[russell]

It is not surprising that older risk takers lead the younger and risk adverse. I dont think that per se is ageism. They have accumulated the capital and connections to make a startup work. YC counters that somewhat. It's not necessarily for someone new to hone their skill and maybe be part of the founding team next time around.

That said, this industry is rampant with ageism. Once you get beyond 40, it takes longer and longer to find a new job. The presumption is that, if you are older, your skills development stagnated somewhere around the turn of the century.