Why Age Matters in Entrepreneurship

Last year, the Silicon Valley-based Founders Institute engaged research scientists to review their 1,000 enrolled members and 3,000 worldwide applicants to examine the traits of their most successful founders. They found that older age was actually a better predictor of entrepreneurial success up to the age of 40, after which age had little or no discernible impact. They noted the role that accumulated "life experiences" have in developing a more discerning disposition—a desirable trait for entrepreneurs.

Older individuals have generally confronted more complex life, business and financial scenarios such as buying cars and homes, raising families, shopping and negotiating for services, and interacting with employers, colleagues and co-workers. The combination of life experiences and project completion skills invariably enables older entrepreneurs to make better business decisions.

Venture investing is a bet on people, not product, and while the notion of a truly disruptive technology originating from the mind of a young founder is romantic and inspiring, these stories are not the norm. In my experiences, the most successful entrepreneurs are those with multiple real life and business experiences, who have domain knowledge and personal exposure to markets where opportunities are being left on the table.

That is the same conclusion the board of our retail venture came to. Capital tends to favor competence when betting on leaders, and competence is the direct by-product of experience.