Does a new venture have to break even or make a profit the first year to be worth going into? Why or why not?

Because Euro Disney expected 11,000,000 visitors the first year, it obviously was not going to break even while servicing $1.6 billion in debt with $160 million in interest charges per year. The average visitor would have to be induced to spend more, thereby increasing the average profit or contribution to overhead.
In making go/no go decisions, many costs can be estimated quite closely. What cannot be determined as surely are the sales figures? Certain things can be done to affect the breakeven point. Obviously it can be lowered if the overhead is reduced, as we saw in Scenario (b). Higher prices also result in a lower breakeven because of greater per customer profits (but would probably affect total sales quite adversely). Promotions expenses can be either increased or decreased and affect the breakeven point; but they probably also have an impact on sales. Some costs of operation can be reduced, thus lowering the breakeven. But the hefty interest charges act as a lodestone over an enterprise, greatly increasing the overhead and requiring what may be an unattainable breakeven point.