But You're too Old to do a Startup | Hacker News Reader

But You're too Old to do a Startup

jeremyhamel.posterous.com

31 pointsjeremy121719 comments

Rather than "you're never to old! follow your heart!" cheerleading, it would be a lot more useful to hear HOW the author deals with the the array of commitments the average 30-40 year old person has. Mortgage, day care, insurance, kid commitments etc.

I'd agree - it's merely the risk-return equation that needs to be considered at a higher level once your over the "tween" period. There is absolutely nothing stopping you go forth and conquer - however, the probability that you have an inordinate number of external commitments [social and financial] are where the ability to be nimbal become more apparent.

Stopping work and having what ajg1977 states - "Mortgage, day care, insurance, kid commitments etc" - is the battle. Many successful startups have an average "age" of around 26 which seem to be [from some Y-Combinator article I read] the age when startups succeed for a whole raft of factors [age, martial status, flexibility, financial security, maturity etc etc] - there's always an exception to the rule however.

If you >30 - nothing's stopping you but yourself. The question often answers itself however - most >30 stop themselves due to externalities.

*but best of luck :P

That's a great point. In my experience, this is what makes bootstrapping your own startup the most practical option if you are older and have more commitments, because who wants to give money to someone who can only commit 10 or less hours a week to something?

Maybe I'm wrong about this because I've never actually tried to get funding for anything, but the ycombinator program definitely seems that way. My wife certainly isn't going to agree to move to SF and live on that kind of money. I'd have to have another income stream or a lot of money in the bank.

I'd be curious to know how people have gotten around this.

Actually those commitments helping me to make better decisions on when/how/whom/what start a new startup. In my twenties(I am 33 now) I used to jump right in because the idea was interesting and I had an excuse to stay up all night to code on something. Now I make sure the idea or the project is worth to cut into family time.

I totally agree, but I also sorta feel like this is a vacuous truth. Anybody who thinks you're "too old to do a startup" because you're over 30 (or 40, or 50, or 60, etc.) is an idiot, full-stop.

I was expecting to find out that he's 70. Starting a company in your 30s is the rule, not the exception.

Indeed. In fact I'd say 40s or 50s was probably more normal in many industries. In most non-IT industries to start a business you need capital, connections, market experience etc etc - resources not available to the average 20yo.

Looks like someone forgot an 'o' in the title there.

I met a guy (a very early Adobe employee, might have been a co-founder) who, on his 65th birthday, was seriously considering doing another startup.

Every time I think I'm too old, I try to remember that.

This stigma had not even crossed my mind until I read that post, is that what people really think?

I'm closing on 30 now (in 2 years) and I feel now like this ceiling of 30 or under makes me an old man! I would like to start a start-up but in that breath I need to launch now!

Although I do not believe that 30 is too old, or 40 or 50 for that matter but I would seriously be calming it down on my 65th birthday, I hope to have made it by then and relaxing.

And if at 65 you find relaxing is what you want to do, then by all means go for it. I feel "retirement" isn't about no longer working, it's about no longer doing what you have to do and doing what you want to do instead. People that have no reason to get up out of bed each morning other than to turn on the TV don't last very long.

And after 45 years hard graft what I want to do is sit on a beach in a costal result and appreciate all the work I have put in to get there

I see what you mean but it all has to end sometime. There's no point working your bollocks off all your life to never be able to appreciate it

I think almost everybody would say that there is no age limit for start-ups if pressed. But I do also think that a lot of the people who say that still have the mental image of a startup being a bunch of young adults with passionate dreams.

I don't understand, what's with the grammatical errors and capital letters all over the title text? Is there some sort of wordplay I'm missing?

I am in my early 40s. I have started family young. With my son in university now I feel that I have the same amount of time (if not more) then when I was 20 and yet I have far more commitment and experience. There is a burning feeling to make something grand at this stage of life - working at an industry giant does not qualify as such.

Seriously? Why is this crappy article on the front page? Because it has the word "Startup" in the title?

I hate to be that guy, but it's "too old" not "to old".

I was thinking it. "Apparently you're 'to old' to know how to spell though."

Definitely not true. I think the kids excuse is a common one, and often times quite valid. It's a change of mindset really though that's needed.

And as you said, mortgage, kids, etc. are just different variables in the equation. Just because it might be harder doesn't mean it still can't be done.

I'm launching a new community in May for parent entrepreneurs called Naptime Entrepreneurs (http://www.naptimeentrepreneurs.com).

Of course you can pursue a startup or a business or an idea at any age. Just don't necessarily expect the same attention or opportunities to be thrown your way in your thirties as you would get if you just had a good idea and nothing else in your twenties. Expect to assume much more of the responsibility and fight up steeper hills much of the time.

The exception being, of course, if you are enough of a known-quantity that someone reading a site like this would usually know who you are or if you have enough cash and business experience that putting an idea into action (and especially hiring people) would be trivial.

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