Most successful entrepreneurs are older than you think.
The romanticised image of entrepreneurs is a picture of youth: a 20-something individual with disruptive ideas, boundless energy and a still-sharp mind.
However, recent research shows that the average age of the most successful entrepreneurs is 45 and over – and that founders in their 20s are the least likely to be successful in building high performing firms!
Well, in NZ we don’t need romanticism to drive our views on successful entrepreneurship any longer. The prime time for building new businesses for the first time is middle age.
The myth of the young entrepreneur may be widespread - but it’s a myth.
The romantic idea that the most successful new business ventures come from the young, even the very young, may be stimulating - but it’s also a myth.
Younger people are often thought to be less beholden to current thinking and thus more naturally innovative and disruptive. Many observers (perhaps enviously) believe the young have more time and energy, with fewer family responsibilities like nightly dinner with the kids or financial demands like mortgages.
The myths around young founders also makes for more dramatic stories. The college dropout or young corporate drone who shakes off conventional expectations to launch a new enterprise with a lot of hype and a ragtag team of fellow 20-somethings make for an exciting tale. Especially if they emerge, after countless late nights, with a new killer App or a consumer product that takes the market by storm and converts them into cult heros. They may suddenly be on magazine covers reminding stuffy executive types that hungry young upstarts can and will eat their lunch.
But such outcomes are rare. Part of the myth. All part of the illusion.
The image of the young entrepreneur didn’t hold when we looked at the data.
Now is the time for us to get real: THE PRIME TIME FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS MIDDLE AGE.
Those 50 and up are almost 3 times more successful at crerating businesses that last at least 5 years than those under 50.
The fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the world are those 50 – 65, not those under 50.
Founders in their early 20s have the lowest likelihood of building a top-growth firm.
Middle-aged founders dominate successful exits.
Successful entrepreneurs are much more likely to be middle-aged, not young.
These “more seasoned” entrepreneurs draw on far greater experience, wisdom, industry skill and social networks than younger folk in the throes of leaving college, polytechnics, or universities. Assistance in changing attitudes would help.
Has anyone in policy land got their heads around this? We’ve been knocking!
Let’s begin to invest in entrepreneurs who have the most chance of being successful.