AbstractJAMES L. CARROTHERS. Optimism and Crowdfunding Success: The Moderating Effect of Pitch Changes on Funding Success After Initial Failures. (Under the direction of DR. JUSTIN W. WEBB)Entrepreneurs fail. Statistics on new venture failure rates show that 65% of new ventures fail during the first 10 years. Entrepreneurs are optimists as well. Little research has addressed the interaction between optimism and entrepreneurial failure. To fill this gap, my dissertation examines optimism and how founders use rhetoric to seek new opportunities after failure. Using rhetorical theory along with signaling theory and research on both optimism and change, I examined 330 failed Kickstarter campaigns using computer-aided text analysis of both the original pitch that resulted in failure and the subsequent pitch. Examining the changes in the second pitch along with selected moderators, I proposed that founders’ optimism as presented in their -second pitch would increase funding performance after initial failure in the crowdfunding campaign. Results suggest that there are several factors that affect funding performance. This dissertation makes contributions in the area of entrepreneurs’ expressed optimism in response to failure and how changes in optimistic language improve funding performance after initial failure.KEYWORDS: Optimism, Founders, Crowdfunding, Failure.