[jiggy2011]

Perhaps being younger is an advantage in the sort of "go big or go home" swing for the fences entrepreneurship?

Lack of experience is probably helpful if you are doing something which is basically a bad idea but because of a bunch of factors clicking into place ends up being an awesome idea.

When you are older you are probably not in such a position to just run with some crazy idea.

[salimmadjd]

You mean like Elon Musk that bet everything on Tesla?

See the problem is, there is no real data there and these guys are betting on anecdotal evidence. Generalization is the root of all discriminations.

[jiggy2011]

There will always be counterexamples to generalisations like this. Also if you are an older person with an existing track record in starting successful and ambitious businesses and significant capital & connections then the picture is going to be somewhat different. People like Elon Musk are also unlikely to be applying somewhere like YC.

What I'm talking about is the first time entrepreneur who maybe has had a steady job for the last 10+ years and maybe kids/mortgage and all the rest of that. These people are probably less likely to be interested in trying to be the next facebook and more interested in a profitable but humble B2B business or something such as that.

[mindcrime]

These people are probably less likely to be interested in trying to be the next facebook and more interested in a profitable but humble B2B business or something such as that.

Why would you think a B2B business has to be "humble"? Do you realize how much money is at stake in the B2B world? Have you looked at the financials for Oracle or IBM lately? How about forget being "the next Facebook" and trying to be "the next Oracle" or "the next Red Hat"?

[jiggy2011]

These sorts of businesses will tend to either be built over a very long time or require huge capital investment to get off the ground.

You can't really give a few college grads a couple of grand and ask them to sit in a room and build the next oracle.

What I mean is businesses that are not either win or fail dramatically. For example you can run a consulting business out of your home office, it might grow into something the size of accenture, but if it doesn't you can still be comfortably profitable.

[mindcrime]

These sorts of businesses will tend to either be built over a very long time or require huge capital investment to get off the ground.

You can't really give a few college grads a couple of grand and ask them to sit in a room and build the next oracle.

I'm still not seeing the same dichotomy you are, apparently. Can you give a couple of college grads a couple of grand and expect them to build the next Facebook? If "yes" and realizing that Facebook took quite a bit of time and capital to grow into what it is today, then how's that different than building the seed of what could grow into the next Oracle? Before they were the behemoth that they are today, Oracle was a startup with one product, a new database using the - at the time - revolutionary "relational" model.

For example you can run a consulting business out of your home office, it might grow into something the size of accenture, but if it doesn't you can still be comfortably profitable.

Fair enough. I'm not sure I buy that there's any particular reason that an older person would prefer that model though. Then again, despite being an "older" guy by HN standards, I differ in that I have no kids, no wife, no mortgage, and live a lifestyle that probably has more in common with some 20 somethings (minus the binge drinking and late nights at clubs). Maybe I'm biased in assuming that there are actually plenty of other 39 year olds living the same way I am, and dreaming of making it big.

[jiggy2011]

I don't know about facebook, but YC companies seem to be all about building something ambitious but failure prone for a small amount of capital. This is probably easier to do with some college grads who have low living expenses and little established career and therefor a big risk appetite.

[endtime]

You are the one submitting anecdotes (as well as exhibiting availability bias), not the parent. It's not anecdotal to claim that younger people have higher risk tolerance...they are less likely to have kids, mortgages, etc.

[mindcrime]

Perhaps being younger is an advantage in the sort of "go big or go home" swing for the fences entrepreneurship?

Counter-scenario: Perhaps being older is an advantage in the "go big or go home" scenario, since the older person feels like they have less time left to achieve their dreams?

Personally, as a 39 year old, I feel like I hear the clock ticking pretty loudly and that motivates the hell out of me. I use a lot of sports analogies, and the way I look at it is this: It's like I'm down by 6, with 1:37 left in the 4th quarter, and have the ball on my own 20 yard line. That means it's "4 down territory" and maybe time for a "hail mary" or two. It's do or die time here.

(Apologies to anyone who isn't a fan of American football, if the above analogy makes no sense).

Seriously, I don't feel like I have a lot of "at bats" (to use a different sports analogy) left, and I'm feeling a strong sense of 'do it now, or "the water under the Golden Gate is freezing cold"'.

[jusben1369]

I am 44 and feel this way. Didn't start till I was around 41 though like waterlesscloud. Slight variation on the same theme. Early on I think I made a lot of decisions to please other people. To reinforce their perceptions of me. Nice house, nice cars etc. An enhanced sense of mortality made me embrace "go big or go home". I had to do what I wanted to do - even if that meant failing and being "poor" for a while as we bootstrapped and then angel funded things.

I wish I'd never seen Godfather III. When Michael Corleone sits down in that wooden chair in the vineyard and his entire life flashes before him. That haunts me. Am I going to be proud that I took chances and embraced the full range of emotions that life has to offer? Or would it be rather dull for the most part although numbingly comfortable in an upper middle class way.

[waterlesscloud]

I'm a few years older than you and feel exactly the same way.

Which is good.

Because I'm finally motivated to actually accomplish something. For whatever reason the motivation wasn't that strong when I was younger, but now it is.

[hef19898]

Being just shy of 31, and I feel something like that coming. Kind of depresed me lately.. Especially after I started loosing to 20-somethings in BJJ quite regularly :-)

What I realized can be a problem when you are acting out of age is the reaction of others. Even if no one thought I'm in my 40ies yet, I do act differently than others in my age (for various reasons). The point is that people expect you to act like other people in the early thierties. Sometimes in big corp world that can pose problems.

Guess it's the same when you ARE 40 and still act like you were 20.

[mindcrime]

Being just shy of 31, and I feel something like that coming. Kind of depresed me lately.. Especially after I started loosing to 20-somethings in BJJ quite regularly :-)

FWIW, you're probably in your physical prime right now, barring weird circumstances. The "losing to 20-somethings" is probably just a run of bad luck, or you happened across a particularly talented group by happenstance, or you're losing focus for some reason, etc.

For most men, you don't really start declining physically until your late 30's or even into your 40's. Then you start getting drops in testosterone, etc. But, the good news is, men (and probably women to, not sure on this point) can gain strength and muscle mass well into their later years. You may have to work harder in the gym to keep up, but don't feel like you became a frail old man at 30 or anything. I'm pretty sure I know some 50 year olds who could kick all our asses at BJJ. :-)

[hef19898]

That's what I keep telling me!