Yes, I was at Startup School. More enthusiastic than is "typical" of whom? Startup people in general, or of the whole population?
Events for people starting startups are full of optimistic and enthusiastic people. I try to go to about one per month. Last month it was Startup Camp, this month it was Stirr Deal Hacks, and I pretty much always attend YC events because they're among the best of the lot--though I got overwhelmed and exhausted this year with the StartupSchool events (I'm an introvert and crowds make me tired) and ended up skipping the after-party.
Anyway, I go just to keep perspective: we're not alone, we're not astonishingly brilliant and unique, and we're not crazy. By this, I mean it keeps things in perspective from both sides of the coin, by being both a reminder that we aren't the only people who could do what we are doing so we have to move fast and effectively, and also being a generally fun and validating atmosphere.
2.
Of course. You asked about startups, so I told you about startups. Rejection happens in every aspect of life. From cliques in school, to college applications, to getting your first job, to raising money for a startup, to getting a date with the pretty girl that works at the book store, etc. The difference might be that when you're the messiah and you're going to change the world, and someone tells you you're not and you can't, it's harder to take. I'm not sure why some people take rejection by investors so hard (maybe harder than other forms of rejection), but they do. As I mentioned I'm a "robot/cold fish", and so I don't take it personally, but many startup founders do.
And, of course, some of the best businesses have been rejected dozens of times by investors. One rejection per idea is bad enough...dozens probably starts to wear you down. I imagine authors have the same problem before they reach a certain level of success, since one story may be rejected by dozens of people. At least in the rest of life, each rejection is independent: The girl at the book store says "no", but that's the only "no" you'll ever hear for that one idea (the idea being "get a date with the cute girl at the book store", and honestly, it's not a very big idea, anyway...she's cute, so many others have probably had the same idea). Likewise for a job. You want to work at Google, they say "no", OK, you move on. With a startup, you have a lot more invested in the idea--often months or years of your life. Again, like a writer with a story that she can't get published.
