The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur

The word Entrepreneur holds a certain level of mystique in our society.

On a daily basis we are reminded of the entrepreneurs who have started with nothing only to rise to celebrity status. Or maybe we see our next door neighbor who, while not a celebrity, has done very well for themselves starting and running small businesses.

The mystique comes from believing these individuals have something different in their genes, or a predisposition to business that has made them a success. Perhaps they were just lucky. Who knows?

The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur

Today, thanks to The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, we are one step closer to understanding the make up of an entrepreneur.

In their July 2009 report, The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation attempt to gain a little more clarity into what makes an entrepreneur tick.

They surveyed 549 company founders in a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, health care, and services. They asked the founders detailed questions about their backgrounds, motivations, and experiences in launching companies. Here’s what they found.

Key Findings

Below is a sampling of the key findings within the report, for detailed statistics and charts please find the full report linked at the bottom of this post.

• Company founders tend to be middle-aged and well-educated, and did better in high school than in college
• Most entrepreneurs are married and have children
• These entrepreneurs tend to come from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds, and were better educated and more entrepreneurial than their parents
• 71.5 percent of respondents came from middle-class backgrounds (34.6 percent upper-middle class and 36.9 percent lower-middle class). Additionally, 21.8 percent said they came from upper-lower-class families (blue-collar workers in some form of manual labor).
• 52 percent of respondents had some interest in becoming an entrepreneur when they were in college, but 34.7 percent didn’t even think about it, and 13.3 percent had little or no interest. Those from lower-upper-class backgrounds were more likely to have been extremely interested in starting a business than the average (25 percent vs. 18.5 percent)
• The majority of the entrepreneurs in our sample were serial entrepreneurs. The average number of businesses launched by respondents was approximately 2.3; 41.4 percent were starting their first businesses
• 74.8 percent of respondents indicated desire to build wealth as an important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur. This factor was rated as important by 82.1 percent of respondents who grew up in “lower-upper-class” families
• 60.3 percent said that working for others did not appeal to them

Get the Full Report

The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur – PDF, 24 pages

Conclusion

I found this report fascinating and I think you will, too. What I saw were some people who “looked” like me and others who did not. It reinforced the idea that entrepreneurs are as diverse as the companies they start, but education and a desire to pave their own way, build wealth, and capitalize on businesses ideas are a consistent theme throughout.

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