This jumped out at me:

> With Hipmunk I've been more cognizant about having a life. I work daytime hours, and I don't work quite as a late. But I also know a lot more, so we get more done in less time.

This is my experience as well. I don't have the same energy I had even five years ago, but I still get a lot more done because I'm about an order of magnitude more productive than I was when I started out.

This suggests that the standard model of founders as young firebrands willing to pour three years of output into a year of development isn't the only model that can work.

The bigger challenge for older would-be founders is that it becomes harder to walk away from the steady income and job security that comes from several years working for established employers.