88% of venture-backed founders walk away with nothing

A Wharton and Zurich study of 248,454 venture-backed founders finds that 88% leave with no payout. The rewards are concentrated at the very top: the best 1% of startups captured 79% of all gains. The startup myth sells a lottery ticket with decent odds, but this is closer to a winner-takes-nearly-everything contest. The headline figure comes from a summary of the research rather than the paper itself, so the definition of "nothing" deserves a look. The skew is still striking.