I investigate the e ffect of human capital on entrepreneurship using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1979. I find that individuals with higher measured intelligence and self-confi dence are more likely to be entrepreneurs. Furthermore I present evidence suggesting that intelligence and self-con fidence aff ect business ownership through two di fferent channels: intelligence increases business survival while self-confi dence increases business creation. Finally, once we control for intelligence and self-con fidence the e ffect of formal college education almost completely vanishes. These results are robust to controlling for selection into entrepreneurship and selection into college.