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Big Five Trait

Conscientiousness in Entrepreneurs

The execution engine

Conscientiousness is the most reliable Big Five predictor of entrepreneurial performance and startup survival, replicated across meta-analyses spanning over 100 studies (Zhao & Seibert, 2006; Zhao, Seibert & Lumpkin, Journal of Management, 2010).

What is conscientiousness?

Conscientiousness captures goal-directed behavior, planning, organization, self-discipline, and follow-through. It is the single strongest personality predictor of business performance across decades of research.

16 famous founders ranked by conscientiousness

Scores on a 0-100 scale. Higher score = more conscientiousness.

RankFounderMBTICategoryScore
#1Jeff BezosAmazonESTJOperator95
#2Jensen HuangNVIDIAISTJBuilder95
#3Melanie PerkinsCanvaENFJBuilder92
#4Bill GatesMicrosoftINTJBuilder92
#5Reed HastingsNetflixINTJBuilder92
#6Sara BlakelySpanxESFJOperator90
#7Patrick CollisonStripeINTJBuilder90
#8Katrina LakeStitch FixISTJOperator90
#9Queen Elizabeth IEnglandENTJVisionary88
#10Marc BenioffSalesforceENFJConnector88
#11Howard SchultzStarbucksENFJConnector88
#12Steve JobsAppleENTJVisionary85
#13Oprah WinfreyOWN / HarpoENFJConnector85
#14Brian CheskyAirbnbENFPBuilder85
#15Mark ZuckerbergMetaINTJBuilder85
#16Sam AltmanOpenAIENTJVisionary85
#17Daniel EkSpotifyINTJBuilder85
#18Marc AndreessenAndreessen Horowitz / NetscapeENTJContrarian82
#19Whitney Wolfe HerdBumbleENFPConnector80
#20Paul GrahamY CombinatorINTPContrarian80
#21Peter ThielPayPal / PalantirINTJContrarian80
#22Walt DisneyThe Walt Disney CompanyENFPVisionary78
#23Elon MuskTesla / SpaceXINTJVisionary75
#24Reid HoffmanLinkedInENFPConnector75
#25Sergey BrinGoogle / AlphabetINTJBuilder75
#26Travis KalanickUberESTPOperator75
#27Yvon ChouinardPatagoniaINFPVisionary72
#28Jack DorseyTwitter / BlockINFJContrarian68
#29Larry PageGoogle / AlphabetINTPBuilder60
#30Naval RavikantAngelListINTPContrarian50

Where would you rank on conscientiousness?

Take the Founder Mode entrepreneur personality test to find your conscientiousness score on the same 0-100 scale used for the 16 founders above. Free, 10 minute survey.

Find your score

Top 5: highest conscientiousness

  1. #1Jeff Bezos (ESTJ)95
  2. #2Jensen Huang (ISTJ)95
  3. #3Melanie Perkins (ENFJ)92
  4. #4Bill Gates (INTJ)92
  5. #5Reed Hastings (INTJ)92

Bottom 5: lowest conscientiousness

  1. #30Naval Ravikant (INTP)50
  2. #29Larry Page (INTP)60
  3. #28Jack Dorsey (INFJ)68
  4. #27Yvon Chouinard (INFP)72
  5. #26Travis Kalanick (ESTP)75

Frequently asked questions

What is conscientiousness in the Big Five model?

Conscientiousness captures goal-directed behavior, planning, organization, self-discipline, and follow-through. It is the single strongest personality predictor of business performance across decades of research.

Do high-conscientiousness founders perform better?

Conscientiousness is the most reliable Big Five predictor of entrepreneurial performance and startup survival, replicated across meta-analyses spanning over 100 studies (Zhao & Seibert, 2006; Zhao, Seibert & Lumpkin, Journal of Management, 2010).

Which famous founder scores highest on conscientiousness?

Based on our Big Five estimates, Jeff Bezos (Amazon, MBTI ESTJ) is the highest-scoring founder on conscientiousness in our 16-founder dataset.

How are these scores estimated?

Big Five scores for each founder are estimated from publicly documented behavior, interviews, biographies, and shareholder letters. They are calibrated against academic research on founder personality. They are best treated as informed estimates for educational and comparative purposes, not clinical assessments. See the methodology page for full details.

Other Big Five traits

Openness to Experience

The innovation driver

Extraversion

The distribution advantage

Agreeableness

Lower is often better

Neuroticism

The resilience factor

Where do you score on conscientiousness?

Take the free founder personality test to find your Big Five profile.

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