2. Not only do most fail, they don't generally fail spectacularly. They die, slowly and steadily, in a death march that saps the founders of their confidence and has been documented several times to lead to severe depression[1].
My company failed, a long slow death, after 8 years. I was barely able to pay myself during the latter few years, but I had employees and cofounders that I felt obligated towards... and then company debt I needed to work off. While we have shut it down now and I have a full time job, I feel dead inside, and I am having a rough go at being functional. I hide it from my family, and am finding it hard to be productive. I'll just stare at the screen instead of working. I don't know what to do to jump start myself again. I feel so empty and like I am fake. It has been two years. I haven't said this to anyone before now. But I believe you are right about the slow company death, and while I don't believe I am severely depressed, I do feel a bit like Frodo at the end of LoTR, but without a Grey Haven sanctuary to sail off towards.