‘Career cost’ of entrepreneurship for those seeking re-employment | Business

Founders joke that the experience of building their own business makes them unemployable, but research by London Business School shows that employers agree.

The study found that male entrepreneurs in particular were significantly less likely than candidates with no entrepreneurial experience to be invited for a job interview.

Olenka Kacperczyk, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at LBS, said that HR managers at large companies saw male founders as too inflexible, independent-minded and unwilling to take orders. They also suspected that the founders would not want to stay long term.

In contrast, female founders did not suffer the same rejection rate. They were significantly more likely to be called for an interview than their male counterparts, while there was little difference in the success of female