Entrepreneur | director | investor | lawyer | dad | autoimmune disease sufferer. Trying to build valuable tools, with awesome people to the benefit of patients, clinicians, insurers and ecosystems as a whole.
I was having a chat with my colleagues the other day about our portfolio (we've got a pretty diverse founder group - it's something we actively monitor and are proud of) and general founder dermographics across VC backed companies. One big discussion point that came about - entirely organically with 'tech bros' as an inspiration - was regarding the age of founders across our portfolio (again, we have a great mix) and more generally across lifesciences/healthcare and tech and whether there was a difference in how well they were performing and their success. So.....me being me....I thought i'd do a bit of reading. As an FYI, this topic came up several year ago pre-COVID (I recall a Wharton report as particularly stand-out-ish) and from memory, the general consensus was that 35 - 45 year olds tended to 'perform' better as entrepreneurs. Has it changed over recent times, especially given the COVID driven digital switch? Here's a snippet of what I found (there are unsurprisingly quite a lot of articles...): 👉 A comprehensive study from FounderJar found that a 40-year-old founder is 2.1 times more likely to succeed than a 25-year-old, with the average age of successful founders at 41.5 years. Even more impressive, the average age of those who exit with an IPO or acquisition is 46.5. You can check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eGc_3MRB 👉 Business Initiative reports that 50-year-old entrepreneurs are nearly twice as likely to succeed compared to 30-year-olds, apparently due to their experience, financial stability, and developed networks. More on this here: https://lnkd.in/eGawmZmi 👉 And finally, The article from The Conversation challenges the common belief that young people are the most radical innovators, revealing that individuals over 50 are often the more transformative entrepreneurs. The research highlighted in the article indicates that older entrepreneurs possess greater experience, industry knowledge, and networks, which allow them to take a more innovative approach to problem-solving. Link: https://lnkd.in/erjpWRWD Thoughts welcome... #Entrepreneurship #StartupSuccess #ExperienceMatters #AgeIsJustANumber #EarlyStageInvesting
Could it be possible that the majority of VCs and financing institutions making decisions are composed by white males over 40s, so considerably more white male companies get funded in the first place? Or even if you manage to have younger founders, women, and people of colour funded, would they get the same support and kind introductions, to succeed? Daniel Rooke It would be interesting to see the demographics of the financing institutions and accelerators to understand better their funders’ success numbers behind those studies. Thoughts Agata Leliwa Nowicka ?
Andy Roberts
6mo
“Experience is something you get just after you need it”. There is no substitute for experience, so it’s no great surprise to me that older entrepreneurs tend to fare better. However, my observations are that it’s not just the lived experience that makes older entrepreneurs more successful, but also the more established networks that allow them to tap in to others’ experiences. They also tend to be more open to help than younger entrepreneurs, and more risk averse. As you well know, startups are inherently risky, so can be counterintuitive for people to calmly reduce the risks as far as possible - rather than attacking them in a gung-ho manner, as some “tech bro” types seem to try! There are exceptions to the age debate though! I see certain fresh PhDs joining my programmes and actively seeking out help - not trying to do it all themselves. And they are the ones that usually make it!
Benjamin Hron
6mo
Very interesting stats, Daniel, thanks for sharing. It doesn't appear any of the articles distinguish between older founders who have founded companies before (successful or not) and older first-time founders. It would be interesting to know the comparative levels of success of first-time founders at 40+ versus 20-30.
Krista Conley
6mo
Great piece! Anecdotally, I also see improved results when start-up/growth hiring includes 50+. There is a multigenerational connection that delivers, experience, energy, and better results.
Laura Grimwood
6mo
Paul Feldstein is a stellar example 😉
Director at Innovia Technology: enabling innovators at world-leading companies to change the world for good through breakthrough innovation
6moInteresting stuff, Daniel Rooke. I wonder if there are patterns with the types of companies that founders of different ages create?