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Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

joanwestenberg.com

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Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#31

Post by reactordev »

pinkmuffinere wrote: post #20
reactordev wrote: post #18

40 is the new 30s and life really starts after 50. Until then you’re spinning your wheels trying to pay back loans, raise kids, work, save, and not fall victim to vices. Colonel Sanders started KFC in his 40s and didn’t come up with the signature recipe until he was 50. KFC as we know it didn’t exist until he was 65. Truth is, most successful business owners start in their mid 40s or around 40.

I’ve seen this (“most successful businesses start in their 40s”) a couple times, but I always wonder if the people who start a successful business succeed in their 40s _because_ they’ve been trying since their 20s, and learned a bunch on the way. And if the secret isn’t some combination of business experience/connections/etc, then what is it about being 40+ that would make one intrinsically better at starting a busin…

The secret sauce (even yc will confirm) is relationships. It’s not necessarily what you know, but who you know.

Sometimes they are offered in your 20s. Sometimes they are built over time for 20 years.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#32

Post by jvanderbot »

pinkmuffinere wrote: post #20
reactordev wrote: post #18

40 is the new 30s and life really starts after 50. Until then you’re spinning your wheels trying to pay back loans, raise kids, work, save, and not fall victim to vices. Colonel Sanders started KFC in his 40s and didn’t come up with the signature recipe until he was 50. KFC as we know it didn’t exist until he was 65. Truth is, most successful business owners start in their mid 40s or around 40.

I’ve seen this (“most successful businesses start in their 40s”) a couple times, but I always wonder if the people who start a successful business succeed in their 40s _because_ they’ve been trying since their 20s, and learned a bunch on the way. And if the secret isn’t some combination of business experience/connections/etc, then what is it about being 40+ that would make one intrinsically better at starting a busin…

What's the difference? The message is "keep trying and don't give up just because you're 40". It's fairly dubious to say "You can feel free to start a new hobby/business at 40 and expect to succeed quickly", but it's in line with this thread to say "If you haven't felt the success you want by 40, it's ok, greatness comes as often as not after".

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#33

Post by jongjong »

I feel like there is powerful social conditioning in our society which prevents people who didn't succeed early from succeeding later. It's not about their work. At the end of the day, nobody can succeed in society without the stamp of approval from a bunch of elites. Like a big publisher, or a big social media influencer or a big media platform editor. Nowadays, it seems more than ever, that the elites all have to agree.

It creates situations where some young person may not be "allowed to succeed" due to their unconventional approach and this continues until they turn a certain age by which point those in power think "This person cannot be good because they're 45 and I never heard of them." The suppression becomes self-fulfilling because they were unconventional even though their approach later proved optimal and everyone may be doing it now. Not everyone on the frontline gets recognition.

Also, because a lot of successful people achieved success by a certain age, they tend to look for and help people who are like them. Someone who is 45 and not successful has a very different worldview than someone who became successful in their first venture at 18 years old.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#34

Post by jacquesm »

isleyaardvark wrote: post #19
magicnubs wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. The child prodigy is overvalued in popular perception. It is a subject of fascination precisely because it is uncommon. Most really great work is done by people with plenty of experience; it's just not that interesting when an experienced person does good work.

I don't think child prodigies as commonly known exist in computer programming. A child can learn concertos or even write concertos, but not the comparable version of a concerto in code.

I have two existence proofs in mind that this isn't true.

One of them runs a very large venture backed company and is active right here on this site, the other you've likely never heard of, is super modest and absolutely blew me away with their ability while still in high school, by which time they'd been programming for more than a decade. Some kids really are amazingly capable.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#35

Post by pinkmuffinere »

jvanderbot wrote: post #32
pinkmuffinere wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen this (“most successful businesses start in their 40s”) a couple times, but I always wonder if the people who start a successful business succeed in their 40s _because_ they’ve been trying since their 20s, and learned a bunch on the way. And if the secret isn’t some combination of business experience/connections/etc, then what is it about being 40+ that would make one intrinsically better at starting a busin…

What's the difference? The message is "keep trying and don't give up just because you're 40". It's fairly dubious to say "You can feel free to start a new hobby/business at 40 and expect to succeed quickly", but it's in line with this thread to say "If you haven't felt the success you want by 40, it's ok, greatness comes as often as not after".

Ya, i think “keep trying” is absolutely the right message! But some people will read the statistic and say “i shouldn’t start yet!” — just trying to argue against that.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#36

Post by apercu »

I know there is ageism in tech and that people think they need to do x(thing) by y(age) but as a 51 year old: let your values drive you and don’t spend all your money. My 40s on have been the best in terms of freedom, learning and execution. Yes, I felt all the same pressures in my 20s and 30s so my words mean little, but I am far happier and more fulfilled the last 11 years of my values and the things that bring me joy driving me. And I’ve never been more productive- frankly, at 30, full of piss and vinegar, I didn’t know shit. And I had already started and exited an ISP and a software consultancy.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#37

Post by morkalork »

adzm wrote: post #29
morkalork wrote: post #4

Richard Adams was 52 when he wrote Watership Down and surely there's more examples

JRR Tolkien was 38 when he started writing The Hobbit, which wouldn't get finished and published until he was in his mid 40s.

Frank Herbert and Dune is another; he also apparently spent 6 years laying the ground work for it. Both he and Richard Adams had trouble even getting their books published, sci-fi and fantasy as genres not taken seriously at all back then.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#38

Post by selectodude »

isleyaardvark wrote: post #19
magicnubs wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. The child prodigy is overvalued in popular perception. It is a subject of fascination precisely because it is uncommon. Most really great work is done by people with plenty of experience; it's just not that interesting when an experienced person does good work.

I don't think child prodigies as commonly known exist in computer programming. A child can learn concertos or even write concertos, but not the comparable version of a concerto in code.

Geohot sim unlocked the iPhone at 17.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#39

Post by moralestapia »

reactordev wrote: post #18

40 is the new 30s and life really starts after 50. Until then you’re spinning your wheels trying to pay back loans, raise kids, work, save, and not fall victim to vices. Colonel Sanders started KFC in his 40s and didn’t come up with the signature recipe until he was 50. KFC as we know it didn’t exist until he was 65. Truth is, most successful business owners start in their mid 40s or around 40.

>40 is the new 30s and life really starts after 50.

If you're poor, yes. I don't mean this in a derogaroty way.

Re: Remember: Kurt Vonnegut Was 47

#40

Post by Joel_Mckay »

apercu wrote: post #36

I know there is ageism in tech and that people think they need to do x(thing) by y(age) but as a 51 year old: let your values drive you and don’t spend all your money. My 40s on have been the best in terms of freedom, learning and execution. Yes, I felt all the same pressures in my 20s and 30s so my words mean little, but I am far happier and more fulfilled the last 11 years of my values and the things that bring me…

In general, young naive entrepreneurs are easier to exploit due to desperation in a sucker VC deal, and tax or school credits often subsidize youth labor costs in many places.

No tech bro or VC wants experienced people around telling younger versions of themselves what to avoid. =3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpE_xMRiCLE

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