Not really. Most of them teamed up with well-connected co-founders. The problem is that 95+% of those well-connected people take an insufferably superior stance toward anyone who's not in their set. If you can find one in that other <5% of that already small set, good for you, but it's not common.

If you're from a rich and well-connected background, VCs who turn you down mentor you until you're fundable, and set you up with EIR sinecures so money's not an issue. If not, you're trying to hit the head of a pin from a mile.

The game is clearly rigged, but very few people have the courage to talk about it.