Analysis of unicorn startup founders
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Analysis of unicorn startup founders
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Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#2Immigrant founders piece is interesting.
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#3I appreciated the simplicity of this page
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#4Well I got the impostor syndrome thing down 100%.
The top university factor is probably bias. I mean those schools are good and lots of good people come from them, but people from those schools are also more likely to get funding and other things like top tier employees and co-founders. That's going to create an outsized effect.
Solo founders being older makes a lot of sense because to be successful as a solo founder you need a deeper skill set. You really need to be both technical and business/sales until you can get far enough to hire for the ones you are weaker on.
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#5> Unlimited self-belief
> History of feeling like an imposter
How is this not contradictory?
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#6> Unlimited self-belief > History of feeling like an imposter How is this not contradictory?
"I can accomplish anything, but I won't be really worthy until I accomplish that next big thing."
Rinse and repeat after every significant accomplishment.
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#7I would be very curious how this landscape changes when you don't consider VC funding as a necessary part of being a startup. I want to see how demographics change due to funding method.
Another interesting point, and this is likely outside the scope you are wanting to do, is to do democraphics -> positive personal financial outcome (ie: people who successfully landed it). The past few years has shown it isn't difficult to start a 'startup' but still difficult to get a positive financial outcome for the people who founded it. I am not saying it will change or one group is better, just curious to see how the demographics hold or if all the "elite school" and "elite employer" ends up washing out where it becomes a coinflip.
From my personal experience, people who went to "elite schools" and/or "elite employers" for an extended period aren't as good of a fit as people who are more 'underdog' background (more startup experience, no big school name or maybe even any college, etc). The Harvard / etc junk in my opinion is just Zuckerbergs/Gate overfitting by VCs (some are great, some are awful; essentially the same as any other school).
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#8Well I got the impostor syndrome thing down 100%. The top university factor is probably bias. I mean those schools are good and lots of good people come from them, but people from those schools are also more likely to get funding and other things like top tier employees and co-founders. That's going to create an outsized effect. Solo founders being older makes a lot of sense because to be successful as a solo founder…
As someone from a mid tier state school, I've definitely found that people from elite schools work harder and produce more consistently good work. I think this is just anti-elitism cope.
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#9Well I got the impostor syndrome thing down 100%. The top university factor is probably bias. I mean those schools are good and lots of good people come from them, but people from those schools are also more likely to get funding and other things like top tier employees and co-founders. That's going to create an outsized effect. Solo founders being older makes a lot of sense because to be successful as a solo founder…
> people from those schools are also more likely to get funding and other things like top tier employees and co-founders
You are also likely to come from a family with stable finances, and might be able to afford not working on something tied to a direct income for a while.
Re: Analysis of unicorn startup founders
#10> Unlimited self-belief > History of feeling like an imposter How is this not contradictory?
Not a founder (yet) but I think it's relatable. I believe in myself that I can learn and achieve anything and be really good at it but when I see the seniors and people doing amazing things, I feel like I still have a long way to go and prove myself.