It's just frustrating that something that has little evidence beyond the anecdotal is taken as gospel.
We've got to remember that being involved in tech start-ups or being in college tends means that our own experience is limited to that which we see everyday, and isn't necessarily the norm.
For example: "A 2005 CGC study of 3,000 job seekers found that 13 percent started their own businesses in the second quarter, up from 9.9 percent in the same quarter a year ago. And of that group, 86.6 percent were over 40, evidence that the next big wave of entrepreneurs may be seasoned workers, not college dropouts in Silicon Valley with a breakthrough technology concept." From here: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060403/3primet...
And Here: "According to a Vanderbilt University study the number of entrepreneurs age 45 to 64 will grow by 15 million by 2006. That"s compared to a 4 million decline for entrepreneurs age 25 to 44." From: http://www.ez2find.info/entrepreneur/Small_Business_QA_Entre...
Now, until we see statistics that suggest the failure rate is a lot lower for younger entrepreneurs, the age question has obviously been blown out of proportion based on a few opinions, valid as they may be.
But let's face it -- we're on news.ycombinator.com, where the majority of the applicants and chosen entrepreneurs seem to be college kids or people in their twenties. (with a few outliers?)
A large chunk of the general population thinks it's entrepreneurial to join up with Amway, or do a consulting biz. (which it might be, just not what we're talking about here)
>But let's face it -- we're on news.ycombinator.com, where the majority of the applicants and chosen entrepreneurs seem to be college kids or people in their twenties. (with a few outliers?)
In other words: Don't let the facts get in the way of a good opinion! :-)
I get you, and believe me I agree, but as entrepreneurs, it's always good to keep two things front and centre:
1. We live as part of a much larger world.
2. Our perceptions often lie to us.
If I'm the only one preaching that, so be it. Perhaps it helps one lucky person someday.
