88% of venture-backed startup founders walk away with nothing, according to a study of nearly 250,000 founders.
Researchers from Wharton and the University of Zurich analyzed 157,669 US startups and 248,454 founders from 1987 to 2025.
The top 1% of startups captured 79% of all value at exit
The 12% of founders who did get paid received a median of $4.8 million after taxes
Rejoice!
The pretty people showing up on Valencia Street is the 100% accurate top signal that's called the burst of every SF tech bubble since '99.
Seen it through three cycles.
Stay ugly SF.
The Swedish beauties can raise whopping $500k rounds and call it 'tech'.
Rejoice!
The pretty people showing up on Valencia Street is the 100% accurate top signal that's called the burst of every SF tech bubble since '99.
Seen it through three cycles.
Stay ugly SF.
The Swedish beauties can raise whopping $500k rounds and call it 'tech'.