Entrepreneurship Facts

• From 1980-2005, firms less than five years old accounted for all net job growth in the United States – Business Dynamics Statistics Briefing: Jobs Created from Business Startups in the United States, January 2009
• Excluding startups, young firms—defined as one to five years of age—accounted for nearly two-thirds of job creation in 2007. - Where Will the Jobs Come From?, November 2009
• More than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market, along with nearly half of the firms on the 2008 Inc. list of America’s fastest-growing companies. - The Economic Future Just Happened, June 2009
• In 2008, an average of 0.32% of adults created a new business each month, equaling about 530,000 new businesses per month. - Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity 1996-2008, April 2009
• Entrepreneurs are the answer. 70% of U.S. registered voters think the health of the economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs.  -Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research Survey (sample size: 816), September 2008
• Entrepreneurs have been responsible for 67% of the inventions and 95% of the radical innovations made since World War II. –The Public Forum Institute
• Many of America’s leading firms, including Intel and Federal Express, depended on Small Business Administration funding when they were getting started. –The Public Forum Institute
• 95.1% of respondents to a survey of entrepreneurs themselves had earned bachelor’s degrees, and 47% had more advanced degrees. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• Less than 1% of entrepreneurs surveyed came from extremely rich or extremely poor backgrounds. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• 69.9% of entrepreneurs surveyed indicated they were married when they launched their first business. An additional 5.2% were divorced, separated, or widowed. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• 59.7% of entrepreneurs surveyed indicated they had at least one child when they launched their first business, and 43.5% had two or more children. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• The majority of the entrepreneurs in the sample were serial entrepreneurs. The average number of businesses launched by respondents was approximately 2.3. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• Entrepreneurs are usually better educated than their parents. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• The majority of respondents (75.%) had worked as employees at other companies for more than six years before launching their own companies. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• Entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family. More than half (51.%) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business. –The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Kauffman Foundation
• Young businesses are 3% more productive than mature businesses and their rate increases up to 5% more productive after they have been open for five years or more.
• Contrary to popularly held assumptions, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55–64 age group over the past decade. The 20–34 age bracket has the lowest. - The Coming Entrepreneurship Boom, June 2009
• Most high-tech founders come from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds, are well-educated, and married with children. - The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Family Background and Motivation, July 2009
• Angel investors participating in organized groups achieve an average 27% internal rate of return. - Returns to Angel Investors in Groups, November 2007
• External debt markets are increasingly important to startups as they age, providing 62% of financing in 2007 compared to 40% in 2004, their first year of operation. - An Overview of the Kauffman Firm Survey: Results from the 2004–2007 Data, April 2009
• In 2008, the immigrant rate of entrepreneurial activity—0.51%—was substantially higher than the native-born U.S. population—0.28%. - Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity 1996-2008, April 2009
• More than a quarter of technology and engineering companies started in the United States from 1995 to 2005 had at least one key founder who was foreign-born. - Education, Entrepreneurship, and Immigration: America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part II, June 2007
• Foreign nationals residing in the United States were named as inventors or co-inventors in 25.6% of international patent applications filed in the U.S. in 2006. - Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog, and a Reverse Brain-Drain: America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part III, August 2007
• What do Microsoft, Disney, Genentech, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, and Krispy Kreme all have in common? All were founded in recessions, depressions, or bear markets.
• Think tech companies are founded only by 20-somethings? Think again. The average age of U.S.-born tech founders when they started their companies was 39. In fact, twice as many were older than 50 as were younger than 25.
• Let’s hear it for the next generation. Four in ten U.S. young people ages 8 to 21 have or would like to start their own business someday, and 63% agree that they have the ability to successfully start their own business.  -Harris Interactive® Survey (sample size: 2,438), July/August 2007