I'd argue that it's the other way around. Older entrepreneurs have more monetary and social resources with which to start a company. Younger entrepreneurs make up on this distinction by shooting for the stars. The fact that older people tend to just want to have a profitable business, while the younger ones tend to want to change the world (at least in their perception) makes for bigger risks with bigger rewards. That's not to say some younglings aren't in it only to get rich, nor that some oldlings aren't in it to change the world of course.
Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
11–20 of 21 posts
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#12I didn't have the feeling of urgency to bring something into the world when I was in my 20's. The feeling of mortality you get as you get older is a real motivator. I suspect that those who want young people to drop out of school and start businesses are Pied Pipers running yet another "chew 'em up and spit 'em out" operation like McKinsey or grad school.
I really have to agree here. I have several successful companies and invested in myself.I am one who lost most in the real estate market.I because of my previous entrepreneurial experience believe in myself. No school can give you that only life experience. I took all the plus and minuses of the previous business and develop a real for profit business that meets all the things I want a business to do for me.
Also, I can for see problems easier and have more patience for somethings and less for some others. but I know the difference.
Also, because this is a later life business I have an urgency that I think younger entrepreneurs don't always have
this makes my concentration stronger, at least for me.
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#13The impact of a group of young people who have tried to create a company while they had little to lose, will be significant.
No matter whether they succeed or not. In 10 years measure them against their friends and see who has had the most impact.
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#14Jim Clark was 50 when he co-founded Netscape with Marc Andreessen. And he was 37 when he first got in the game and started SGI.
Mark Pincus was 41 when he started Zynga. Mark Cuban was in his late-30s when he started what would become Broadcast.com and Mike Bloomberg was about 40 when he started Bloomberg.
Just a few names/ages off the top of my head, though we could obviously name just as many extraordinary entrepreneurs who proved themselves in their 20s/early 30s.
Age matters little for entrepreneurs, I think. What really does though is the amount of time you have and just how much of it you're willing to put in to make something happen.
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#15There is still hope for me!
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#16Jim Clark was 50 when he co-founded Netscape with Marc Andreessen. And he was 37 when he first got in the game and started SGI. Mark Pincus was 41 when he started Zynga. Mark Cuban was in his late-30s when he started what would become Broadcast.com and Mike Bloomberg was about 40 when he started Bloomberg. Just a few names/ages off the top of my head, though we could obviously name just as many extraordinary entrepre…
I completely agree.
But this country loves extreme cases. The media tends to ignore the 40+ successful CEOs out there because it's not uncommon to see someone in that age group running a good business. But when Mark Zuckerberg became the world's youngest billionaire at age 23, everyone wanted to do an interview with him and sell a story around it.
Really, the reason everyone pays attention to Zuck is because he's the exception.
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#17Jim Clark was 50 when he co-founded Netscape with Marc Andreessen. And he was 37 when he first got in the game and started SGI. Mark Pincus was 41 when he started Zynga. Mark Cuban was in his late-30s when he started what would become Broadcast.com and Mike Bloomberg was about 40 when he started Bloomberg. Just a few names/ages off the top of my head, though we could obviously name just as many extraordinary entrepre…
I feel you are discounting (with your concluding sentence) the emotions that are at work while dealing with the millions of negotiations at play while starting a company, whether it be for something as simple as "getting a good price on bandwidth" to something as complex as "getting a good valuation on our stock".
Even day-to-day operations involve a lot of emotions, such as managing feedback from users. When you start dealing with tons of customers, eventually the situation will come up that you answer the phone and there is an irate user on the other end screaming at you.
Even when you have zero users, you are going to need to make really tough decisions inside the company regarding who is working on it and how much they are being compensated (whether it be for stock or for equity).
As I've gotten older (I'm 29 now), I've seen a dramatic change in my abilities in these regards, abilities that I expect (based on discussions I've had with 40-50 year old people who advise me) will hopefully continue to improve over the next decade or two (until my brain starts to turn to mush, which of course will start to happen, making me sad).
Of course, some people manage to be good at this when they are very young, and some people simply suck at this until they are very old, but I seriously doubt that this incredibly vital skill is something that anyone doesn't get much better at as they get older, whether they are actively trying to or not.
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#18Jim Clark was 50 when he co-founded Netscape with Marc Andreessen. And he was 37 when he first got in the game and started SGI. Mark Pincus was 41 when he started Zynga. Mark Cuban was in his late-30s when he started what would become Broadcast.com and Mike Bloomberg was about 40 when he started Bloomberg. Just a few names/ages off the top of my head, though we could obviously name just as many extraordinary entrepre…
I feel you are discounting (with your concluding sentence) the emotions that are at work while dealing with the millions of negotiations at play while starting a company, whether it be for something as simple as "getting a good price on bandwidth" to something as complex as "getting a good valuation on our stock". Even day-to-day operations involve a lot of emotions, such as managing feedback from users. When you sta…
I'm 25 and I've founded two startups in the past; I know exactly what you're talking about regarding the emotional roller coaster.
But I greatly disagree that age somehow naturally helps you deal with this. The only thing that does help you deal with it is experience, plain and simple. That's why it helps if you start when you're younger.
If my father (who's 51) decided to start a company tomorrow he'd feel uneasy and make way more mistakes than I would simply because he's never been through it before.
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#19In the startup world, there is a lot of love for young founders, because many believe only they can be disruptive and come up with innovative startups. As I get older, I should resent such a preconception, but I agree with it.
And now I understand why it is so: the more experience I gain, the better I am at knowing right away if something is going to work or not. But what I gain in efficiency, I lose in innovation.
http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2010/12/16/young-and-clueless-a...
Re: Why old people make better entrepreneurs than young ones
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel you are discounting (with your concluding sentence) the emotions that are at work while dealing with the millions of negotiations at play while starting a company, whether it be for something as simple as "getting a good price on bandwidth" to something as complex as "getting a good valuation on our stock". Even day-to-day operations involve a lot of emotions, such as managing feedback from users. When you sta…
I'm 25 and I've founded two startups in the past; I know exactly what you're talking about regarding the emotional roller coaster. But I greatly disagree that age somehow naturally helps you deal with this. The only thing that does help you deal with it is experience, plain and simple. That's why it helps if you start when you're younger. If my father (who's 51) decided to start a company tomorrow he'd feel uneasy an…
I do not disagree with this, but will state the following "in response": I believe there is a lot of overlap in the things you learn from running a business as running a family, giving your father a lot to teach you about running a business from his many further years of experience in those areas (and consequently I believe his first year of entrepreneurship would be smoother than yours, even if your 26th were smoother than his first).