[zaidf]

In that case, I'll say that denial has some role behind almost every big entrepreneur's success or business deal.

[fruscica]

Hmmmm...

As best I can recall, relevant (meta-analyses of) studies of entrepreneurship concluded that successful entrepreneurs are typically very mindful of risk. Amar Bhide's book The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses may be a good source for a survey of the aforesaid scholarship.

[zaidf]

Mindful but not necessarily dictated. In some ways the idea of "risk" itself is a form of denial, no?