The fear that starting a business will inevitably mean an enforced period of belt tightening and dining on nothing but baked bean or pasta suppers has dissuaded many high-flying executives from quitting their jobs to become entrepreneurs.

Salary data from 20- and 30-something MBA alumni from the top schools, however, show the reverse is true. Far from earning less, those that left corporate careers to create a start-up quickly make up any shortfall and are earning more on average than their salaried peers just three years after finishing their course.

In a sample of 7,800 MBA graduates from the world’s top 100 business schools that responded to the FT’s 2015 rankings research, 22 per cent had launched a start-up while studying for the qualification or shortly after.