I really dislike that quote too, it's a tautology along the lines of "You keep losing until you win". If you haven't won yet it's because it's just around the corner -- just put up with the ignoring, laughing, fighting a bit longer. Never mind the fact that innumerable technologies were ignored, laughed at, and fought and never won.
The quote could be interpreted as a praise of perseverance. And it is not a tautology due to you can prove that perseverance increases/decreases your chances for success.
For example, in a casino perseverance is not a good quality unless you cheat (the more you play the more you loose). On the other hand a startup founder might benefit from having this property ("You have to be willing to keep trying new things and refuse to die." http://startup2startup.com/2008/11/25/paulgraham-ycombinator... ).
