Why 30 year old entrepreneurs are not over the hill

Something interesting I observed at Startup Weekend here in Indy last fall:

When it came time to form teams, all the young'uns grouped with one another, and the four of us codgers with responsibilities worked together. The line wasn't drawn according to age: there was one 30+ guy in another group, but he was single; two of the four members of my group were still in our 20's, but we were the primary sources of income for families with children, and I think that led us to fit in better with our 40+ cofounders.

With a few exceptions, I'd find it uncomfortable -- if not unworkable -- cofounding with the bouncy 20-something who has no outside responsibilities. When team building means getting drunk together on a Wednesday night, work hours are noon-8pm, and the company culture is low on planning and high on "nothing to lose", a company is just not going to be a good fit for me.

I'm fine with economic sacrifice, and with working hard. Because I'm looking for a new startup to join, I've tooled down my living expenses such that I could do an extended period somewhere between the two guys in that article. Because I've always been a hard worker, I've made my work schedule part of my family's life: I work a normal 9-3:30 in the office (currently home office, but I'm flexible), then after school, my son brings his homework to my office and we do our work together for a couple of hours. I tend to get in another hour or two in the evenings after he goes to sleep. I never get drunk, let alone on a weeknight when I have to get a first grader up for school in the morning. I'll never end up in an incubator because I'm not changing my son's school, leaving his speech therapy program, leaving our dojo, and generally up-ending his whole world in exchange for a few months of help for my startup.

I often meet people at my stage in life (kids, responsibilities, etc.) who say they don't do start-ups because they perceive "bouncy without responsibilities" to be the expectation of all startups. Their loss. I have to look a little harder, but I find other "codgers" out there in the entrepreneur community. I have to wonder if the people held back by the stereotype really have whatever that spark is that makes us take risks on new things anyway.

Oh, and I almost forgot.... GET OFF MY LAWN!

One of the very best things about being an entrepreneur is that you get to ignore what everyone else thinks qualifies or disqualifies you. The only thing that matters is what you make (or more accurately, what you do with what you make).

I'm over 30, single, own a home, and am bootstrapping a software/consulting business. Between income from my business, savings, and profits in the stock market (I day trade on the side) I have almost unlimited runway. I don't have to pander to investors and I have the time to really sink my teeth into some hard problems. The crazy thing is when I do the math at the end of the year, I'm not even that far behind where I'd be if I had a day job and I'm still just getting started. What risk?

As a coder, I no longer like coding for the sake of coding. I like coding because it is a means to an end. My powers of abstraction are greater. After 2 years of moderately successful solopreneurship, I fully understand the absolute need to ally with other people.

I am able to cut through people's bullshit easier. When I meet a potential business parter/coder I am more quickly able to see exactly how strong they are, what kind of drive they have, and ultimately I am more quick (and confident) to tell them to fuck off if they are a liability. As a 20-25 year old, I had no confidence and could not speak up for myself.

I focus solely on projects that I enjoy with people that I enjoy working with. My ability to create potentials for happiness and avoid pitfalls is stronger than ever. Physically, I am stronger than ever, and I eat much much healthier.

I am more positioned than ever before to hit a project out of the ballpark.

Finally, at 28.8 I realize that my ageism is just another prejudice that was hindering my ability to take advice. Now, my mind is not closed. It is more open than ever before. Age has worked well for me, and young peers, it will work well for you too.

My observation is that most young entrepreneurs stick to building consumer internet products that don't require a lot of domain expertise.

Yet there are at least 1-2 guys well past 30 (likely in their 50's) at the climbing gym I go to that could out climb most of us twenty-somethings. There are also a healthy number of successful entrepreneurs well past 30.

I would posit that more than anything, being "over the hill" is a frame of mind.

I cannot be bothered, in the 14th hour of my workday, to find the reference on the internet but the last time I heard anything the average age was thirty six.

The average VC victim is in their twenties, sure, because they have no capital.

2. it's a lot harder to negotiate terms with an experience entrepreneur.

3. over 30s can hire under 30s.

4. is it techcrunch or techtroll?

In general, it seems that the older you get, the opportunity costs for risks increase. Not just monetarily speaking but also other things you may have to cut back on - family, friends, etc.

  Rent/Mortgage/Prop Tax: $765 (single family home in SF, including office)
  Utilities: $80 (fast Internet)
  Insurance (car, home): $60 (free health plan through wife)
  Transportation: $10 (bike)
  Gas: $50
  Food: $150
  Fun: $200
  Clothing: $50 (and it shows..)
  Grand Total: $1365

They don't look at the percentage of 30+ people who succeed out of the total in their age group who attempted a technology-startup vs. the same for those in their 20s; and if the difference is statistically significant. If he tells me that 20% of people in their 20s succeed and only 5% in their 30s succeed then he'd have a point, I bet he does not.

If working from home eg programming, having your own place can mean that you sleep better and are more focused on doing the work, rather than being distracted by whose turn it is to do the dishes or joining in your roommates' post-bar parties. Of course, having kids or being a caregiver would change the person's profile, regardless of age. Just a few counter-thoughts.

Where there is some truth in this is that a 30-year-old first-time entrepreneur usually cannot get terms from a VC that would merit leaving a more stable job. A person of that age with a decent career is unlikely to have much interest in the terms (participating preferred, easy to fire the founders, giving up a lot of board seats, low salary) available to a no-name first-time entrepreneur. If someone who is 35 is willing to take a 3x-liquidation preference and participating preferred, do you really want to fund him? Obviously no, because he either lacks decent options or doesn't understand business, neither of which is a good sign for someone of that age. On the other hand, there are plenty of 22-year-olds with a lot of talent but no sense of what they're worth or what rights they have.

Old bull replies : "Let's walk up and ride 'em all"