InTheCapital (Who Works for Startups [infograph])

Text Who Works for Startups [infograph]
By Carl Pierre / @carlpierre

Who works for startups?

A question we don’t really ask too much now a days, but definitely a question worth asking. What is the typical entrepreneur like? What is the archetype of a startup founder?

Gist partnered with CBInsights to create a nifty infograph exploring the statistics surrounding the demographic of the startup work force. Here are some interesting little facts I discovered while perusing this chart…
- A majority of founders are between the ages of 35-44 (48%): It’s understandable that founders would tend to be found towards an older demographic of people, but for some reason I’ve always thought of a majority of founders to be 35 or younger. It must be that youthful glow from working at a startup that makes them appear younger!
- 39% of founders are former founders or former CEO’s: Not terribly surprised by this considering founding a company takes quite a bit of experience as well as a high level of competence in a leadership role. It’s funny that 28% of founders have had “other titles”, and by other title I’m assuming role such as “Chief Ninja”, “Head Samurai”, or my favorite “Lead Rockstar (of Development)”
- People Recommended for a position are 2.5 times more likely to be actually qualified than those who self-apply: This just goes to show the importance of networking and creating a web of connections. This is most true in the startup world considering how critical collaboration is to creating a service or product, as well as the power of word-of-mouth between founders in their startup community.
- 86% of startups are likely to hire in the same area where the company is headquartered: A fascinating statistic which only emphasizes how important community is to a startup. I think this is great since hiring locally helps build connections and foster a network of people working together in Tech. It’s like buying food locally, why buy from a big corporation when you can munch on some veggies from the guy a few blocks down the road.
Enjoy the rest of the infograph below!

[infograph via builtinchicago]