> "as Paul Graham most famously said not to hire engineers over 30."
Did he? I'm very skeptical of that since I read every single one of his essays and followed his talks. They were one of the reasons I decided to transition into software in my early 30s.
"Or more precisely, I think few realize the huge spread in the value of 20 year olds. Some, it's true, are not very capable. But others are more capable than all but a handful of 30 year olds."
So I am wrong
edit:
I found where I am attributing Graham from. I am still wrong, but here is the context:
"Venture capitalists have a notorious bias against older founders—“older” being relative in youth-obsessed Silicon Valley. “The cutoff in investors’ heads is 32,” Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham (now 53) told the New York Times in 2013. “After 32, they start to be a little skeptical.”
I would bet the angle is that programmers in their 20s are less likely to push back against things like on working conditions and demands on their time. Basically get them while they’re young and dumb
I wonder if this is a misattribution of Zuckerberg’s quote:
“I want to stress the importance of being young and technical … Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30?" he asked. "I don't know… Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family."
Of course, he said this in his twenties and he may have changed his tune. As far as I know, he hasn’t handed the reigns of Meta over to a twenty-something just yet.
pg has observed that at 30 when he founded Viaweb, he was older than he thought typical, and frequently encouraged people to start startups earlier than that, but I don't recall him ever advising against hiring someone over 30.
Did he? I'm very skeptical of that since I read every single one of his essays and followed his talks. They were one of the reasons I decided to transition into software in my early 30s.