Want to be an Entrepreneur? Get a job.

Machine Learning says so.

The resounding success stories of the Mark Zuckerbergs, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of the world shaped the idea of who successful entrepreneurs are: Genius college drop outs that built their billion dollar company in their dorm room.

Does this mean that you should stop studying for your final exams, and run with that idea your roommate and you had during your weekly pizza night?

Does this mean that you don’t stand a chance because you've been employed and out of college for 10 years?

No.

Our research shows that most successful early-stage entrepreneurs have 10 to 12 years of employment, prior to founding their company. The myth of the genius drop out is exactly that, a myth.

Not only are 94% of US industry and government leaders, college graduates (Wai, Jonathan, and Heiner Rindermann What goes into high educational and occupational achievement? Education, brains, hard work, networks, and other factors. Duke University: 2017), but we also discovered using Machine Learning techniques that the most predictive factor of early stage success for start-up founders is how long they have been employed before founding their company.