Your Founder Sign: The Mountaineer—Growth-Minded, Optimistic, and a True Visionary

Your Founder's Zodiac Sign is the Mountaineer—determined and relentless, spontaneous and overachieving. These traits mean you’re a natural fit for being your own boss. The early days of entrepreneurship are hard work, and you are showing up for this! You’re willing to take risks for your ideas, and if they fail, you have plenty of optimism to pick you back up.

After studying some of the one million business owners who use Shopify, we’ve discovered that founder types tend to fall into one of five groups. Which one are you? Start with our personality quiz.

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Hey, wait up! You’re climbing your way to your next goal, and we can hardly keep up. Mountaineer personalities like yours are inspired by growth and ideas, always on the move to reach new heights. 

Mountaineer strengths ⛏️

You’re determined and relentless, spontaneous and overachieving. These traits mean you’re a natural fit for being your own boss. The early days of entrepreneurship are hard work, and you are showing up for this! You’re willing to take risks for your ideas, and if they fail, you have plenty of optimism to pick you back up. 

For the most part, your can-do attitude, vision, innovation, and growth mindset give people confidence in your trajectory. And that’s a win for a naturally social person like you, Mountaineer. As you grow and bring on business partners or staff, you’ll thrive in a pack, spurred on by collective ideas. 

Does this describe you? Take our poll:

Mountaineer opportunities 🪁

While you have a generally open-minded nature, your stubborn streak can kick in when someone tries to apply logic to your lofty ideas. You tend to be an idealist, Mountaineer. Your romantic view of the world is one of the things we love about you, but make sure your dreams are at least a little rooted in reality. If you’re too busy stargazing, you could lose your footing. Anchor yourself to a complementary partner, like the practical Cartographer, and you’ll be safely summit bound again.

It’s sometimes hard to learn from past mistakes if you’re always looking for the silver lining.

You have high expectations of yourself, Mountaineer—it’s sometimes hard to learn from past mistakes if you’re always looking for the silver lining. It’s OK to admit failure. Failures are bound to happen on your adventure, and they don’t diminish the glory of your big wins.

💡 Your best business bets? You have the drive to pursue really big dreams—even the ones that seem impossible. There are a lot of Mountaineers in the music industry. Just sayin’. Get the full list of ideas. 📝

Fictional Mountaineer: Mindy Lahiri

Dr. Mindy Lahiri, the creation of comedian Mindy Kaling, is the Mountaineer in a nutshell: driven, unstoppable, and prone to idealism. The Mindy Project’s central character was a doctor living in a bespoke New York apartment. But she wanted more. Over the course of the series’ six-season arc, she also became a mom, appended an entire floor to her already massive apartment, and opened her own business. 😅

Ironically, burning the candle at both ends leaves almost no time for your personal flames.

Mindi Lahiri, The Mindy Project

The drive for success did take a toll on her personal life though. “Ironically, burning the candle at both ends leaves almost no time for your personal flames,” she says.

Business started slow for the Lahiri Fertility Center, which was a struggle for a woman accustomed to being in control. But, like a true Mountaineer, she weathered the rocky start by indulging in her favorite fantasy as her warrior alter ego, Beyoncé Pad Thai (sorry, Mindy, Beyoncé is a Trailblazer). Her hubris didn’t seem to take a hit, though: “It’s so weird being my own role model,” she says. “You know, I recommend it.”

Mountaineer of the animal kingdom: the lion

Burst

A true Mountaineer, the lion strives for status. Of course, in the animal kingdom, its place is rarely challenged. Lions are social creatures—they are natural leaders and thrive in groups. They lead with confidence and are relentless when chasing goals (i.e., unsuspecting prey). But underneath, the lion is just a big kitten, prone to the playfulness and whimsy of the Mountaineer personality. 

🌟 Explore the other signs: Trailblazer | Cartographer | Outsider | Firestarter

👇 Click to share on Twitter: I’m the Mountaineer: growth minded, determined, spontaneous. What’s your entrepreneur personality? Take the quiz by @Shopify

Illustrations by Alice Mollon