In Saturday’s Globe & Mail, Margaret Wente had a good read on how most people tend to be optimistic even when it’s pretty obvious they’re not going to be successful.

“Optimism is the engine of capitalism,” she wrote. “It is the signal trait of entrepreneurs. One survey found that 815 of entrepreneurs thought their chances of success were 7 out of 10 or better. A third of them said their chance of failing was zero. In reality, only about 35% of small businesses will survive for five years.”

This is the wonderful thing about entrepreneurs and startups. Every startup entrepreneur I’ve met firmly believes their product or service is going to be successful.

It doesn’t matter if they’re entering an ultra-competitive market, or whether their product/service is half-baked, or of whether their idea is more of a feature or hobby than a viable idea.

Optimism is what keeps the entrepreneurial world ticking, whether it’s an online startup, a new restaurant, bar or clothing store. If you don’t believe you’re going to make it, it’s not worth pulling the trigger.

In the online world, the combination of optimism and low barriers to entry go a long way in explaining why there are so many startups cropping up, and so much enthusiasm about becoming an entrepreneur. Meanwhile, the corporate world offers little stability so the risk in doing a startup is less of an issue.

With my consulting business mostly focused on startups these days, I come across many entrepreneurs who have good and bad ideas. I love the enthusiasm but it doesn’t take long to get a sense about whether there is even a small chance of success.

But who am I to discourage someone who wants to take the entrepreneurial plunge. You can try to get an entrepreneur to consider some other angles but if they’re really serious about going for it, they’re going for it.

It’s encouraging to see so much entrepreneurial excitement because it’s good for Canada and good for the high-tech sector. The reality is many of the startups being launched are going to fail but it won’t be for a lack of trying or optimism.