[aeeeee]

How much do families fit in the with culture of startup? Would it be odd for an employee to have to leave in the middle of the day to pick up sick kids at school? Will you be a "good fit" if sometimes your family responsibilities trump work. What is your desire and inner motivation at 50? It's probably a lot different than the 20yr and 30yr old startup culture. I would say if you are 50 yr old that fits in with the younger culture and have the necessary skills you will do just fine. The reality is though that you are probably at a much different place than the majority of startup employees. You have probably see enough to know how to best spend your time and your priorities are likely different than your peers. The guy doing the hiring knows all of this and where he won't directly use age as a factor in hiring he will take these other factors into consideration. good luck.

[tommi]

If you are 50 years old, your kids are likely to be old enough to get to home by themselves.

Personally I'd hate to work in a place where it would be considered odd to take care of some private business during the day every once in a while. Stretching and leeway goes both ways.

[MattGrommes]

That's not as true any more. I know a number of couples that "started late" and will be in their fifties just as their kids enter the ~10+ year old age range where after-school activities ramp up yet the kid can't drive. People having kids later is probably going to be another of those slow social changes we'll all have to adjust to.

[mgkimsal]

Divorce happens. People remarry. Many people in their 40s and 50s have toddlers or young kids.

[joezydeco]

The fit depends on the makeup of the CEO and the management he has chosen.

Regardless, you're going to have to work twice as hard as most of the others in the room. It's easy to walk out the door at 5pm if your work is done. It's not so easy when a crunch is going on and you have an external commitment to make. Nobody likes to look up and see you putting your coat on, believe me.

If the CEO understands, it's one thing. If you have a CEO that says "you need to risk your marriage to make this company succeed" (and yes, I've actually heard this), then you know where you fit in. Unfortunately, you don't learn most of this until you're already in. If you find during interviews that the CEO has kids of his own, that's a good sign.

[ben1040]

Would it be odd for an employee to have to leave in the middle of the day to pick up sick kids at school?

Would it be odd for a 20-something employee to leave in the middle of the day to get an oil change for his car, or get a dental cleaning, or have a repairman come to their house?

These are things that probably happen just as often for everyone on your team, regardless of age.

[kls]

My though on it, was that there is no doubt that start-ups depend on considerable time investments but even a person with a family can meet them. I personally work at least 60 hours a week and I have 4 kids. I also find plenty of time to spend with them. The difference is, if a employee cannot take some time during the day to deal with an issue because a start-up is in permanent crisis mode, then the start-up most likely has a process problem. There is really no reason that family concerns should inhibit the day to day activities of a start-up. There is also no reason that a start-up should be in a situation where employees are having to dedicate more than 60 hrs a week on a long term basis. If they are you have a bad start-up not a bad employee. People can't run at 70+ for several months on end, no matter there age.