
Middle-aged entrepreneurs are more successful than young ones - leonagano
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/why-middle-aged-entrepreneurs-are-better-than-young-ones/
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sctb
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16794228](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16794228).

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tw1010
I have very very little doubt that the sum of the total revenue of all
companies started by middle-aged entrepreneurs divided by the number of them
(the average) is greater than the average revenue from companies started by
young people. What I'm curious about is whether or not young people tend to
create _revolutionary_ companies with more frequency than older people,
especially if you ignore factors that sort of make the game an "unfair"
comparison, like older entrepreneurs having better access to capital (e.g.
self funded) or all the things a network can help you with.

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j45
This graphic shows a 3% difference in success (although it is a nearly 4 fold
difference). Overall, Only 1-4 % of entrepreneurs succeeed according to this
article at any age.

Maybe you can share an example of revolutionary? Many tech revolutions had a
previous incarnation.

On age:

One has to decide if it's easier to learn 20 years worth in 5-10 years from
someone more experienced, or waste one's own time learning it before
innovating. I think mentoring is good and a turbo boost for innovating.

New entrepreneurs and innovators can tend to seek more permission and
validation from others than those who are closer to just making value happen
for clients.

There seems to be less of a gap between what you are calling middle aged vs
someone in their 20's. Today's 40 year olds have grown up on the internet
10-20 years longer than today's digital natives as creators, but also know how
to interface with the pre-internet world and powerholders. It's really a
valuable 2 way relationship.

Ageism is silly against any age, because it just slows down innovation and the
exchange of knowledge and insight.

I started as an entrepreneur when I was 19, and the feelings of people not
getting it are normal, so it can be of value to learn to build and level up to
meet the future you see. Luckily innovation cycles are shortening.

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Kinnard
Are _first-time_ middle-aged entrepreneurs more successful than young ones?

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bksenior
If you dig in, a lot of the advantage is niche specific knowledge and
experience. So a first time entrepuner who knows his corner of the world
exceedingly well is more likely to succeed than a 30 yr old Babson grad who
learned about the problem via Mail Chimp.

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j45
I hated hearing this when I was 20. It's got some truth to it.

CEO/Startup/Business skills come with time, at 20 I just wanted to build, like
a beast.

Transferable business skills though, came from creating and transacting value
with others, be it through a career to learn how a business works,
freelancing, contracting, consulting, etc.

I tried to spend 10 years leveling up to get 20 years of experience.
Experience in remaining learning open-minded, learning to focus on the right
things, and being effective does seem to set one up differently to add and
create value.

The kool-aid machine, however seems to want to take away a person's 20's for
much less. Investors who value genuine founder development as much as the
product development are extremely valuable.

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WaltPurvis
Experienced business owners are more successful than inexperienced ones.

That's not _too_ surprising.

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barrkel
Depends on who you're selling to.

If you're selling to young people, and you're old, it helps if you're in
advertising or producing pop culture or otherwise connected to the zeitgeist.

If you're selling to businesses, experience and contacts in the industry
vertical are huge.

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godzillabrennus
It’s basically important to understand the market for your product.

If you want to build a cool social media app you probably want to be a young
kid who understands how to build something cool for other kids.

In business you need to solve a problem and have the ear of the people who
need that problem solved to build a business.

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technobabble
I'm curious to see if the number of companies a person starts has any notable
impact. Older entrepreneurs in theory have had multiple endeavors, and failed
multiple times, so they either get lucky, or learn from their mistakes.

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gm-conspiracy
Plus, more likely to inherit additional funds/property from deceased
relatives.

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throwaway5752
VC money has been falling off trees for the past 7 years and with capital
needs to bootstrap something have never been lower. Startup failure because of
lack of access to capital is probably as close to a non-issue as possible.
It's about conception/planning and execution.

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mattcaldwell
Obvious headline is obvious.

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mrdoops
"Entrepreneurs with experience, money and connections are more successful than
those who aren't."

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baybal2
Experience? :)

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asdfman123
But that flies in the face of the rampant ageism I've internalized!

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overcast
Ageism absolutely exists when looking for jobs in other companies. Age doesn't
really matter when you start your OWN business.

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madeuptempacct
Less time for mess ups - more awareness of what you are getting into.

I would wager far less middle aged people try a business though.

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staunch
Yet another example of people being confused by statistics. This story has
been written and posted on HN a hundred times. It's always a failure to
distinguish which type of business is being discussed.

The data for innovative technology startups is going to be very different from
almost everything else. Comparing the businesses that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,
and Mark Zuckerberg started to consulting companies or restaurants makes
absolutely no sense.

