Myspace type of thing. So it never took off. And look where these social networking websites are now. (Facebook was valued at $10bil by Microsoft).

And how about fiber optics? Verizon started to lay miles of fiber optic line recently and spent billions to get everyone hook up to the new and faster network. And everything seem to be successful as more customers were signing on their "Fios" service. However, back in 1990s, there were bunch of smaller companies went around and did the same thing as Verizon (laying miles of fiber optic lines)- all of them went bust.

So what's the problem with these failures?

"Ohh they were too early, they should've waited"

"Ohh, the time wasn't right"

"Ohh, noone was ready for it then"

"Ohh, they should've would've could've......."

Hindsight is always 20-20.

I'm not advocating that hardwork is useless, persistent is garbage and carrying ambitious is like carrying sack of bricks- but be ready to fail, the downside risk is there. We just don't want to see it.