Successful young entrepreneurial innovators have achieved something akin to rockstar status. They grace magazine covers and keynote global conferences, inspiring burgeoning
start-ups and Fortune 50 companies alike.
Collectively, young entrepreneurs are innovative by nature and their thinking is an important source of growth and job creation across the world. Today, with digital tools in hand, leaders are better positioned to expand their businesses across borders, seize niche opportunities and shape the global economic future.
Yet, most of today’s young entrepreneurs want more than status and a global corporate footprint. Their ideas of success arise from powerful social, political and economic convictions.
To find out what really makes young innovators tick, The Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by FedEx, surveyed more than 500 of these young entrepreneurs around the globe about their motivations, ideals and priorities. Our survey respondents were between 25 and 50 years of age and all founders, owners or partners of firms with fewer than 500 employees. They are living in North America, Europe, Middle
East, India and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. We surveyed them on matters of globalization, technology and social values.
We then compared their views with a similar survey of the general public in the same regions. Side by side, these surveys enabled us to differentiate the outlooks of today’s young and innovative entrepreneurs.
Our surveys identified four key mindsets that guide young entrepreneurs: leading with passion; thinking globally; embracing social responsibility; and banking on connectivity. This report explores the similarities and divergences of today’s young entrepreneurs and the general public. It seeks insights into the elements of the business environment that matter most to entrepreneurs, as well as their views on a variety of issues including free trade and social responsibility.
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