Where to Succeed As a Young Entrepreneur: Revealed
Using the Forbes 30 Under 30 lists from Europe, North America, Russia, Asia and Africa, the business-comparison experts at Bionic conducted research into the world’s greatest young entrepreneurs.
Bionic looked at the industry, city, country, university-education, and gender of each young entrepreneur. It was able to identify the best places to be a young entrepreneur depending on your industry and gender, and which industries and universities are best for career success.
Overall
Countries, cities and universities
Most Popular Industries For Young Entrepreneurs Overall
Rank | Most Popular Industries Overall | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
1 | Technology | 209 |
2 | Manufacturing | 116 |
3 | Marketing and Media | 115 |
4 | Retail and E-Commerce | 100 |
5 | Social Impact | 96 |
6 | Healthcare and Science | 90 |
7 | Arts and Culture | 74 |
8 | Energy | 69 |
9 | Finance and Venture Capital | 65 |
10 | Education | 38 |
Most Popular Cities for Young Entrepreneurs Overall
Rank | Most Popular Cities | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
1 | London | 115 |
2 | New York | 106 |
3 | San Francisco | 88 |
4 | Moscow | 51 |
5 | Los Angeles | 39 |
6 | Stockholm | 17 |
7 | Toronto | 16 |
8 | Berlin | 10 |
9 | Boston | 10 |
10 | Chicago | 10 |
Despite North America being by far the most popular in providing Forbes Under 30 candidates (5/10 of the top cities were from North America.), London was the most popular city for young entrepreneurs to succeed in. Many candidates in the North America, Asia and Russia lists also lived in London.
Best Countries For Young Entrepreneurs Overall
Rank | Most Popular Countries | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
1 | United States | 428 |
2 | United Kingdom | 145 |
3 | Russia | 109 |
4 | India | 81 |
5 | China | 22 |
6 | Germany | 21 |
7 | South Korea | 17 |
8 | Singapore | 16 |
9 | Japan | 15 |
10 | Sweden | 15 |
Best Universities for Young Entrepreneurs Overall
Rank | Most Popular Universities | Number of Forbes Under 30s | Country |
1 | Stanford University | 47 | United States |
2 | Indian Institute of Technology | 23 | India |
3 | Harvard University | 22 | United States |
4 | University of California | 22 | United States |
5 | Imperial College London | 17 | United Kingdom |
6 | Yale University | 13 | United States |
7 | Moscow State University | 13 | Russia |
8 | University of Cambridge | 12 | United Kingdom |
9 | Colombia University | 12 | United States |
10 | University of Pennsylvania | 11 | United States |
Indian Institute of Technology was the best university in Asia to go to for producing successful entrepreneurs.
Stanford was the best USA university
Imperial College London was the best UK university
14% were either not university-educated, or we could not find education information on them. The percentage of non-university educated Under-30s is likely less than this.
6 out of 10 universities were from North America
Gender
Male-Female Split By Region
Male % | Female % | Region |
70% | 30% | North America |
73% | 27% | Africa |
63% | 37% | Europe |
83% | 27% | Asia |
67% | 33% | Russia |
Rank | Industries With Most Females | Percentage of Forbes Under 30s |
1 | Arts & Culture | 57% |
2 | Hospitality/Food and Drink | 41% |
3 | Social Impact | 37% |
4 | Retail and E-Commerce | 34% |
5 | Media and Marketing | 31% |
6 | Education | 31% |
7 | Finance and Venture Capital | 31% |
8 | Energy | 23% |
9 | Manufacturing | 20% |
10 | Technology | 20% |
Overall, just 30% of the Forbes Under 30s were female. Average age for young entrepreneurs is 28 – this didn’t differ between men and women.
Regional
Europe
. 37% of young entrepreneurs were female
. About 62% young entrepreneurs are male
. 50% of all European young entrepreneurs were from the UK
. 39% were from London
. 85>% were university-educated
. UK and London were the most popular places for every European industry
. Germany was second most popular place for young entrepreneurs (7%), followed by Netherlands and Sweden (4%)
. Average age for success in Europe is 27
Most popular universities in Europe were all UK universities:
Rank | University | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
1 | Imperial College London | 12 |
2 | University of Oxford | 11 |
3 | University of Oxford | 11 |
4 | University College London | 9 |
5 | University of Warwick | 7 |
North America
. Most popular cities were New York (92), San Francisco (88), Los Angeles (39) Brooklyn (14), and Boston (10), Berlin (10) and Chicago (10)
. 30% of young entrepreneurs were female
. About 96>% were university-educated
. Technology was by far the most popular industry, followed by social impact
. Average age for success was just 22
Rank | Most Popular Universities | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
1 | Stanford University | 47 |
2 | Harvard University | 22 |
3 | University of California | 22 |
4 | Yale University | 13 |
5 | Colombia University |
Asia
. 17% were female
. 41% were from India, 11% were from China, and 8% were from Singapore and South Korea
. Average age for success is 26
. 23 (11%) went to Indian Institute of Technology, making it by far the most popular Asian university. The National University of Singapore (3%) was the second most popular, but the remaining entrepreneurs came from a more mixed range
. Technology was most popular (45%) industry, followed by Science and Healthcare (14%)
Africa
. 40% came from South Africa, and 20% came from Nigeria
. 20% worked in Johannesburg
. Arts & Culture was the most popular industry here for young entrepreneurs
. 73% were male, 27% female
. Average age for success was 27
Russia
There were twice as many arts & culture entrepreneurs in Russia as there were in any other category. This includes young entrepreneurs working in industries like fashion and design, art, and theatre
Average age was 25
33% of entrepreneurs were female
Moscow is best city to succeed in for young entrepreneurs in Russia
12% of candidates went to Moscow State University, while 10% went to Moscow Higher School of Economics.
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