The Kaufman Foundation published a 24 page report on the characteristics of entrepreneurs titles The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Family Background and Motivation. In it they profile the backgrounds, histories and beliefs of entrepreneurs. After a survey of 549 entrepreneurs from diverse industries including: aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, health care, and services, they found:
- Average median age of tech company founders was 39.
- 95% had college degrees but did better in high school than in college
- 72% were middle-class and 22% were from an upper-lower-class and were better educated than their parents
- 70% were married and 60% have children
- 75% were interested in wealth creation
- 75% worked at other companies for at least 6 years prior to starting their own companies
This doesn’t sound so crazy to me! However, Steve Blank has a nice post on “Do dysfunctional families breed entrepreneurs?”.
