The guy who now has three vans may find it laughable that he 'wasted' so much money on his first, but it did make him a success and he was able to avoid the learning curve that most of us have to scale.
How do you know that? You are assuming this because of your fixation with "branded product equals success"
There's every chance (and more) that this guy's van had nothing to do with how well he'd done up to that point.
Did his van go out & build his business up by itself?
Did his van make him do a better job?
Did his van change him as a person?
etc.etc
IMO this guy's van probably had the least influence on what he acheived.
This is not a dig but I can't understand why you seem to need to award success to anything other than yourself? i.e. Why can't you have success without a branded system or george?
how this guy has become a success ( in his eyes and i guess yours clive ) is by buying rounds off guys, he covers a wide area . he has also picked up work by doorknocking, he is the first to admit he is a good salesman, its what he has allways done ( apart from a stint as a window cleaner when in uni up in scotland ), sold things
the van has done nothing, he doesnt even have the LOGO on it, as he wanted to build up his own brand
he still cleans windows a few hours a day, but spends his time walking the streets and meeting up with clients