Ethereum was technically founded by 8 people including Vitalik Buterin and Charles Hoskinson in December 2013. Charles later left Ethereum to found Cardano.   Charles is a mathematician who dropped out of his PhD to work in cryptocurrency full time. Vitalik is a computer scientist who dropped out of his bachelor’s program for the same reason.   

🛠Development🛠  In terms of development, Ethereum has more of a hands-on approach by putting practise before theory. Ethereum’s approach gave it the first-mover advantage when it launched in the summer of 2015.  This is in stark contrast to Cardano. Every component of its architecture is peer-reviewed and rigorously tested by academics prior to implementation.