ENTREPRENEUR DNADOES IT EXIST?

THE HYPOTHESIS

Entrepreneurship requires a very unique skillset, and this skillset can be identified by a standardized test.

Part 1The Test

CREATING THE TEST

The Founder Institute, a global startup launch program, enlisted the services of top social scientists to design a test and evaluation system to both identify and predict entrepreneurial success.

The first test was created in 2009, and it has since been amended several times by a social scientist on staff.

CURRENT TEST STRUCTURE

One hour long battery of personality and aptitude evaluations

Specifically focuses on measuring Fluid Intelligence and other “Big Five” personality traits

Localized for 10 different languages, and delivered online

SAMPLE FLUID INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS

Fluid Intelligence is someone’s ability to quick learn a ruleset, and then apply that learning to solve novel problems. To measure Fluid Intelligence, test-takers are asked to analyze sets of patters on the left, and then identify the missing pattern (the question mark) with one of the 8 options on the right.

Question 1

(Answer on next slide)

SAMPLE FLUID INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS

(Answer to Question 1: 5)

Question 2

SAMPLE FLUID INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS

(Answer to Question 2: 5)

Question 3

SAMPLE FLUID INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS

(Answer to Question 3: 3)

Question 4

SAMPLE PERSONALITY QUESTIONS

(Answer to Question 4: 2)

To measure “Big Five” personality traits, such as Openness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, test takers are presented with a series of questions, which have been designed through leading social-science methods.

In the samples below, you are asked to select one choice from each series of answers that you believe best describes you or your views.

(There are no “correct” answers to these questions)

Question 5: a. Have a vivid imaginationb. Pay attention to details

Question 6: a. Get excited by new ideasb. Am not easily bothered by things

Question 7: a. Believe that others have good intentionsb. Have a rich vocabulary

Question 8: a. Make friends easilyb. Can say things beautifully

Part 2Entrepreneur DNA

ANALYZING THE RESULTS

Since 2009, the Founder Institute has collected test results from thousands of entrepreneurs, and tracked their progress and

company performance in the real world.

METHODOLOGY FOR EVALUATION

By constantly feeding in performance data from thousands of real world entrepreneurs, and comparing that data to the test results, we have found a very strong correlation between many traits and positive (or negative) entrepreneurial performance.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

We find that many of our successful founders are over 28 years old and have business experience.

HIGH FLUID INTELLIGENCE

Fluid intelligence, a combination of pattern recognition abilities and abstract thinking skills, strongly correlates with success.

HIGH OPENNESS

Many successful founders are open to new ideas, with natural curiosity and optimistic perspectives.

MODERATE AGREEABLENESS

Founders are more likely to succeed if they are agreeable, but not too agreeable.

SURPRISING FINDINGS

Contrary to popular belief, IQ and Conscientiousness do not seem to be relevant in predicting entrepreneurial success.

BAD FOUNDER DNA

Analysis of our test results revealed that certain personality traits hinder founder success.

Part 3Entrepreneur Profiles

ENTREPRENEUR DNA PROFILES

We also worked with leading social scientists to analyze the test data, and identify “buckets” of common personality trait combinations exhibited by successful entrepreneurs.

We we surprised to find six very distinct “Entrepreneur DNA Profiles”.

Part 4Comparing Geographies

How do founders in different cities compare?

Part 5In Conclusion

There are great entrepreneurs everywhere.

Great companies can be built anywhere.

THANK YOU!

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