This is an based on an older post, but the data and conclusions haven't changed. I published a posed based on characteristics based on the research I completed and found that entrepreneurs (specifically those in the sports industry) possessed including vision, passion, risk taking, tenacity, independence and persistence.
Entrepreneurs are are rare breed. With millions of entrepreneurs it is difficult to distill the characteristics of entrepreneurs and develop a list of trends and statistics of entrepreneurs. LinkedIn developed a “secret sauce” based on its profiles to explain what is the typical entrepreneur.
By sifting through more than 120 million public profiles, LinkedIn analyzed tens of thousands of startup founders’ profiles – and find common threads linking their careers.
Interesting findings:
- Stanford, Harvard and MIT Sloan have the most entrepreneurs.
- While young (and serial) entrepreneurs are often in the spotlight, our data shows that 65% of entrepreneurs are 30 and older – and only 2% are serial entrepreneurs.
- Technical majors (except civil engineering) are over-represented among founders; nursing and administration are under-represented. While computer engineers find it easier to start companies in their areas of expertise, civil engineers and nurses need more infrastructure support.
- Some companies are breeding grounds for entrepreneurs (Adobe Systems, Apple Inc., eBay (including Paypal, of the Paypal mafia fame), Electronic Arts, Google, Microsoft, SGI and Yahoo! ).
