For some reason there are project fails its because first they don't have clear proper outlook towards their project. Second there team member is unknown or not transparent to show their identity and last they rely to much on the campaigns here and didn't do any follow another marketing to increase the hype of their project that's why they end up failing and blame it to the campaign and its participants.
That last point you said is a lame method sometimes taken by some hyped owners to attempt to promote their project. While the first two are defenitely true for some, having a good whitepaper and a team developing a working product solves a lot of the first hand problems, which when added with a proper marketing can help launch a project provided other factors are being stable.
Also for thinking about listing well I can say they are success to that since meaning they are getting sales on their ICO,IDO,IPO or any words what they to conduct token sales. And those exchange listing is the prize for their investor and bounty hunters since they will get their compensations for participating their project.
The one thing that negates all that is the failure of the project. If the project fails or the team goes AWOL the price will tank and never come back up. Bounty hunters will never be able to sell at those prices and their work essentially went to zero. There is no legal approach to this and most cases they die out pretty soon.