Coming from an experienced bounty campaign manager, I think there is no reason not to believe you, so yes I agree with you as definitely that's the reality here, both gambles, the team and the bounty hunters as they both exert an effort to try to make a project successful.
maybe we can say that the success rate now is very small, probably 1%? or even lower?
Well put yourself in shoes of an investor. Someone who has money and is willing to spend it.
Would you:
a) Check some credible sources to see which projects are promising. Like real article teardowns into teams and roadmap
or
b) Check on twitter, find a random hunter with fake profile who's promoting 50 projects at once, and believe him
Which one of those would you choose as an investor?
Now, tell me, which one of those would you pay with USD as a project owner?