[npalli]

As an older guy myself, some thoughts --

1. Take a break if you feel you are burnt out.

2. Shift into a new area. I suggest healthcare. You have seen the entire cycle of the PC/Internet era and understand how companies are built. You can parlay this into the healthcare area where technology is just making inroads (it feels like the mainframe era to be honest). So, if you are into games, B2B or mobile there is something you can do. Best thing is you will now understand the problems (unlike 25 year olds :-). There is a revenue stream already in place. It is about 4-5 times bigger than the advertising stream.

3. The internet model has turned out to be based primarily on advertising. With the general dispersion of internet technologies, the technology risk is very limited. So it is mostly a marketing problem. Most of the power has shifted to Google/Amazon/Facebook and other biggies. So you will compete with young guys with lot of energy following a template (MVP/Lean/Accelerator etc.) but limited perspective on solving problems. Not the best place to be as a 38 year old (esp. if you already don't have a hit). Nothing stopping you, but be realistic that you will be building an advertising based company with minimal technology risk but high emphasis on marketing.