Many entrepreneurs aren’t even that lucky. They wildly overestimate their chances of success. But this second delusion, suggests economic historian John V.C. Ny

Many entrepreneurs aren’t even that lucky. They wildly overestimate their chances of success. But this second delusion, suggests economic historian John V.C. Nye, may be essential to maintaining an entrepreneurial culture. In a 1991 article titled “Lucky Fools and Cautious Businessmen,” Nye, now at George Mason University, argues that countries become economically stagnant when their business people become too mature and rational. This made me think of what Paul Graham said in his essay, "Why YC", that springing new startups on the world was virtuous. But of course we don't want to be told that we are wildly overestimating our chances of success.