

Want to back an entrepreneur? Best bet is to go for old - thankuz
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/economics/want-to-back-an-entrepreneur-best-bet-is-to-go-for-old

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sbov
People like to point out that the early 20s is the best time to take these
risks because you have no commitments. The same is also often true for those
at or nearing retirement age: your family is gone, your mortgage is paid, and
you already have your retirement saved for.

My mother recently decided to retire, but shortly after decided to start her
own business instead.

~~~
haploid
It doesn't have to be either-or.

Another option is to not get married or have children in the first place, and
open yourself up to an entire lifespan of such opportunity.

~~~
abstractbill
Yet another option is to get married, have children, and then realize that
starting a startup is _still_ possible.

More generally: Never listen to anyone who says your demographic can't start a
startup. They're wrong.

~~~
HSO
Something in your remark just startled me.

Some men (I'll speak for myself here) associate marriage/family with risk.
Others associate it with security. Could it be that those who perceive the
risk are those who (more or less subconsciously) know that they have/will
marry a variant of "trophy wife", beautiful but high maintenance, while those
who perceive the security or comfort know they will/have chosen someone who
will make things less bad for them if they go wrong?

What does it say about me that I only see risks and dangers in marriage/family
("I'll do it when I'm rich enough/have a comfortable cushion") while my
friends are all getting married or starting families, money in the bank or
not? Hmm...

~~~
gregpilling
Or you could marry a beautiful,intelligent, low maintance, wife with a career
of her own, and then you could have the security to do a startup and take
risks. Worked for me.

~~~
PostOnce
You're either lying, or very lucky :)

Beautiful, intelligent, driven people of either sex are uncommon to say the
least, and even if you find one, that doesn't mean you will be compatible;
i.e. your goals may not align. For example, one of you may be driven to climb
the corporate ladder, whilst the other may be driven to establish their own
successful corporation in lieu of obtaining a regular job. If you're not
successful quickly, you might be seen as lazy/unrealistic/non-contributing.

So, what are the odds of meeting someone who is beautiful, intelligent,
driven, low-maintenance, and understanding of the implications of founding a
startup?

Surely, you make it sound easier than it is.

P.S. if that sounds snippy at all, I don't intend it to be, I just meant that
while you have found a treasure of a wife, everyone here is not going to be
able to run right out and acquire one with ease.

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bfe
Not to detract from post-twentysomething entrepreneurs at all, but this
article's references on closer look don't quite support this spin; rather, a
significant component of the spike in "business startups" peaking in 2009
involved employees who were let go from regular jobs and either switched to
doing the same jobs for the same people on outside contractor status, or hung
out a shingle to offer their services as a sole proprietorship on the side, at
lower earnings than their former job, while they kept looking for a new
regular job.

~~~
shareme
and we have a similar situation now.

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gersh
What does this mean? If you found your own company at 20, then 20 years later
are you are 40 year old founder? If you are a serial entrepreneur, some
companies will be started when you are young and others will be started when
you are old.

If you can do it earlier, why wait?

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edw519
_It turns out that the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity in every year
between 1996 and 2007 belongs to the age group between 55 and 64
years...Meanwhile those aged between 20 and 34, "which we usually identify
with swashbuckling and risk-taking youth, has the lowest rate", wrote Dan
Stangler, one of Kauffman's researchers in a report..."Perhaps most
surprising," Mr Stangler added, "this disparity occurred during the 11 years
surrounding the dot-com boom, when the young entrepreneurial upstart became a
cultural icon."_

Not so surprising once you realize there are 100 million baby boomers, many of
whom would have loved to start a technology based business when they were
younger...if only the PC and the internet existed.

Now that the technology has caught up, the pent-up demand can be released.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
Over the next 20 years, as startup costs drop, there's going to be a enormous
number of technical people with real world experience in various markets that
retire and would like something to do.

As long as those folks can manage to be hungry (this is the same problem
successful founders find on the second startup), they are going to kick some
serious booty. Even if only 1 in 100 can be motivated enough, the numbers will
dwarf anything we've seen in the startup world to date.

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nopassrecover
The headline and tone of the article encourages blatant ageism. If we said
"Best bet is to go for men" or "Best bet is to go for Caucasians" there would
be an appropriately strong uproar. People should be judged on their
capability, not the inevitable aspects of their identity.

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devan
Don't stereotype.

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ascendant
Breaking news: people with a lifetime of wisdom to draw from make reasonably
good decisions a lot of the time. Blog at 11.

~~~
patio11
In addition to the lifetime of wisdom, a strong Rolodex and intimate
experience with the problems facing a particular industry can't possibly hurt.
Bonus points: none of those problems sound like "I want to get an app to poke
friends, but $1.99 is a little steep for it."

