Founder titles are up 22% since 2023 while US hiring fell 11%
Founder is one of the job titles people most often give themselves. Nobody is hired as a founder, so the title can rise when hiring falls.
October 2026
Live Data Technologies looked at US career records to see what is behind the growth: whether it means more companies, which signals point to a real company, and how long founder titles last. The benchmarks draw on more than 16,000 people who started a founder title at a US tech company from 2021 to 2024.
Are more people becoming founders?
More people are giving themselves the title. In Live Data Technologies data, at least 140,000 people in the US started a founder title in 2025, up from about 116,000 in 2023: a 22% rise. US hires fell 11% over the same years (BLS).
Nobody is hired as a founder. People give themselves the title, so it can grow while employers hire less. US hires here are the BLS count of every hire by US employers, including people changing jobs, so they show how much hiring there is overall, not how many new jobs were created.
The two counts are built differently: one is career records, the other a survey of employers. Founder titles also show up in career records months after they start, so the 2025 founder figure is a minimum and the gap is, if anything, larger.
Source: Live Data Technologies data; BLS JOLTS hires.
| Year | New founder titles (Live Data) | US hires (BLS) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107,427 | 76.2 million |
| 2022 | 100,759 | 76.9 million |
| 2023 | 115,664 | 70.4 million |
| 2024 | 119,465 | 64.5 million |
| 2025 | 140,541 | 62.9 million |
Does that mean more startups?
Not on this evidence. While founder titles rose in Live Data Technologies data, US business applications were about flat from 2023 to 2025, and the applications most likely to hire staff fell 8% (Census).
From January to August, applications went from 3.89 million in 2023 to 3.83 million in 2025. The ones the Census Bureau rates as likely to hire went from 1.31 million to 1.20 million.
2026 looks different so far: applications are up 14% on 2025, but the likely employers only 2%.
Is founder replacing freelance and consulting titles?
It is taking a bigger share of them. In Live Data Technologies data, 75 in 100 people who gave themselves a founder or freelance-type title in 2023 chose founder. In 2025 it was 83 in 100.
Freelance-type titles here are freelance, freelancer, self-employed and independent consultant (matched on title words). They fell 24% from 2023 to 2025 (February to December averages).
Both counts come from the same career records, which removes some recording effects, though not all.
Plain consultant is left out, because it is usually a job people are hired into at a consulting firm.
Source: Live Data Technologies data.
What points to a real company?
Four signals on a record point that way. At named US tech companies in Live Data Technologies data, about half of new founder titles show all four: 55, 54 and 51 in 100 for titles started in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The four signals: the title names a company, not Stealth; the company record lists at least two people; the founder title is still held a year later; and the person had no other job at another company when it started.
They are signals, not proof. Plenty of real startups begin in stealth or while the founder still has another job, a brand-new company may not list its people yet, and a title nobody updates still shows as held. Stealth and other unnamed entries miss the first signal by definition, and they are a growing share of new tech founder titles.
| Started | Record lists 2+ people | Still held a year later | Show all four |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 86 in 100 | 82 in 100 | 55 in 100 |
| 2023 | 81 in 100 | 75 in 100 | 54 in 100 |
| 2024 | 85 in 100 | 76 in 100 | 51 in 100 |
How long do founder titles last?
Most are still held two years on. In Live Data Technologies data, about 3 in 4 to 8 in 10 founder titles at named US tech companies were still held after two years, depending on the start year. For Stealth and unnamed entries it was about 6 in 10.
A title counts as held until the person has no job left at that company. A held title is not proof the company is running, and a closed one can be an exit, a pivot or a profile edit.
Titles started in 2024 are left out because they are too recent: endings take months to show up in career records.
Source: Live Data Technologies data.
| Company | Year started | 1 yr | 2 yrs | 3 yrs | 4 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named company | 2021 | 95% | 83% | 72% | 63% |
| Named company | 2022 | 93% | 80% | 69% | 61% |
| Named company | 2023 | 90% | 76% | 67% | |
| Stealth or unnamed | 2021 | 80% | 58% | 50% | 46% |
| Stealth or unnamed | 2022 | 77% | 59% | 51% | |
| Stealth or unnamed | 2023 | 76% | 59% | 52% |
Do people leave a job to become founders?
Most had already left one. In Live Data Technologies data, between 6 and 7 in 10 new US tech founder titles started in 2022 to 2025 began after the person had left a job, and about 1 in 3 while they still held another.
The records cannot say whether someone quit or was laid off. Some of the jobs still showing as held were never closed on the record, so the 1 in 3 is an upper bound.
What happens when a founder title ends?
Most people show a new job within a year. In Live Data Technologies data, 64 to 70 in 100 US tech founder titles that ended from 2022 to 2024 were followed by a new employee job within 12 months.
Software engineers and product managers whose jobs ended over the same years come in at 65 to 66 in 100, a similar share. The comparison is rough: founders' next jobs are more often recorded in the same month the title ends, so the true rate may be a little higher or lower.
This leaves out people who already held another job when the founder title ended. It does not measure time out of work.
How can investors use this data?
Live Data Technologies can check the same signals for a list of founders, a portfolio, a sector or a cohort of companies, and track who joins and leaves after a round.
Typical asks: how many founders in a sector show all four signals, how long founders in a cohort keep the title, and where people go when a founder title ends.
See how investors use Live Data
The rest of the picture
Leaving out companies with Stealth in the name barely changes the founder count: the rise from 2023 to 2025 is 20% instead of 22%.
From 2022, a low year for founder titles, the rise looks bigger. This page uses 2023 to 2025.
Related: who becomes a founding engineer, and where they come from. livedatatech.com/insights/founding-engineers
Frequently asked questions
Are more people becoming founders?
More people are giving themselves the title. In Live Data Technologies data, at least 140,000 people in the US started a founder title in 2025, up from about 116,000 in 2023: a 22% rise. US hires fell 11% over the same years (BLS).
Does that mean more startups?
Not on this evidence. While founder titles rose in Live Data Technologies data, US business applications were about flat from 2023 to 2025, and the applications most likely to hire staff fell 8% (Census).
Is founder replacing freelance and consulting titles?
It is taking a bigger share of them. In Live Data Technologies data, 75 in 100 people who gave themselves a founder or freelance-type title in 2023 chose founder. In 2025 it was 83 in 100.
What points to a real company?
Four signals on a record point that way. At named US tech companies in Live Data Technologies data, about half of new founder titles show all four: 55, 54 and 51 in 100 for titles started in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
How long do founder titles last?
Most are still held two years on. In Live Data Technologies data, about 3 in 4 to 8 in 10 founder titles at named US tech companies were still held after two years, depending on the start year. For Stealth and unnamed entries it was about 6 in 10.
Do people leave a job to become founders?
Most had already left one. In Live Data Technologies data, between 6 and 7 in 10 new US tech founder titles started in 2022 to 2025 began after the person had left a job, and about 1 in 3 while they still held another.
What happens when a founder title ends?
Most people show a new job within a year. In Live Data Technologies data, 64 to 70 in 100 US tech founder titles that ended from 2022 to 2024 were followed by a new employee job within 12 months.
How can investors use this data?
Live Data Technologies can check the same signals for a list of founders, a portfolio, a sector or a cohort of companies, and track who joins and leaves after a round.
About the data
Live Data Technologies compiles career histories from public information on the open web. A founder title is any job title with founder in it, such as founder, co-founder or founder and CEO, leaving out founder's office, founders associate, founding engineer and founding member. Counts of new titles are US first roles at a company, all industries, recorded by October 22, 2026: 115,664 in 2023 and 140,541 in 2025. The signals, the time-held grid and the job figures cover US founder titles at companies tagged software, internet or IT that have a company record, one title per person, as recorded on October 21, 2026. Stealth or unnamed means the company name is Stealth or a similar placeholder. The newest months are still filling in, because a job change can take months to show up. US hires are from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (total nonfarm hires); business applications are from the Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics, January to August. The data covers people with a findable professional presence online and is not a census of all workers.
How to cite this
You can quote these figures. Credit "Source: Live Data Technologies data" and link to this page. You can republish the charts with the same credit.
The finding: More people are giving themselves the title. In Live Data Technologies data, at least 140,000 people in the US started a founder title in 2025, up from about 116,000 in 2023: a 22% rise. US hires fell 11% over the same years (BLS). https://www.livedatatech.com/insights/founder-titles
Plain text: Live Data Technologies, "Founder titles are up 22% since 2023 while US hiring fell 11%," October 29, 2026. https://www.livedatatech.com/insights/founder-titles
Academic (APA): Hamilton, A. (2026, October 29). Founder titles are up 22% since 2023 while US hiring fell 11%. Live Data Technologies. https://www.livedatatech.com/insights/founder-titles