Here’s the 6 Personality Traits You Need to Found a Successful Startup
Business Insider, 22 October 2023
The impact of founder personalities on startup success
Entrepreneurial success is often discussed in terms of ideas, markets, capital, and timing. Our research adds another dimension: the personalities of founders and the composition of founding teams. The study investigates whether founders share distinctive personality patterns, whether different founder profiles can be identified, and how these profiles relate to startup outcomes.
Our findings
Personality is a relevant factor
We studied personality as part of a wider entrepreneurial system that includes teams, markets, resources and timing.
Founder profiles differ
The study moves away from the idea of a single ideal founder. It identifies different founder personality profiles, each associated with different strengths, challenges, and working styles.
The importance of founding teams
A central implication of the research is that founding teams benefit from complementary personalities. We find that certain combinations of founder types yield up to 10x higher chances of success. The quiz therefore encourages users to consider not only their own profile, but also the composition of the team around them.
How the quiz works
Answer a short set of questions
You respond to a brief series of questions about their big 5 personality traits. The questions are designed to capture patterns in how individuals approach uncertainty, collaboration, decision-making and execution.
Receive a founder personality profile
Responses are mapped to founder personality profiles derived from our study’s machine learning models.
Reflect on founding-team composition
The results are designed to be read in relation to individual strengths and weaknesses and team formation. Users are encouraged to consider how their profile may complement others, and how differences in personality may shape collaboration, leadership and venture development.
