Does age matter when starting a tech business?

Technology is often referred to as young person’s game, but is that always the case? Does the age of an entrepreneur matter?

Typically, millennials jump into careers within the technology industry because they have grown up immersed in it. The digital era as they are referred to have grown up using tech for everything and it’s second nature. So naturally more are inclined to seek out careers and start businesses within this space.

However, in a recent study, the results showed that the average age of an entrepreneur in a fast-growing tech start-up was mid 40s. The same study showed that 50-year-old entrepreneurs have double the chance of having a successful tech start up as their 30-year-old counter parts. Why?

Well, slightly more experienced entrepreneurs will have more experience in the sector as they will have worked longer, this means they may have greater commercial awareness and knowledge regarding the ins and outs of starting up a company. It is a huge decision to set up a company with significant risk and potential failure attached to it, making the decision to start up company will need to be an informed one.

Older entrepreneurs will most likely have spent years working up to this point, built all the right connections, have greater knowledge of the sector, and possibly have more capital to invest. Younger entrepreneurs will have greater reliance on bank and family loans. If you have spent a lot of years working, the chances are you will have some capital to fund your own start-up, at least in part.

Younger entrepreneurs do, however sometimes have less riding on the success of the business. More mature entrepreneurs with families must think carefully before taking a huge financial risk. Younger entrepreneurs who haven’t settled down yet and got on the property ladder may have more flexibility with their responsibilities.

Who has achieved this?

Arianna Huffington is founder of HuffPost, after leaving that company at the age of 66 she proceeded to found Thrive Global. Jim Kimsey was 46 years young when he established America Online with Steve Case and Marc Seriff.

Takeaways 

Older entrepreneurs have started tech initiatives, older entrepreneurs often have more experience, younger entrepreneurs are inherently technologists and older entrepreneurs may have greater access to higher levels of funding.

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