KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwire - July 8, 2009) - Although entrepreneurs provide the majority of jobs in the United States, little is known about what makes them tick. "Anatomy of an Entrepreneur," a newly released study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, fills in some gaps by providing insights into high-growth founders' motivations and their socio-economic, educational and familial backgrounds. The findings: Most founders came from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds, are well-educated and married with children.

"This study helps to illuminate the backgrounds of U.S. entrepreneurs and the formative factors that influence them," said Robert E. Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "As we begin to understand the circumstances that foster or induce entrepreneurship, we also will gain insights into new methodologies that will help us support existing entrepreneurs and add to their ranks."

A team of researchers led by Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University, Raj Aggarwal of the University of Akron, Krisztina Holly of the University of Southern California and Alex Salkever of Duke University surveyed 549 company founders of successful businesses in high-growth industries, including aerospace, defense, computing, electronics and health care.

The survey found that more than 90 percent of the entrepreneurs came from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds and were well-educated: 95.1 percent of those surveyed had earned bachelor's degrees, and 47 percent had more advanced degrees. Those from lower-upper-class backgrounds, however, were more likely to have been extremely interested in starting a business than the average entrepreneur surveyed (25 percent vs. 18.5 percent).

Seventy-five percent of the respondents ranked their academic performance among the top 30 percent of their high school classes, and 52 percent said they ranked among the top 10 percent. In college, 67 percent of the founders ranked among the top 30 percent of their undergraduate classes, and 37 percent ranked their performance among the top 10 percent.

More than half of the company founders surveyed (52 percent) had at least some interest in entrepreneurship while in college. Of those who described themselves as "extremely interested" during college, 47 percent went on to found more than two companies.

Founders tended to be middle-aged -- 40 years old on average -- when they started their first companies. Nearly 70 percent were married when they became entrepreneurs, and nearly 60 percent had at least one child, challenging the stereotype of the entrepreneurial workaholic with no time for a family.

"The commonly held belief that entrepreneurs are young college students working out of their dorms is simply wrong," says the study's author Vivek Wadhwa, associate director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University and senior research associate, Harvard Law School. "Rather, on average, they tend to be highly experienced, well-educated workers who have families. They have come to a stage in their lives when they are simply tired of working for others and want to build real wealth before they retire." Wadhwa's research team hopes to uncover not only entrepreneurs' backgrounds, but also "the deeper formative factors that influence this select and incredibly important class of individuals." The survey also found that:

--  Respondents cited "building wealth" as the primary motivation for
    starting their companies. Other popular motivators included capitalizing on
    a business idea; the appeal of a startup culture; a desire to own a
    company; and a lack of interest in working for someone else.
--  Very few (4 percent) said that inability to find traditional
    employment was a factor in starting their own businesses.
--  Entrepreneurship did not necessarily run in the family. More than half
    (51.9 percent) of those surveyed were the first in their families to launch
    a business.
    

About the Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. It also works to prepare students to be innovators, entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the 21st century economy through initiatives designed to improve learning in math, engineering, science and technology. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has approximately $2 billion in assets. More information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation on www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn.