Founder Monitor
What is the Founder Monitor?
The Founder Monitor is a annual, data-driven research initiative that tracks how entrepreneurship develops over time and which factors influence who becomes a founder.
Initiated by Unknown University of Applied Sciences, the Founder Monitor aims to move beyond anecdotes and assumptions by providing long-term insights into entrepreneurial behaviour.
We examine why some people start companies while others do not, which conditions stimulate entrepreneurial ambition, and which environments increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial success.
Unknown University acts as the initiator, coordinator and long-term steward of the Founder Monitor.
Research Domains
The Founder Monitor is structured around a set of research domains that together explain how founders emerge. Each domain is explored in depth and expanded over time.
Education & Alumni (active)
This domain examines how education influences entrepreneurship. We analyse which fields of study, programmes and educational environments are more likely to produce founders, using long-term alumni data.
Geographical Influence (upcoming)
This research line explores how location matters. We study regional differences, startup ecosystems and the visibility of entrepreneurship across cities and regions.
Macro-Economic Trends (upcoming)
Here we analyse how broader economic conditions such as labour markets, growth cycles and uncertainty affect the willingness to start a company.
Policy & Regulation (upcoming)
This domain focuses on the impact of public policy, incentives and regulation on entrepreneurial activity and founder behaviour.
Publications
The first publication of the Founder Monitor focuses on education and alumni outcomes, revealing long-term trends in entrepreneurial activity among graduates of Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences. This initial study establishes the baseline for all future editions of the Founder Monitor.
The research is built on a large-scale historical dataset of approximately 500,000 alumni profiles, collected through AlumniScan. Alumni are identified as founders based on professional titles such as founder, oprichter, owner, zzp’er, eigenaar or venture builder, measured five years after graduation. This dataset forms the foundation for a multi-year analysis of the Dutch founder pipeline.
What is next
The next step is the launch of the Founder Study Index, to be presented on 6 March during the Entrepreneurship Study Festival in The Hague. This index will offer a two-part ranking of public and private education institutions in the Netherlands, highlighting which programmes provide the strongest foundation for entrepreneurship.
Educational institutions are invited to participate by contributing data, enabling a transparent and collaborative overview for prospective students, policymakers and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The Founder Monitor is designed as a living research platform: one that not only reflects on the state of entrepreneurship today, but also helps identify where the founders of tomorrow are likely to emerge.