What we are doing
For each of the 16 founders in our dataset, we estimate scores on the five Big Five personality dimensions (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability) on a 0-100 scale. The Big Five is the most scientifically validated personality model in existence and predicts a wide range of life outcomes, including entrepreneurial behavior. These scores are estimates, not clinical assessments.
Sources used per founder
For each founder we draw on at least three of the following sources, weighting them by recency and primary access to the subject:
- Long-form authorized or independent biographies
- Founder shareholder letters and product memos
- Long-form podcast and television interviews (90+ minutes when available)
- Documented anecdotes from close collaborators, co-founders, and direct reports
- Public statements at industry conferences and earnings calls
- Founder writing on their own blog, Twitter/X, or Substack
Scoring rubric
For each Big Five dimension we score the founder against the following behavioral markers, then aggregate to a 0-100 scale calibrated to existing research on founder populations:
- Openness: tolerance for ambiguity, frequency of category-defining bets, interest in cross-disciplinary ideas, aesthetic sensitivity, willingness to experiment.
- Conscientiousness: track record of follow-through, operational discipline, quality of internal systems built, public attention to detail, on-time shipping history.
- Extraversion: energy in social settings, frequency of public appearances, use of personal charisma in pitching, network breadth.
- Agreeableness: cooperativeness in disputes, tendency toward consensus, willingness to make unpopular decisions, treatment of departing employees and competitors.
- Emotional Stability: persistence through public failure, recovery time from setbacks, stability of long-term focus, observable stress reactivity.
Calibration against published research
We anchor our 0-100 scale to the founder-population norms documented in the entrepreneurship personality literature. The two anchor studies are:
- Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E. (2006). The Big Five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 259-271.
- Zhao, H., Seibert, S. E., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2010). The relationship of personality to entrepreneurial intentions and performance: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Management, 36(2), 381-404.
- Kerr, S. P., Kerr, W. R., & Xu, T. (2017). Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature. NBER Working Paper.
Known limitations
Founders are public figures and what we observe is mediated by PR, biographers, and the founder's own narrative. Scores should be treated as informed estimates suitable for education and self-comparison, not as clinical assessments. They are most reliable on the extremes (a founder scoring 90 on openness is almost certainly in the top decile) and less reliable in the middle of the distribution.
How your own scores are computed
When you take the free entrepreneur personality test, your Big Five scores are derived from your responses to 20 adaptive questions using a calibrated Bayesian scoring engine. Your scores are computed on the same 0-100 scale used for the founder estimates, so direct comparison is meaningful.