[manigandham]

This doesn't make sense. What is "never done anything" supposed to mean?

I've worked with people in their 50s who have never raised money or started their own business but are incredibly capable with knowledge, experience and connections that would give them a massive advantage if they were to compete against younger founders.

[blagie]

It means precisely that -- if you're in your 50s, and have the experience of someone in their 20s, that's a red flag.

Good:

- You ran a successful business

- You managed a division at Google

- You were faculty at an elite university

- You were a management consultant at an elite firm, and build out a rolodex of elite connections

- You had a diverse array of jobs which give you a unique skillset for the startup at hand. For example, if you worked in a hospital, in China, and as an EE, you might be in a unique position to start a medical devices outsourcing firm.

Etc.

Bad:

- Spending 35 years as a SWE at a random company.

- A series of random jobs, with no coherence or anything of note (e.g. sales rep, admin, IT, etc.)

- ... and so on.

"incredibly capable with knowledge, experience and connections that would give them a massive advantage" means you can either get funding from a friend who knows you, or you probably want to find some way to signal that. If you haven't found a way to signal that in 35 years, odds are you won't be able to e.g. signal why someone should partner with you, buy your product, work for you, etc.