MKS
Emulating him will not have more chance of success .. Rather I would say it is a receipe for disaster ..
What he / she did will not apply today ..
Requirements change , demand and supply changes , conditions change .. in short everything changes ..
Think about the most challenging outcomes that you could be faced with and work out how you will survive it ..
If you can work that out , then , only something better than your expectations can happen to you ..
And while you do all that .. Be conservative ..
Thats the only sensible approach you can take .. If this approach doesnt give you a positive plan , then you need to work on things which will allow you to take this approach , before working on the plan itself ..
Hope this makes sense .. Good Luck