Abstract
Personality distinctions between entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/leaders, and inventor employees have received limited attention, especially in innovative settings where they are working together. We surveyed these groups, along with other employees of innovative firms, at 4 locations of a prominent innovation and coworking center. Entrepreneurs display the greatest tolerance of risk, even in small gambles, as well as the strongest self-efficacy, internal locus of control, and need for achievement. Nonfounder CEOs/leaders typically sit in between entrepreneurs and employees for personality traits. Entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/leaders, and inventor employees all show more innovative personalities than the noninventor employees in the same companies.
Highlights
Personality distinctions between entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/ leaders, and inventor employees have received limited attention, especially in innovative settings where they are working together
Many other employees staff roles from sales/marketing to customer support to administrative assistance. While each of these individuals—entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/leaders, inventor employees, noninventor employees—play important roles in innovation and economic growth, relatively little is known about their respective personality traits
We confirm that Big-5 traits are mostly similar across key roles in high-growth firms, with the biggest differences being toward greater openness among entrepreneurs and nonfounder CEOs/leaders
Summary
Personality distinctions between entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/ leaders, and inventor employees have received limited attention, especially in innovative settings where they are working together. Many other employees staff roles from sales/marketing to customer support to administrative assistance While each of these individuals—entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/leaders, inventor employees, noninventor employees—play important roles in innovation and economic growth, relatively little is known about their respective personality traits. This limitation is especially true when isolating innovative firms and environments that have all roles present and controlling for confounding environment factors. Understanding these differences provides important insight into team formation for new ventures and better characterizes potential career trajectories (e.g., whether employees in start-ups appear to have personalities and risk tolerances that might raise their likelihood to become future founders). This level of venture investment into CIC-housed companies exceeds most US states and many nations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
