Biased Data Leads to Wrong Conclusion

A newly release report called

The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, suggests they have discoverd what makes entrepreneurs tick.

Here is what they say they discovered about entrepreneurs in their study:

The findings dispel the common
notion that entrepreneurs are young college kids starting companies in their
dorms or basements. The reality is that most company founders are experienced,
well-educated and married with children — and they come from middle-class or
upper-lower-class backgrounds.

Here is the problem with that conclusion — they only surveyed 549 founders of successful
businesses in high-growth industries.

So entrepreneurs are only founders of high-growth ventures?  No way.

So we should base our decisions on what programs to create to support and foster entrepreneurs based on their findings?  I don’t think so.

Are high growth ventures important?  Sure, but so are small ventures that usually are started in dorm rooms, at kitchen tables, or out of people’s basements.  And there are a lot more of this type and they have been much better job creators than their larger counterparts that are the focus of this study.

High growth firms in high growth industries are usually backed by venture and/or angel capital.  These folks only put money behind experienced entrepreneurs.  So of course they are going to be older, more educated, and more experienced.