For vast majority, it never worked. I know plenty of people who made it there and there were just two categories:

- Freelance platforms. Hard-mode multiaccounting (passport scans, rented RDP servers, auto clicking apps, drop cards, etc), hard squeeze tactics.

- One-time luck that ran after at one point, to never return.

"Networking" may work if you are a Stanford graduate hanging out in go-to places in the Valley, but not if you are a European, much less if you are an Indian. I never met a single person who could probably be my client. Most are too poor, the remaining ones are too smart.