Agreeableness in Entrepreneurs
Lower is often better
Successful entrepreneurs tend to score lower on agreeableness than non-entrepreneurs, with low agreeableness associated with willingness to negotiate hard and make unpopular strategic decisions (Zhao & Seibert, 2006 meta-analysis).
What is agreeableness?
Agreeableness captures cooperativeness, trust, and concern for social harmony. Counter-intuitively, successful founders tend to score lower on agreeableness than the general population because low agreeableness correlates with the willingness to make tough decisions and resist consensus pressure.
30 famous founders ranked by agreeableness
Scores on a 0-100 scale. Higher score = more agreeableness.
| Rank | Founder | MBTI | Category | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Oprah WinfreyOWN / Harpo | ENFJ | Connector | 85 |
| #2 | Yvon ChouinardPatagonia | INFP | Visionary | 78 |
| #3 | Sara BlakelySpanx | ESFJ | Operator | 75 |
| #4 | Melanie PerkinsCanva | ENFJ | Builder | 75 |
| #5 | Reid HoffmanLinkedIn | ENFP | Connector | 75 |
| #6 | Howard SchultzStarbucks | ENFJ | Connector | 72 |
| #7 | Brian CheskyAirbnb | ENFJ | Builder | 70 |
| #8 | Whitney Wolfe HerdBumble | ENFP | Connector | 70 |
| #9 | Marc BenioffSalesforce | ENFJ | Connector | 68 |
| #10 | Walt DisneyThe Walt Disney Company | ENFP | Visionary | 68 |
| #11 | Patrick CollisonStripe | INTJ | Builder | 65 |
| #12 | Katrina LakeStitch Fix | ESTJ | Operator | 65 |
| #13 | Jensen HuangNVIDIA | ISTJ | Builder | 60 |
| #14 | Jack DorseyTwitter / Block | INTP | Contrarian | 58 |
| #15 | Paul GrahamY Combinator | INTP | Contrarian | 55 |
| #16 | Naval RavikantAngelList | INTP | Contrarian | 45 |
| #17 | Daniel EkSpotify | INTJ | Builder | 45 |
| #18 | Larry PageGoogle / Alphabet | INTP | Builder | 45 |
| #19 | Jeff BezosAmazon | ESTJ | Operator | 40 |
| #20 | Sergey BrinGoogle / Alphabet | INTP | Builder | 40 |
| #21 | Reed HastingsNetflix | INTJ | Builder | 38 |
| #22 | Queen Elizabeth IEngland | ENTJ | Visionary | 35 |
| #23 | Mark ZuckerbergMeta | INTJ | Builder | 35 |
| #24 | Sam AltmanOpenAI | ENTJ | Visionary | 35 |
| #25 | Elon MuskTesla / SpaceX | INTP | Visionary | 30 |
| #26 | Bill GatesMicrosoft | INTJ | Builder | 30 |
| #27 | Marc AndreessenAndreessen Horowitz / Netscape | ENTJ | Contrarian | 30 |
| #28 | Steve JobsApple | ENTJ | Visionary | 25 |
| #29 | Travis KalanickUber | ESTP | Operator | 25 |
| #30 | Peter ThielPayPal / Palantir | INTP | Contrarian | 20 |
Where would you rank on agreeableness?
Take the Founder Mode entrepreneur personality test to find your agreeableness score on the same 0-100 scale used for the 30 founders above. Free, 10 minute survey.
Top 5: highest agreeableness
Bottom 5: lowest agreeableness
- #30Peter Thiel (INTP)20
- #29Travis Kalanick (ESTP)25
- #28Steve Jobs (ENTJ)25
- #27Marc Andreessen (ENTJ)30
- #26Bill Gates (INTJ)30
Frequently asked questions
What is agreeableness in the Big Five model?
Agreeableness captures cooperativeness, trust, and concern for social harmony. Counter-intuitively, successful founders tend to score lower on agreeableness than the general population because low agreeableness correlates with the willingness to make tough decisions and resist consensus pressure.
Do high-agreeableness founders perform better?
Successful entrepreneurs tend to score lower on agreeableness than non-entrepreneurs, with low agreeableness associated with willingness to negotiate hard and make unpopular strategic decisions (Zhao & Seibert, 2006 meta-analysis).
Which famous founder scores highest on agreeableness?
Based on our Big Five estimates, Oprah Winfrey (OWN / Harpo, MBTI ENFJ) is the highest-scoring founder on agreeableness in our 30-founder dataset.
How are these scores estimated?
Big Five scores for each founder are estimated from publicly documented behavior, interviews, biographies, and shareholder letters. They are calibrated against academic research on founder personality. They are best treated as informed estimates for educational and comparative purposes, not clinical assessments. See the methodology page for full details.
Other Big Five traits
Agreeableness in living founders
The Founder Psychology Index scores 22 living founders on this same 0-100 scale, with every score linked to a dated public source. Examples include David Heinemeier Hansson, Michael Ovitz, Scott Wu.
Where do you score on agreeableness?
Take the free founder personality test to find your Big Five profile.
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