Did you know that the average age of the first-time entrepreneur is 40 and that the average age of the leaders of high growth startups is 45? Recent studies out of Duke University, the Kauffman Foundation, and Northwestern University have shown that despite the myths, entrepreneurship and middle age are highly compatible.
Why does age help? According to one researcher “Older individuals have generally completed more complex projects–from buying a house to raising a family. In addition, older people have developed greater vocational skills than their younger counterparts in many, but not all, cases,” he says. “We theorize that the combination of successful project completion skills with real-world experience helps older entrepreneurs identify and address more realistic business opportunities.”
This is borne out not only by the research (which shows, among other things, that people over 55 are twice as likely to launch a high-growth startup as those under 35), but by scanning just a quick list of successful entrepreneurs:
- Ray Kroc was 52 when he shaped McDonald’s into a multibillion-dollar behemoth
- Sam Walton was 44 when he started a little company called Walmart
- Lynda Weinman co-founded Lynda.com at 40 (and then sold it to LinkedIn for $1.5 billion)
- Bernie Marcus co-founded Home Depot at 50
- Anne Wojcicki was 33 when she founded 23andMe
At this Meetup you will hear from three local entrepreneurs who started successful businesses after experiencing success in other fields. Al Perelli founded Bigshots Archery LLC after a successful career in software sales. John Cusatis, an Air Force veteran with a doctorate in computer science, started Tilapia R Us after a successful but stressful career in information technology. Sherry Fuhrmann started Pure Wild Tea which she runs while continuing her first career as an elementary school teacher.
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