most of the icons that fail are due to unavailability of funds when crowdfunding, or not reaching softcap, most likely it can happen due to less promotion, less attractive bonuses, and most importantly the idea of the project that is less desirable
While the idea or the project should be something great, the leader should pick wisely its team. A good and very reliable team is necessary as they will also become the basis of partnerships and investors. Marketing should be done aggressively too. Gone are the days when devs travels around the world and are happy with $2 million to $15 million collections. Nowadays crowdfunding are as high as $200 million and travelling is not that necessary or only on very few selective places.