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Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

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Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#161

Post by bonestamp2 »

taneq wrote: post #67
bonestamp2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I met with a non-technical cofounder a few months ago who is in his early 20s. He had a great idea for a product and was looking for a technical co-founder (he also had an investor who already put up some money and he was already deeply involved in the sales channel and had two customers already sold). I have no doubt this product would very successful. Probably not a unicorn, but could make a few people quite wealth…

> ...non-technical cofounder [...] had a great idea for a product and was looking for a technical co-founder As an aside, maybe I just don't 'get it' or maybe I've just met bad examples but this scenario always reads to me like "guy wants someone to do the work for him so he can be the boss". Good ideas are cheap. Execution is the hard bit.

I think it's more toward bad examples, which is most of the examples that I come across so I can see why you think that. But, this guy was good at sales, had an investor with money already in, had two customers sold on the platform, was already doing business in the space. He was a good example of a non-technical cofounder, he wasn't just saying he would do all the sales/marketing/finance like all non-technical co-founders always say they'll do, he was actually doing all of it already. His only problem was humility.

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#162

Post by bonestamp2 »

opportune wrote: post #46
bonestamp2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I met with a non-technical cofounder a few months ago who is in his early 20s. He had a great idea for a product and was looking for a technical co-founder (he also had an investor who already put up some money and he was already deeply involved in the sales channel and had two customers already sold). I have no doubt this product would very successful. Probably not a unicorn, but could make a few people quite wealth…

“Non-technical cofounder in early 20s” sounds like a massive red flag to me. Ideas are cheap, execution is what matters

I agree; however, after the MVP is built the execution continues... and a hard part of that phase in the execution is actually getting customers and raising money and he had already done both. So, he had real value beyond the idea. I think we can all agree that some ideas are better than others, and the idea was on the better side of that spectrum too.

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#163

Post by mastazi »

nsomaru wrote: post #143
mastazi wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't imagine a more risky period to step out of a 'career' and become a founder than 45. Why? What makes age 45 more risky than 40 or 50, or 35 or 60? Or are you just comparing "age bracket where people probably have a family" vs. "people probably too young to have a family"?

That, and, as you get older you need your money to be more stable (reducing returns over the long term)

Oh yes that's true. My Aussie Super (retirement scheme) was started in my 30s (that's when I migrated down under) and now I need to pay voluntary contributions besides the standard 9.5% or I won't get a decent retirement.

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#164

Post by drallison »

Must have been a slow day at the HBR.

What evidence is there that a startup's founders age is a determinate of success? What does it mean to be successful in this context? in general? What other properties of a startup founder might contribute to the startup's success? How are those properties related to her/his age.

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#165

Post by ChicagoDave »

sah2ed wrote: post #10
ChicagoDave wrote: post #5

Age could be a factor, but I think it’s all about grooming and connections. You can have Google on your resume and get funded. You might have been groomed from birth for success and you’ll get funded. Success itself is whether the idea had merit and a solid team is built.

> Success itself is whether the idea had merit and a solid team is built. Even the concept of an idea being meritable is relative -- it depends on who is making the assessment. Fred Wilson didn't think AirBnB had merit, in fact he thought the whole thing was ridiculous [0], no matter how hard pg tried to convince him otherwise [1]. [0] https://avc.com/2011/03/airbnb/ [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/airbnb.html

Find a successful startup that didn’t have naysayers. Merit is measured by the founder getting customers and proving the model. Not what “experts” say.

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#166

Post by ataturk »

kumarvvr wrote: post #99
bonestamp2 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some ways, it's also easier to run a startup when you're younger. Most younger people have more energy and fewer family obligations. But, that also explains why 45 makes a lot of sense... if you have kids they're probably old enough that they're doing a lot of their own things so you've got the wisdom from age (experience) and you've shed some of the family responsibilities that you might have at, say, age 35.

Kids who do their own things, leaves a lot of time at hand. As a father of a 3 year old, I find it very difficult to sneak in even 15 minutes of thinking time. Of course, it dosent help that im also working while planning to start a web business.

As a parent, I can tell you that I'd rather just spend the time with my kids. I owe it to them to be there, to be a role model for them, to make sure they are getting the right start in life and have what they need. In short, it's about them which I think too many Millenial types overlook--once you have kids, it's not about you anymore.

I can't see why I would do a startup. I'm 45, am already fairly well off, and just don't care about all the hassles. Money is not everything. In fact, money is nothing at all. I've been in tech long enough to realize what a scam all of it is--very little has uplifted humanity. We have a huge sense of self importance about it, but honestly, most of it will just be forgotten in another couple of decades. Like it never existed. The only thing that endures is your legacy through your children and if they are mistreated by you, well, there will be nothing at all.

So yeah, work your life away, but I'm not going to.

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#167

Post by angelosp »

At an early age, you work in order to understand the market and the customer, working close and listen to their needs! Then you find the tier 1 problem! You give a solution! Then at 45, you become a co-founder and your life becomes your job! You probably work 80-100 hours a week. You are 80 years old, you die having changed the world! Your children live in abundance, but you keep the glory and so your name lives for a long time in human history!

I've met billionaires who know the "what" and the "how" but can't give me a meaningful "Why". Their "Why" always translates in the fact that they will disrupt the world. I believe that something is missing.

I am absolutely positive but one's more and even living an eternal life I can not help myself find meaning and wellbeing in starting up a business and human existence in general. If we do not include social entrepreneurship, why devote so much time for a belief to change the world without knowing that the world actually needs that change and it is not wasteful. We should re-define the "Why" before starting a business. Otherwise, we ended up doing business for the sake of business.

Life is certainly worth living and changing the world at young or older age is absolutely helpful for humanity. But the paradox is that we find the worth of life by finding our own true worth first. Transcending all the illusions of limitations, and realizing oneness with nature's consciousness maybe is the ultimate purpose of human life.

To conclude, I'd say at a young age develop self-awareness, define you in relation to the universe and then at an older age share your inner value with others(or keep it yourself). Don't just iterate the norms. Think out of the box!

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#168

Post by heavenlyblue »

auganov wrote: post #144
iopuy wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just an FYI on Taylor Swift, she is not an "aww shucks" country music girl that cut her teeth by playing at malls and smaller venues. Her wealthy father purchase part of a record label which then signed her. The image that is portrayed is propaganda.

It's like the "Bill Gate's mom was on the board of IBM, so he's a phony" story. Just as in tech, successful people in other industries tend to have supportive parents.

How does hard work make me have these wealthy parents?

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#169

Post by bizkitgto »

canadapups wrote: post #159
bizkitgto wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of curiosity, how did you learn to code on your own and what did you build?

I built CanadaPups.com. At first I started to learn by reading Computer Science 101 textbooks. The intro MIT textbook is in python and has more depth than other CS101 books. (Guttag, John. Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python.) I then went practical, I learnt Ruby on Rails via https://www.railstutorial.org/ . It was good to provide me with mental framework of how websites are built... html, coding…

That's awesome!! How long did it take you to go from zero to launching your website? Did you do this on your free time (were your working full time)?

Re: Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

#170

Post by bizkitgto »

baccheion wrote: post #154
bizkitgto wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your testicles will shrink, and your body will stop naturally producing testosterone over time as you continue with the testosterone injections - basically, once you start it has to be for life! Be careful doing this.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting TRT.

What were you suggesting? Other than topical (still stops natural growth), there's no way to significantly boost T.
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