[atiw]

Interesting. I would like to know more about your accomplishments. I am pretty sure others here would agree. It's not every day that we find successful examples,and the general consensus has been that people over 40 are "not stupid enough". You can be a role model for us. At least to immigrants, it should be pretty comforting, considering the fact that it takes almost 10 years fo asians (esp Chinese and Indians, I am not sure what the numbers are like for others.) before they get a green card, and are free enough to move from one company/ city to another, without risking getting deported from US.

I am 26, and my professor was quite clear. He said you have maybe a couple of years when you can take all the risks and pursue your startup dream. (Yes, my score is 1 and I am still close to failing. How about that...)

Would really appreciate sharing your accomplishments to inspire and give hope to people, telling youngsters they have more time than they think they do, and more experienced ones the push they might need to make that jump.

[cedsav]

I started my business on my own (and that's one of the downside of starting late, none of my friends where up for this kind of adventure, plus I'm an expat, so the people I knew and trusted best were 4k miles away), so I did everything myself: web development, graphic design, business, legal stuff, etc.. I'm by no mean an expert in any of these domains, but it's all stuff I've done at one point or another in my career. I build the thing, got customers, and was lucky enough to find a few good people to help me run this thing.

If you're going to wait before going on your own, just make sure you get the most out of your job. Avoid boring and routine stuff, venture out of your comfort zone, learn skills beyond your own specialty.

[atiw]

I don't think that starting late would have been your issue. Most people tend to avoid risks, and like to live easier life any given day. I am 26, and I asked my friends to join my startup when I was 25, still no one seems to want to take that risk. Also, location might be a big factor. Here in Dallas, Texas, not many people want to jump into startups straight away. In my case, the problem was also not so well defined, and there's not too many people working on this. Except some BIG corps.

I am also doing everything myself, until this point at least. i do have a co founder, but he is a busy man (Department head of CS form my university.)

I am also doing everything alone, that too on the side (I had to start doing a job some 6 months after starting my startup, due to financial and immigrations issues).

So, here I am , a 26 year old, immigrant startup founder, who doesn't know how to get more people (or if I want more people). I am getting to know and learn a lot more, and I am doing it very cheap. So successful or not, personally I think I will gain a lot. My question really was due to the fact that I might be failing soon enough, and more and more I see my friends and they all SEEM to be enjoying more and relaxing more doign their regular jobs. So, I am more afraid I might not be able to do more later on, and do any more startups if this one fails.

Somewhere in my head, at least I know one person who did it in his 40s. Gives me some level of confidence that it's not too late. Also, hearing all these stats about younger guys doing it and succeeding, Zuck and the likes, doesn't boost confidence either. Quite few times, I end up thinking, maybe this is it, after I am old, I might not be able to do it, since not so many people seem to be doing successful statups, or at least we don't hear about them much.

[cedsav]

what are you working on?