90%
of startups
01
Why companies fail
50%
gone by year five
Around 20 percent of new US businesses close in year one, and about half by year five.
Closed in year one
20%
Closed by year five
50%
42%
had no market need
42 percent of failed startups had no market need, 29 percent ran out of cash, 23 percent had the wrong team.
No market need
42%
Ran out of cash
29%
Wrong team
23%
02
What venture returns look like
75%
never return cash
75 percent of venture-backed startups never return cash to investors.
Never return capital
75%
18%
first-time founders
First-time founders succeed about 18 percent of the time.
Succeed
18%
65%
below capital invested
65 percent of venture deals return less than the capital invested. The top 4 percent return more than 10x.
Return less than invested
65%
Return more than 10x
4%
6%
of deals, 60% of returns
6 percent of deals produced 60 percent of returns.
Share of deals
6%
Share of returns
60%
03
The cost of hiring wrong
30%
of first-year earnings
A bad hire costs at least 30 percent of first-year earnings.
Minimum cost
≥30%
50 to 200%
of annual salary
Full replacement of a wrong hire costs 50 to 200 percent of annual salary; 100 to 150 percent for mid-level technical roles.
Any role
50 to 200%
Mid-level technical
100 to 150%
74%
of employers
74 percent of employers admit to having hired the wrong person.
Admit a bad hire
74%
89
days for AI and ML roles
Average time to fill a tech role is 52 days; AI and ML specialists average 89 days.
Tech role
52 days
AI and ML specialist
89 days
30 to 60%
on top of salary
The all-in cost of making one engineering hire typically adds another 30 to 60 percent of first-year base on top of salary.
Added to first-year base
30 to 60%
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