Millennials and their older business counterparts agree on the American Dream, but the younger generation of entrepreneurs appears to deviate from their elders in a number of key ways.

The poll of a group of 101 “influential millennials” by Forbes finds that young business leaders aspire to a more-urban existence than their predecessors. When asked where they see themselves living in the next five years, only 18 percent said the suburbs and 3 percent said a rural area. Seventy-nine percent plan to be city-dwellers.

Similarly, when asked to define the American Dream, only 5 percent define it as owning a home. The largest group — 33 percent — say owning their own company. Fourteen percent say becoming “incredibly rich” (remember, the study was conducted by Forbes) and the same percentage identify a comfortable retirement as the key to achieving the quintessential goal. Thirty percent gave “other” responses.

What motivates these young masters of the universe to succeed? Forty-four percent say they want to change the world, hopefully for the better. Twenty-one percent simply want to be “fulfilled,” while 16 percent want to “build their empire.”

Young entrepreneurs are divided on the major problems facing the world. The largest share (27 percent) cite global warming as the biggest issue facing society, while 24 percent say terrorism, 22 percent point to the economy and recession, and 14 percent say religious extremism, which likely overlaps with terrorism to a certain extent.

In contrast, only 1 percent of respondents say immigration was the biggest issue facing the world, underscoring the gap between their perspective on the country’s problems and that of the standard bearer of the Republican party, which traditionally views itself as the champion of big business.

While they are clearly capable of perceiving problems in the world, almost every respondent (97 percent) say they are optimistic about the future.

Instant Insights /

Millennial entrepreneurs say they want to change the world

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