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Comment by mach1ne | Hacker News Reader

I hope his shine hasn't burned out yet. People seem to do great things in their 20s, and then at best ride the wave they set in motion. Actually creating a wonder from zero after you've clocked 30 is very rare.

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This isn't a true stereotype. The average unicorn founder is aged 34.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-21/what-s-th...

This is correct, I'm under 34 and I haven't founded my unicorn yet.

I'm 74 so I guess it's GAME OVER, huh? Oh well

Speaking of which, who is the oldest person on HN? Can't be me... can it?

There are definitely some Bell Labs/Xerox/IBM old heads in their 70s and 80s here.

I think there are some guys from ARPAnet days here.

> The data on the innovators reveal three initial characteristics. First, there is large variation in age: 42 percent of innovations came about when their creators were in their 30s, while 40 percent occurred when the inventors were in their 40s, and 14 percent appeared when the inventors were over 50. Second, there were no great achievements produced by innovators before the age of 19, and only 7 percent were produced by innovators at or before the age of 26 (Einstein's age when he performed his prize winning work). Third, the age distributions for the Nobel Prize winners and the technologists are nearly identical.

From https://www.nber.org/digest/dec05/great-inventions-come-late... which is non-technical summary of https://www.nber.org/papers/w11359

At least considering Nobel prizes (very impactful "inventions") and "outstanding technological innovations", it seems best age is between age 30-50.

Source: trust me bro

How does one form such a misconception? What did you read or watch?

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