As I’m about to graduate from college, I’m feeling more and more behind in this whole Silicon Valley startup rush. It seems like every other entrepreneur are in their 20s nowadays. A good number of them are also dropouts of college or grad school. Ever wonder what the real numbers and statistics are? Kauffman Foundation just released its findings on technology startup founders and their backgrounds.

Below is a graph depicting the age at which people started their first company.

The median age is at 39. It does seem older than most people thought. Also, I expect that journalists are more likely to report on startups that have young founders. Moreover, the survey is not limited to just internet entrepreneurs. It is a lot more difficult start a company in other engineering disciplines, where the initial infrastructure cost is higher.

I’m also surprised at percentage of business-major founders.

We, engineers, always make fun of business majors for a number of reasons. They take easy common-sense classes, have no technical skills, and go around just looking for engineers all day, giving them 0.01% equity stake. However, the truth is that they push themselves out there. Starting up is more than just programming all day. Communication, believe it or not, is the most important skill you need. 

 
And for me and all other young people who are so eager in starting up, this graph might calm you down a bit. The average time lag between founding and a bachelor’s degree is 17 years. This might also indicate that it is becoming more popular to step away from a long-term career to start your own company. I’ve heard it’s hard to take such risks once you’ve family responsibilities and greater financial obligations. It might be becoming easier.

The research was interesting, but I’m now interested in any findings that report on internet companies only. More coverage from Paul and Matthew.

Popularity: 9% [?]