Successful startups: do their entrepreneurs share a common characteristic?

Abstract

It is challenging to define what makes a startup successful and which factors determine the success of a startup. In this paper, we define successful startup those that survived at least three years and made at least one sale during that period. Looking to discuss which of the founders’ characteristics explain the success of a startup, we assessed the characteristics of the key individuals who run startups in Brazil to validate their profiles as entrepreneurs according to SEBRAE (2018). The survey and this study evidenced interesting characteristics of founders of Brazilian startups and one common characteristic among successful startups founders: successful founders are less worried than nonsuccessful founders to get other stakeholders’ support. This study identifies important research questions to be developed. Keywords: Entrepreneur profile, startup, success, entrepreneurship