I also want to point out that the research paper doesn't DEFINE success as purely market cap/company valuation. (It makes for some nice opening drama/reader intrigue by the WSJ, though.)
Instead, SUCCESS is defined by the following:
"Our primary outcome measures include
(a) employment growth,
and (b) sales growth,
while we also consider (c) exit by acquisition and
(d) initial public offerings.
In the main text, we will emphasize employment growth, denoting a high-growth new venture as one that achieved a given threshold of employment 5 years after founding. We examine employment thresholds based on the Top 10, 5, 1, or 0.1 percentile."
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/uploadedFilesV9/180325%20Age%20and%2...
I also want to point out that the research paper doesn't DEFINE success as purely market cap/company valuation. (It makes for some nice opening drama/reader intrigue by the WSJ, though.)
Instead, SUCCESS is defined by the following:
"Our primary outcome measures include (a) employment growth, and (b) sales growth, while we also consider (c) exit by acquisition and (d) initial public offerings.
In the main text, we will emphasize employment growth, denoting a high-growth new venture as one that achieved a given threshold of employment 5 years after founding. We examine employment thresholds based on the Top 10, 5, 1, or 0.1 percentile."