Blow out those birthday candles and stop lamenting over the fact that you are another year older. The passing years are going to bring you closer to success; age is your new best friend. Or at least, that’s what the data on those who became successful in the business world show. Forbes says that an individual over the age of 50 has twice the chance of building a successful company that either has an IPO (Initial Public Offering) or has been successfully acquired by a 30-year-old.
Another recent example of reaching success after the age of 60 is Judith Holder, a former TV producer. Feeling disheartened after she wasn’t breaking new ground in her career, Holder retired at the age of 67 and then began a podcast with comedian Jenny Éclair, titled ‘Older and Wider’ which has over 200 episodes so far. The dates when the show went live at the Leicester Square theatre had sold out within two days. Holder says her inspiration was Simone de Beauvoir who said, “If there is any point to growing old, it is to discover who you really are.”
What age brings to the table
A study by Benjamin Jones, a professor at Northwestern University in the US showed that the average founder of tech start-ups that were rapidly growing was 45-50 years old.
Among popular names that have made it big during ‘middle age’ is Joseph Lubin who founded Ethereum, that acts as a digital foundation for apps, communities and so on at almost the age of 50 and then went on to found blockchain production studio ConsenSys in 2014.
Another example is Jim Kimsey who was part of a team that helped the failing Control Video into a huge success at the age of 46. Steve Case who partnered with Kimsey said that the latter’s credibility and age helped them in bringing in the necessary investments to make the company a success.
Another superstar in the tech business who made it at a slightly older age (41) is Tony Fadell who created his company Nest, which builds beautiful thermostats that add value in terms of appearance, and which also connects with a smartphone. Google bought Nest for $32.3 billion. The New York Times attributes his success in this endeavor to “deep experience and relatively mature age.”
Thus, contrary to popular belief, old does seem to be gold in the ever-changing business and tech world. While the generalization is that the young are more adaptable to change, are more hands-on with technology and can invest all their time in the work at hand and therefore, have a higher chance of success, this is not necessarily so.
Older people have the business acumen, the problem-solving skills and the resilience that comes with experience. In a study conducted by Benjamin Jones a professor of strategy at the Kellogg School along with Javier Miranda of the U.S. Census Bureau and MIT’s Pierre Azoulay and J. Daniel Kim, they found that those who found companies after gaining three or more years of experience within that same industry are likely to see their company becoming a one-in-1,000 fastest growing business.
Why then, the overwhelming belief in youth?
Wharton management professor J. Daniel Kim has conducted research into the role age plays in founding successful startups. According to him, people believe that the younger minds have a better chance at business because they are “more capable of disruptive ideas” and because they are not held back by certain rules and mindsets. He also says that the young are believed to have more time and energy. He references Paul Graham, a venture investor who felt that the cut-off age for entrepreneurs is 32 because after that they become “skeptical.”
Kim points out that older age groups bring some things to the table that youth does not, such as relationships with stakeholders and finances and knowledge accumulated by being part of the workforce for longer. Thus, they have had time to understand people, build connections and make mistakes and learn from them.
Kim’s findings can be summarized in the following table:
| Age | Under 25 | 25 | After 35 | 46 |
| Stage of business | Founders quite seldom do well | Significant increase in performance | Increase in possibility of success | Intense growth in performance |
Don’t be ageist
So perhaps the problem is that the vast majority of people believe in a stereotype- that success comes in the form of a fresh mind driven by a younger age. Whilst it seems to be quite true that investors tend to look for young blood and their ideas to pump their money into, this may be the wrong way to go. To these investors young entrepreneurs are more adaptable to change and are also more tech-savvy to move with the fast-growing world of technology. However, this is far from the truth, as Kim’s research also shows. So, the onus is on educators and decision-makers to change this mindset. While colleges and universities inspire their graduates to immediately begin on their entrepreneurship journey, it seems optimal to gain experience within a certain industry or industries first. The experience and know-how gained through these opportunities will then cement one’s entrepreneurial ideas in a deeper way than had they jumped into it immediately after completing college.
Words of advice from various entrepreneurs who became successful later on in life show that one must also channel one’s strength into something you really believe in. Look for niche markets and explore their viability. Also, take on business partners who complement your own skills with a skills-set of their own. Then, one can handle the technology and the other can handle the creativity, design elements, etc. Even better is if there is a third partner who can crunch the numbers for you. Finally, don’t give up easily. Rome wasn’t built in a day; but the outcome was spectacular.
(Anouk De Silva)