Older tech founders have a higher success rate.
Entrepreneurship has evolved significantly over the years. In the past, the stereotype of a successful entrepreneur was often associated with young tech founders who dropped out of college and started billion-dollar companies from their garages. However, this narrow perception isn't that accurate.
Age does not determine one's ability to innovate or create a successful company. Many successful entrepreneurs pursued their 'big idea' later in life with experiences and knowledge they could pull from to build a great business. If you are a little later in your career and are thinking about taking the leap to start your own tech business, here is some inspiration to get you off the fence.
Transfer Your Intrapreneurism to Entrepreneurism
Perhaps, like me, you've had roles that allowed you to be creative and innovative inside an organization – the proverbial 'intrapreneur.' You may have had the benefit of working with very talented people and seeing what 'good' looks like. Maybe you've gained a better understanding of how complex projects work, or you see so clearly how to innovate a process or solve a problem, if you could just do it yourself! Have you learned a thing or two about the challenges of software implementation? Fantastic. You can transfer those experiences to build your own thing.
Having some experience under your belt gives you many advantages in building your own tech business. In fact, a 2024 article in Inc. Magazine highlighted several advantages of being an older entrepreneur including:
- Having an instinct for opportunity
-
The ability to metabolize experience into wisdom
-
Knowing how to attract the right talent
You are more resilient and have a growth mindset
A key ingredient to building a successful business from the ground up is the ability to adapt and pivot when you realize something isn't working like you planned. Mature founders have likely had more experience adapting through challenges and may have more mental models to pull from that help in navigating these shifts. It does not mean you will have fewer challenges than a younger founder, but your experience surviving more challenges will give you the confidence that you can take on whatever comes your way.
The Research Backs You Up
There was a great 2022 article in Forbes that summarized a collaborative study between MIT, Northwestern, Wharton and the U.S. Census Bureau on Age and Entrepreneurship and highlighted the fact that the mean age of startup founders across the U.S. is 42 years. For high-tech startup founders the mean age is 43. Most mature founders come out of corporate jobs to start their first business, with many big named brands among the success stories of 'older founders' like Zoom (founded by Eric Yuan at 41), E-Trade (founded by Bill Porter at 54), Go Daddy (founded by Bob Parsons at 47) and Workday (cofounded by Aneel Bhusri at 40 and David Duffield at 65). The study found that successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young.
Investors Make Their Early Bets on the Founder
One of the critical success factors evaluated by private investors is having the right founder at the helm. In fact, when researching a very early stage business, investors are mostly evaluating the traits, experience and values of the founder or management team. According to research by Harvard Business Review, if an investor were faced with two entrepreneurs and knew nothing about them besides their age, they would do better, on average, betting on the older one. Once again, the research and facts say starting a tech business later in your career has a higher probability of success.
A Final Thought
As I write this blog, I am much later in my career embarking on my own business – one I have been envisioning for years – to help other founders start and build strong tech businesses. I personally got a boost of confidence when researching this topic and I hope at least a couple readers who've contemplated a jump into entrepreneurship will be inspired by the facts laid out here. Having a few years of experience under your belt makes you much more likely to succeed in your new venture. What are you waiting for?
If you are a younger founder or aspiring founder, don't shy away from starting your own business. But recognize how much you might not know, get up to speed in areas where you don't have a lot of experience and look carefully for more seasoned coaches and advisors who can help you through the challenging times and big decisions.
