Was the same in the second half of the 90s with tech/internet companies. Only in hindsight can you point to the 5 that didn't fail, but at the time you wouldn't have been able to pick them out from the lineup, or the graveyard, they probably weren't your favorites or you hadn't heard of them. Many programmers and sales people weren't able to get jobs and had to question their life choices. Its not so different with the digital asset and ledger space, fortunately this time it is just an extension of "tech" so there is no real drought for people that were knowledgeable in the niche.
Definitely not the same -- we're not talking about 2% of ICOs going on to become cool Google -- nothing of the sort is happening and it's been years. Moreover, despite the dot com bust, there were many legitimate companies that did have proven business strategies that weren't doing bubble stuff. People were using the internet to sell things, to advertise their sites, etc. and it was effective. Even that category of companies doesn't exist. Nobody's using bitcoin for any practical purpose... aside from dark market purchasing :)