When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule • Hacker News Board

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#41

Post by skmurphy » Mon, Sep 07, 2009, 9:46 PM UTC

mburney wrote: post #19

The more interesting question to me is which age demographic does better with less funding. Web 2.0 companies may be just "features" but the great thing about them is that they require barely any investment. In fact, a young person without any commitments (family, mortgage, etc.) and enough determination could figure out a way to do a startup with no VC investment at all. Could an older entrepreneur with a lot of com…

A team of older entrepreneurs can bring much more social capital and domain knowledge to a startup. In a B2B startup both of these can make quite a difference.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#42

Post by skmurphy » Mon, Sep 07, 2009, 9:48 PM UTC

envitar wrote: post #11

Excellent point!Add to this the fact that these old guys may well have a better understanding of what the customer wants and perhaps is prepared to pay for any service. Everybody is focusing on Google but how many like them tried and failed? You won't read about them. Someone who starts a business with his family attached to him thinks twice about each move and turn as any mistake may seriously affect not just his pe…

Strangely, the fact that failure will penalize an older team more can mean that their commitments in a B2B setting are taken much more seriously: if they fail to perform they cannot "move to another lifetime" they have to live with the consequences. This can make them more careful to promise what they can deliver and deliver what they promise.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#43

Post by pg » Mon, Sep 07, 2009, 10:32 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #34

pg wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your theory is about a third right. Young founders do get more attention from the press. But not because of propaganda campaigns by their investors. The press doesn't have to be talked into it: they already have a bias toward writing about young founders. And it's definitely false that VCs prefer founders who are young because they can be pushed around. VCs are very unlikely to invest in someone they can push around.…

Are you willing to share the number of companies YC has invested in where founders were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s or older ?

I don't actually know the numbers. We don't keep track. But I know there haven't been any with founders in their 50s, and only 2 or 3 with founders in their 40s or their teens. Most founders are in their 20s or 30s. Completely guessing, I'd say 15-20% have founders in their 30s.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#44

Post by YuriNiyazov » Mon, Sep 07, 2009, 10:48 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #43

jacquesm wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you willing to share the number of companies YC has invested in where founders were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s or older ?

I don't actually know the numbers. We don't keep track. But I know there haven't been any with founders in their 50s, and only 2 or 3 with founders in their 40s or their teens. Most founders are in their 20s or 30s. Completely guessing, I'd say 15-20% have founders in their 30s.

Have you noticed any correlation between age and failure?

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#45

Post by revorad » Mon, Sep 07, 2009, 10:59 PM UTC

They typically have six to ten years of work experience and real-world ideas.

That's a bit low for 40-year olds, isn't it? So, on average they start working at 30-34 years of age? Or they start early but take really long vacations?

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#46

Post by abstractbill » Mon, Sep 07, 2009, 11:27 PM UTC

yters wrote: post #29

sriramk wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to derail the conversation but when did 40 become 'old'? I'm just a decade and a half from that age and that isn't long. I'd probably consider 60 or 70 to be old. Not 40.

I consider 26, my age, to be old.

If you're anything like me, this feeling may actually go away in a few years. I consider 33, my age, to be young.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#47

Post by mpk » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 12:08 AM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #24

sriramk wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to derail the conversation but when did 40 become 'old'? I'm just a decade and a half from that age and that isn't long. I'd probably consider 60 or 70 to be old. Not 40.

"Old" is relative to context. 40 is old for a startup founder or professional athlete. 40 is young for a presidential candidate or a CEO at a big, pre-existing company. 40 is old for a stripper, but young for a retiree.

> 40 is old for a startup founder or professional athlete

Though I wouldn't really classify rock or mountain climbing as a profession, the really good ones tend to peak around their 40s.

The books I've read on the subject indicate that though the peak physical capacity lies in the mid to late twenties, there are many other factor at play that make climbers better as they age (up to a reasonable age limit).

Experience, more long-term planning, increased ability to endure pain, etc give older climbers (30-45) a much higher chance to complete or survive a climb than their younger counterparts. The same appears to hold to true for other expeditions (long-term sailing, arctic/desert fun, etc). Football and basketball are not the be-all-and-end-all of sports.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#48

Post by mpk » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 12:10 AM UTC

yters wrote: post #29

sriramk wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to derail the conversation but when did 40 become 'old'? I'm just a decade and a half from that age and that isn't long. I'd probably consider 60 or 70 to be old. Not 40.

I consider 26, my age, to be old.

I used to think that, at your age.

Get over it.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#49

Post by dannyr » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 1:04 AM UTC

yters wrote: post #29

sriramk wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to derail the conversation but when did 40 become 'old'? I'm just a decade and a half from that age and that isn't long. I'd probably consider 60 or 70 to be old. Not 40.

I consider 26, my age, to be old.

Growing up, I was always younger than my peers. I was the youngest in my class, team, etc.

With this, I started feeling old when I was 18. It led me not try out out new things thinking I'm too old for it.

I'm 33 now but I had a realization that nobody is too old for anything. I'm trying out new things again and I don't care if I'm older than most people.

Re: When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule

#50

Post by philwelch » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 1:04 AM UTC

mpk wrote: post #47

philwelch wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Old" is relative to context. 40 is old for a startup founder or professional athlete. 40 is young for a presidential candidate or a CEO at a big, pre-existing company. 40 is old for a stripper, but young for a retiree.

> 40 is old for a startup founder or professional athlete Though I wouldn't really classify rock or mountain climbing as a profession, the really good ones tend to peak around their 40s. The books I've read on the subject indicate that though the peak physical capacity lies in the mid to late twenties, there are many other factor at play that make climbers better as they age (up to a reasonable age limit). Experience…

Yes, but 25 is probably old for a figure skater. There are outliers on both ends, but athletes usually tend towards youth. You'd be hard-pressed to name an Olympic event with a gold medalist over 40, or in the team events, a gold medal team averaging over 40. (While it's not fair to compare Olympic soccer, compare World Cup soccer instead.)