The Mid Life Entrepreneur Crisis

I have two meetings this week with guys in their early to mid 40s that are two of the best entrepreneurs I've ever worked with. Both are asking me the same thing - "what should I do next?"

There are questions of motivations, work/life balance, not needing the money, looking for a big idea, etc.

One of them asked me - do you know any 45 year old entrepreneurs?

Yes I do. But only one of the entrepreneurs in our current portfolio is older than 45. And he'll probably be starting companies until he dies. It's what he does.

But the facts are pretty eye opening. Nine of our eleven entrepreneurs are in their 30s. One is in his 20s, and one is in his 50s.

That says to me that prime time entrepreneurship is 30s. And its possibly getting younger as web technology meets youth culture.

I gotta run to catch a plane to Boston. More thoughts on this later.

Comments

[Habib Wicks]

John Anderson has a very good point. Older entrepenuers generally have access to more capital and wisdom. Allowing them the knowledge and ability to avoid having to submit to working with egomaniac VCs. Present virtual company excluded of course ;)

[Scott Eblen]

Hi Fred - Your gut estimate was actually quite accurate. In a quick analysis of 600+ founders of European Venture Backed companies the average age for these entrepreneurs is the early to mid 40's. Founders of IT and communications companies are also younger than the average across all sectors.

More data and graphs here: http://www.libraryhouse.net/blog/2007/05/08/too-old-to-start-a-business/

[gmoney]

was just wondering what blog service you are using as i like how everything is laid out at your blog? tx

[Michael Cage]

The age bias makes sense in tech --- the nature of emerging technology and the demographics of the people who use it (would Twitter come from the mind of someone whose dominant form of communication is the phone and FAX???) are naturally going to bias tech startups towards younger entrepreneurs.

That said ... if I generalize to all of the entrepreneurs in all of the different kind of industries I've played or advised in; the age skews more into the 30s through 50s on up.

As far as I'm concerned, once an entrepreneur ... always an entrepreneur. Just maybe not a VC-backed entrepreneur. ;-)

FWIW, I talked about the issue in today's podcast @ Aggressive Marketing & Entrepreneurship Daily Podcast

[warren dsouza]

I think 20's are the best for a start-up, u have a whole life ahead for success and failures

[Wesley]

Being a website focused on middle age, we not surprisingly have a strong opinion on ageism in the Valley, but maybe not the take you expect.

Link

[Terry Taillard]

I just started my first business at 50. But then I keep hearing that 50 is the new 30 - so I guess I fit your demographic!

[Yello1]

Hi, I am an aspiring 40 something entrepeneur who made the mistake of wasting alot of time being an attorney rather than pursuing my passions. I have some big ideas for an online business (one that would be in the gaming industry ala World of Warcraft if you know what that is, the other that would exploit the popularity of Youtube with a wider audience and more mature professional looking original content). I have put alot of time into developing both projects on paper and discussing them with a couple of programmers in the gaming industry as to feasibility and marketability. At this point, however, both ideas can't go any farther without capital to at least hire programmers and artists to put together a demo to present the projects to publishers or to develop the projects independently. I am seeking suggestions as to how to find capital to take the projects beyond the well thought out concept stage. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Bootstrap]

In my observation (and after reading the post and the comments), I think that middle-aged men can keep up with young entrepreneurs, and possibly (mostly) be more successful. The only advantage that the youth has is they have more exposure and access to various technologies, while the older entrepreneur has more valuable things with him - experience and skills learned over the years. And, as Sabat said, it's all in your head. I've seen 30 year-old people and above that who are still youthful.

[AJB]

I am 37, sold my company. Have a few million dollars in the bank, and remain working for the company as President/ CEO. I still have 10% stock. I am extremely good at what I do, but I can not stand doing what I am doing. ANy thoughts?

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[RusselIz]

Hey Fred,

Running around, meetings after meetings can either make you feel dizzy or happily busy. There definitely has to be a work/life balance but your motivation is the most important thing. It looks like the most successful entrepreneurs are the happily busy ones. I recently read a similar posting by CEO of 5WPR, Ronn Torossian who is in his 30s. In his blog, Torossian writes about how exciting and challenging it is to be an entrepreneur and how he stays focused. So, there shouldn’t be a mid life entrepreneur crisis. Be happy being a success.