Minimizing expenses, maximizing runway. The rest is luck. Just blind luck.
If you're in the US, and not living with your parents (and or don't want to do that), one of the best ways to do it is to live in a university town. They're wired for fast Internet, the cost of living (including rent) is often very reasonable, they're among the safest areas in the US on average, and you can work at mundane jobs to pay your bills (30-36 hours per week; telemetry tech at a hospital; cashier or lead in retail making $15-$20/hr; etc). In the typical university town you can rent for $650-$1000 for a 1 or 2 bed + 1 bath apartment in a safe area. Working for a hospital you'll also usually get solid health insurance. The jobs are not difficult, they're relatively easy to get, although they will grind on you when combined with doing a startup (it's part of the trade you're making). Also in these types of jobs you won't have much if anything to worry about regarding intellectual property issues, conflicts of interest, et al.
Source: have done this, it works quite well. It can be exhausting working 80-100 hours per week obviously. The income/job becomes a permanent stream of venture capital, you can just endlessly fund your own way and keep 100% of the pie. I've often chosen to not do tech contracting work while working on a startup and self-funding with outside income, because I don't like the potential IP risks/conflicts and the burnout factor of always working on software/services/sites/whatever.
Picked a random university city: Tallahassee, FL (Florida State University). Tons of apartments available across the city for $750-$1000. It'll also work for Gainesville, FL (University of Florida; although it's more expensive than Tallahassee).
You can do it in Blacksburg, VA (Virginia Tech). Although it'll push you closer to $900-$1100 on rent. Charlottesville, VA (University Virginia) is at the edge of affordable for this scenario, although that is also doable.
Lubbock, TX is pretty easy (Texas Tech). It'll work for College Station, TX (Texas A&M). Waco, TX (Baylor) is a bit of a mixed bag on crime, however it also works.
It'll work in Champaign, IL (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign).
It'll work in Iowa City, IA (Iowa University). Also in Ames, IA (Iowa St).
It'll even work in Pittsburgh, PA. Which is both a mid-size city and a university city (Pitt, Carnegie).
The same goes for Madison, WI (mid-size city, with University Wisconsin). Although it'll push you closer to $900-$1,100.
It'll work in Athens, GA (University of Georgia).
It'll work in Manhattan, KS (Kansas State).
It'll work in Norman, OK (University Oklahoma).
It'll work in West Lafayette / Lafayette, IN (Purdue).
It'll work in Fayetteville, AR (University Arkansas).
It'll work in Las Cruces, NM (New Mexico St University).
It'll work in Morgantown, WV (West Virginia University).
It'll work in Columbia, SC (University South Carolina). Although the crime is more elevated. The same goes for Tuscaloosa, AL (University Alabama).
It even gets you pretty close for Ann Arbor, MI (University of Michigan). Rent will be closer to $1,100 to $1,200.
There are a lot more options, and that's just among the more prominent university list.
The only ones that typically won't work at all are high cost of living states like MA or CA, particularly affluent universities (getting anywhere near them in location), or smaller towns with few apartments (availability).
I would say "chance", since there's no such thing as luck.
Lots of good reading out there
Hitting the startup funding lottery to go on an expedition to find and build something people want is a different matter and maybe what you’re referring to, and if so, I totally agree with.
Also in every case they were already wealthy, either from early career success or just the traditional path of inheriting it. That takes a lot of the risk out and lets you outsource the domestic labor, reducing some of the burden you're asking your family to carry.
Anyway I've seen that up close and it's not necessarily inspiring.
https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/11/17/elon-musk-emerald-min...
Keeps coming up, even though it's a pretty easy google.
