Or, as people in the trade say - good stage lightining / movie soundtrack is the one you don't remember hearing after you leave the theatre / cinema. If you do, it means you paid attention to it specifically, which means something went wrong.

I don't get it, what am I missing?

Bill Nguyen is best known as the founder of Color, a much hyped then subsequently much lampooned photo app that failed rather conspicuously under the weight of its own PR, a la Cuil.

Based on the Wikipedia article, he apparently had a long track record of multiple impressive successes prior to Color, although none are nearly as well known.

Hence the parent's argument that Bill Ngyuen's life is an illustration of the true nature of the world: you can be successful 100 times, but if you fail once, it is only the failure that is remembered.

Check his company track record.