The metric the families probably care about is how the childrens' careers compare to the parents. Dirt poor immigrant to corporate America in one generation sounds pretty good to me.
If you had next to nothing for resources and don't have old family wealth, how would you try to help your children live a better life? I don't think you'd go teach them the Lean Startup method. You'd probably use what you had available to you. Go to school. And since you're there, you might as well make the most of it. One thing you can make your children do is study hard. Don't understand something? repeat it as many times as necessary to memorize it.
I don't think necessarily it's about what the "best" way, but rather the most reliable way. I would probably guess that those who worked really hard in school, got outstanding grades, and went to good schools, they are all moderately successful, if not at least comfortable.
Maybe very few hit a home run, but very very very few struck out.
I really think the Asian grind mentality is a product of thousands of years of history. There were different pressures in East Asia.
White nations historically maintained much lower population densities, leaving things less competitive. Whites have pursued more capital intensive, less labor intensive ways to earn a living (e.g. massive thousand year old stone barns for dairy cows and cheese making).
So asians come here to this white nation with the built-in grind mentality. It doesn't work.
What I don't understand is why our overlords are so hell bent on turning this nation in to an overpopulated, hyper-competitive place where everyone has to grind. Stop letting people in, please.
Because they make more money that way.