Uncover the 10 personality traits that set founders apart and see how you measure up.
Becoming a founder is a big step, leaving a safe employment but instead taking a chance that might pay off big time or strip you of all your savings and leave you emotionally drained. It’s like trading in your comfortable sedan for a rollercoaster – thrilling, but you might lose your lunch!
When taking the step, you want to be 100% sure it’s not something you will regret.
So if you’re on the fence about becoming a founder, there’s been some fascinating research studying who these founders are, compared to people who stay employees.
Some of the results might surprise you. The founders we read about in the media are not necessarily the right representation of who founders actually are.
The research study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature last year. If you’re comfortable with scientific talk, you can read it here.
The study is based on the Personality Theory of the Big 5 and the IPIP facets. They identified 10 personality traits that make founders stand out significantly compared to the general population of employees.
I’ll share insights from this research, along with my real-life experience after having invested in over 60 founders across 28 different startups. That’s quite a lot of founders!
Before we dive into these traits, I encourage you to take the test yourself at this link (it only takes about 15 minutes) so you can respond without too much outside influence. Then you can compare your results to what I’ll share below. It’s like a quiz show, but instead of winning money, you win… self-awareness?
The results are given as percentiles, so if you score higher than 50 you’re above the average population. A score of 90 means you’re in the top 10% for that trait. If you’re below 10%, you’re in the bottom 10% of the population for that trait. To make this more personal, I’ll share my own scores as well. Brace yourself for some humble brags and self-deprecating jokes!
Very High Adventurousness
This is the personality trait where founders differ the most from the rest of the population. Founders are eager to try new activities, travel to foreign lands, and experience different things. They find familiarity and routine boring and will take a new route home just because it is different. Clearly, being this type of person is difficult in a traditional job, however, the founder role continuously offers new challenges.
I scored 98, I’m indeed eager to try new things and get excited by change. If there was an Olympic sport for trying new stuff, I’d be a gold medalist!
Very Low Modesty
Founders typically score lower on modesty which means that they have high self-esteem. They are willing to describe themselves as superior but sometimes tend to be seen as disagreeably arrogant by other people… It’s tough to be a founder, you have to live through constant rejection and challenges which can be difficult if you’re not equipped with solid confidence. Think of it as having the self-esteem of a peacock, but hopefully with better social skills!
My score was 21 which is pretty low but hopefully not too low to seem arrogant… I’m just confidently humble, or humbly confident?
Very High Activity Level
Founders tend to lead fast-paced, busy lives. They move about quickly, energetically, and vigorously, and they are involved in many activities. Indeed, as a founder you need to wear many hats and live a fast-paced life. Think of it as the Flash, but instead of fighting crime, you’re fighting to meet deadlines!
I score pretty high on this, 82, I’m mostly active but I do enjoy a little bit of downtime! Even superheroes need to recharge sometimes, right?
Very Low Anxiety
Founders are generally calm and fearless. They tend not to worry which is extremely useful when facing the many challenges and uncertainties of startup life. You’ll thrive with nerves of steel, or maybe just be blissfully oblivious?
I scored 0, I tend to keep my cool really well. I’m basically a cucumber in human form.
Low Immoderation
Founders tend to be oriented toward long-term consequences and rewards rather than short-term pleasures. The early days of a startup are indeed rough and don’t offer many pleasures. Only people focused on the long-term gains are crazy enough to give up their comfortable employment.
My score was 42. I’m quite focused on the long-term, but then I realize that life is short so I might occasionally enjoy a fun night. YOLO, am I right?
High Trust
Founders assume that most people are fair, honest, and have good intentions. This is indeed an advantage. It helps if you have an almost naive belief that customers will buy your product, talents want to join your team, and investors will invest in your company.
I scored 76 here, so I am in line with most founders. I guess I still believe in startup magic!
Low Anger
There are of course some famous founders that easily get angry, but the average founder does not get angry often or easily. Startup life is not a fair sport, so I don’t think you would be a good fit if you easily feel resentful when being treated unfairly. As a founder, you excel as a Zen master in a world of chaos.
I scored 3 here… What can I say, anger is not a feeling that comes easily to me. I’m more likely to kill ’em with kindness… or maybe just bore them with another pitch deck?
Low Depression
Same here as with anger. Founders tend to have plenty of energy and initiate activities. They don’t feel easily sad, dejected, or discouraged. Founders are eternal optimists, even when the startup is burning cash faster than a bonfire!
Here I scored 12, far below the average. I guess I’m just annoyingly cheerful!
High Cooperation
Founders typically dislike confrontations. They are perfectly willing to compromise or deny their own needs to get along with others. It’s impossible to build a startup without a team, this is why cooperation is an important score for founders. Teamwork makes the dream work, right?
My score was 82, I like to work with people who complement me so that together we can go further.
Low Emotionality
Founders tend not to express their emotions openly and are less aware of them than others. P-p-p-poker face 🎶
I scored 31, indeed my reflex is to keep my feelings to myself. However, people close to me can read me like an open book.
Traits that don’t actually matter
Personal traits that you might think are important but that actually didn’t make it into this top list include assertiveness, excitement seeking, gregariousness, self-consciousness, and self-efficacy. On these traits, founders score on average quite close to the rest of the population.
I’m however missing one important trait of founders. Stubbornness and refusal to give up. Founders often seem to have 9 lives, like cats 🐱
This personality test gives you important insight into how you would thrive or flounder as a founder. What’s most important in life is to do things that give you energy and make you happy, and being a founder might be it.
It’s important to note that while these traits are common among founders, it’s not necessary to score highly on all of them. Diversity in personality types can be a strength, especially when building a founding team.
The key is to understand your traits and how they might help or hinder your entrepreneurial journey. Moreover, it can help you identify who you need to complement you as a co-founder. After all, it takes all types to build a startup ecosystem!
This is the first part in a two-part series. In the next article, we’ll talk about successful startup teams and how founders complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses which leads to success.
