While we knew next to nothing about nascent entrepreneurs ten years ago, thanks to the joint effort of a group of researchers, most of whom are affiliated with the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project, we now have reliable information on the share of nascent entrepreneurs in the population of a large number of countries; the reason for differences in this share across space and time, however, is less well understood. Furthermore, we have a sound knowledge about the prevalence of nascent entrepreneurs in certain sub-groups (like males and females, or people with various educational backgrounds). Less is known about precisely what nascent entrepreneurs are doing and about the timing of the activities. The same conclusion holds with respect to factors that are important for becoming a nascent entrepreneur and for crossing the threshold between nascent and infant entrepreneurship: But a lack of comparability among the numerous empirical studies for different countries makes it impossible to draw any definite conclusions.

Stylized facts that could be most valuable for entrepreneurship researchers, policy makers and, last but not least, nascent entrepreneurs, need to be based on results from a number of studies using large, comprehensive longitudinal data bases that are comparable across countries and that can be accessed by researchers for replication and extension of former studies. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) projects and the data collected within these projects, are important steps toward this aim. The importance of new firms for economic dynamics and of nascent entrepreneurs for new firms, points to the need for further steps in the future.