The statistics surrounding startup success are pretty daunting — in fact, of the 500,000+ businesses owners that launched companies in 2012, only a handful will ever achieve a fraction of the notoriety of famed CEOs like Zuckerberg, Dorsey or Karp.
But the formidable numbers don't dissuade thousands of startup founders from taking the leap year after year, and it's certainly true that running a successful startup has its perks; particularly for the brands that beat the odds and blossom into household names such as Twitter, Spotify or Airbnb.
See also: Do You Have What It Takes to Be CEO?
The motivators are powerful ones. After all, even tech giants such as Google have their humble roots. The inspiring success stories continue to seduce dreamers, innovators and creatives to the drawing board in efforts to create "the next big thing."
When launching a startup, there are countless decisions to consider: number of founders, sources of funding, location and target market, to name a few. What factors — other than sheer luck — influence success? The below infographic takes a look at the statistics surrounding startups and examines how many of them actually manage to get off the ground.

Infographic created by Mashable