LinkedIn: Start-up founders on young side

With an eye to "sequencing the start-up DNA," the people at LinkedIn have sifted through the more than 120 million public profiles on the site to determine some common characteristics of entrepreneurs. They came up with about 13,000 entrepreneurs, those who identified themselves as founders or co-founders of U.S. companies started after 2000. Among the findings:

Most common ages to launch a first start-up? Ages 30-39. Next most common? Ages 20-29.

Most common majors? Entrepreneurship, computer engineering, computer science.

Least entrepreneurial majors? Nursing, administration, human resources.

"While young (and serial) entrepreneurs are often in the spotlight, our data shows that 65 percent of entrepreneurs are 30 and older -- and only 2 percent are serial entrepreneurs," wrote Monica Rogati, senior data scientist.

Erica Prince, 58, who for 16 years has been running her third entrepreneurial venture, The Professional Speaker's Bureau, Inc. in Roslyn, says she wasn't surprised to see the youth of those starting a first business. She was 21 when she launched hers, one that put greeting card-type messages on records.

Still, she said she would have expected to see more entrepreneurs in their 50s and up (just 5 percent in the LinkedIn study).