The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
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Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#2So what we get is a very big case of survivorship bias.
Relevant: https://xkcd.com/1827/
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#3Personally I think the ideas you have when you are 20 and the ideas you have when you are 40 are probably going to differ a lot. Since starting a business is about doing something in the real world that is going to make money I am not surprised to see that there is more older entrepreneurs than one might expect.
The ideas you have when you are 20 are often more idealist and not necessarily connected to reality as much as the ideas of a 40-year-old. This is coming from a guy that has some years to go before 30.
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#4At 20, I had maybe 2% of the skills and knowledge that I’d need to be a successful entrepreneur. In my mid 30s, I maybe have 30%. I’d say it takes more luck the younger you are, and the 40s-50s is when talent and experience can make a huge difference in success... since you actually might have those two attributes by then!
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#5So what we get is a very big case of survivorship bias. Relevant: https://xkcd.com/1827/
could you explain how it factors in this case? because I don't think that it does.
there may be some 'selection bias', by only including start ups that went on to hire at least one employee, but I am OK with their operational definitions in this case.
the story makes sense, and it jives with my observations when doing my masters in computer science. In tech in particular, most of my classmates were not entrepreneurial at all. Even if they were, the class curriculum was so hard that nobody had time to work on side projects. the undergrads, not only didnt have the technical skills, but they also didnt have any business sense either.
One of them lamented they hate business people who sell products but dont understand it through and through. I told them I would rather have a business guy who can sell any product, than an engineer who can make a great product but not sell it. they still didnt get it.
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#6At 20, I had maybe 2% of the skills and knowledge that I’d need to be a successful entrepreneur. In my mid 30s, I maybe have 30%. I’d say it takes more luck the younger you are, and the 40s-50s is when talent and experience can make a huge difference in success... since you actually might have those two attributes by then!
I also suspect I'll be a lot less salty about not having any time to sit down and program myself any more because I have to deal with all the business parts.
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#7At 20, I had maybe 2% of the skills and knowledge that I’d need to be a successful entrepreneur. In my mid 30s, I maybe have 30%. I’d say it takes more luck the younger you are, and the 40s-50s is when talent and experience can make a huge difference in success... since you actually might have those two attributes by then!
Older people are also more lenient towards your mistakes at a younger age. More people give you a chance. And celebrate even the tiniest successes.
I would say the younger you are, the better your ability to acquire entrepreneurial spirit, but the less knowledge you have to execute. The older you are, the more knowledgeable you are at executing yet the more shy you become at dreaming big.
This makes me recall the phrase: An entrepreneur needs the right balance of genius and craziness.
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#8I started my first "company" at 12.
I've done 8 "real" startups since college. It's probably because I come from a family of entrepreneurs.
Capital is the key, experience is secondary. It costs more to learn on the fly but you'll try things you probably wouldn't otherwise.
My biggest downfall over the years (IMO) is never believing in the "it will be ad/views supported" belief my friends had in the 90s. Having a background in entrepreneurship with degrees in Finance and Econ (+ MIS) made me focus a lot more on actual cashflow. C'est la vie!
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#9So what we get is a very big case of survivorship bias. Relevant: https://xkcd.com/1827/
could you explain how it factors in this case? because I don't think that it does. there may be some 'selection bias', by only including start ups that went on to hire at least one employee, but I am OK with their operational definitions in this case. the story makes sense, and it jives with my observations when doing my masters in computer science. In tech in particular, most of my classmates were not entrepreneuria…
For the most part, a person only gets invited to give a speech if they are one of the lucky few for whom things went well. If your situation is more ordinary, and you've failed, then you not invited to speak. Because of this, we (the public) end up with a distorted view of things. Success seems more common than it is, because we only hear from the successful. That is survivorship bias. It's also why I've argued we need more honest stories about projects that fail:
https://www.amazon.com/Destroy-Tech-Startup-Easy-Steps/dp/09...
Re: The 20-year-old entrepreneur is a myth, according to study
#10Studies like this often ignore the power law. Consider the most valuable tech companies:
1. Apple: $570.7B.
- Jobs: 21
- Wozniak: 26
- Larry & Sergey: 25ish
- Gates: 19ish
- Allen: 22ish
- Bezos: 30ish
- Zuckerberg: 19