People get involved in starting new firms for a number of reasons. One of the most basic distinctions is between those who seek to take advantage of unique business opportunities and those who cannot find suitable work and start a business to survive.
The sheer number of startups launched globally can be hard to grasp. A staggering 100 million businesses are launched annually, according to figures from GEM Global Report. It comes to just over three businesses every second, or 11,000 per hour. Unfortunately 90 per cent of them will fail, but that doesn’t stop a rather impressive amount of money being thrown at them by investors. In the US alone, a mind-boggling $1,532 in venture capital is invested every second. Per year, that adds up to $48.3bn. This live graphic by Gasoline puts it into perspective:
via Shopgasoline.com
Data Sources: US Kaufman Report 2015, GEM Global Report 2014, National Venture Capital Association
