Conscientiousness in Entrepreneurs: Founders Ranked + Big Five Research

Name: Famous founders ranked by Conscientiousness
Creator: Founder Mode

Conscientiousness is the most reliable Big Five predictor of entrepreneurial performance and startup survival, replicated across meta-analyses spanning over 100 studies (Zhao & Seibert, 2006; Zhao, Seibert & Lumpkin, Journal of Management, 2010).

What is conscientiousness?

Conscientiousness captures goal-directed behavior, planning, organization, self-discipline, and follow-through. It is the single strongest personality predictor of business performance across decades of research.

30 famous founders ranked by conscientiousness

Scores on a 0-100 scale. Higher score = more conscientiousness.

Rank	Founder	MBTI	Category	Score
#1	Jeff BezosAmazon	ESTJ	Operator	95
#2	Jensen HuangNVIDIA	ISTJ	Builder	95
#3	Melanie PerkinsCanva	ENFJ	Builder	92
#4	Bill GatesMicrosoft	INTJ	Builder	92
#5	Reed HastingsNetflix	INTJ	Builder	92
#6	Sara BlakelySpanx	ESFJ	Operator	90
#7	Patrick CollisonStripe	INTJ	Builder	90
#8	Katrina LakeStitch Fix	ESTJ	Operator	90
#9	Queen Elizabeth IEngland	ENTJ	Visionary	88
#10	Marc BenioffSalesforce	ENFJ	Connector	88
#11	Howard SchultzStarbucks	ENFJ	Connector	88
#12	Steve JobsApple	ENTJ	Visionary	85
#13	Oprah WinfreyOWN / Harpo	ENFJ	Connector	85
#14	Brian CheskyAirbnb	ENFJ	Builder	85
#15	Mark ZuckerbergMeta	INTJ	Builder	85
#16	Sam AltmanOpenAI	ENTJ	Visionary	85
#17	Daniel EkSpotify	INTJ	Builder	85
#18	Marc AndreessenAndreessen Horowitz / Netscape	ENTJ	Contrarian	82
#19	Whitney Wolfe HerdBumble	ENFP	Connector	80
#20	Paul GrahamY Combinator	INTP	Contrarian	80
#21	Peter ThielPayPal / Palantir	INTP	Contrarian	80
#22	Walt DisneyThe Walt Disney Company	ENFP	Visionary	78
#23	Elon MuskTesla / SpaceX	INTP	Visionary	75
#24	Reid HoffmanLinkedIn	ENFP	Connector	75
#25	Sergey BrinGoogle / Alphabet	INTP	Builder	75
#26	Travis KalanickUber	ESTP	Operator	75
#27	Yvon ChouinardPatagonia	INFP	Visionary	72
#28	Jack DorseyTwitter / Block	INTP	Contrarian	68
#29	Larry PageGoogle / Alphabet	INTP	Builder	60
#30	Naval RavikantAngelList	INTP	Contrarian	50

Where would you rank on conscientiousness?

Take the Founder Mode entrepreneur personality test to find your conscientiousness score on the same 0-100 scale used for the 30 founders above. Free, 10 minute survey.

Find your score

Top 5: highest conscientiousness

Bottom 5: lowest conscientiousness

Frequently asked questions

What is conscientiousness in the Big Five model?

Conscientiousness captures goal-directed behavior, planning, organization, self-discipline, and follow-through. It is the single strongest personality predictor of business performance across decades of research.

Do high-conscientiousness founders perform better?

Conscientiousness is the most reliable Big Five predictor of entrepreneurial performance and startup survival, replicated across meta-analyses spanning over 100 studies (Zhao & Seibert, 2006; Zhao, Seibert & Lumpkin, Journal of Management, 2010).

Which famous founder scores highest on conscientiousness?

Based on our Big Five estimates, Jeff Bezos (Amazon, MBTI ESTJ) is the highest-scoring founder on conscientiousness 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

Openness to Experience

The innovation driver

Extraversion

The distribution advantage

Agreeableness

Lower is often better

Neuroticism

The resilience factor

Conscientiousness 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.