Experience and Relationships take time to build and consolidate
There is a widespread unwritten myth: emerging companies, startups, are only created by 20-year-olds who have recently left university. “The Social Network,” “Pirates of Silicon Valley,” and other biopics of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, or “Silicon Valley” TV shows, documentaries: everywhere you look, the popular narrative is about young people making it.
It's true that entrepreneurial people are more likely to start companies before the real world has beaten their optimism out of them and dulled their eyes with cynicism. But while youthful vigor can fuel and motivate new founders, startup veterans know that there are other aspects of business creation that are just as important.
After you've seen enough startup launches with different backgrounds and sponsorships (God knows, I at least have), you start to detect a pattern: the best founders often have several miles left in their career. The advantage is having a personal and knowledgeable database of solvable problems, people who could help, and a good idea of who the product can be sold to once created.
Life skills come with age. A small example, Having children makes you a better manager, because it forces you to learn priorities and the value of time. Parents tend to be more resilient and patient, which are crucial skills for entrepreneurship. But the real reason experience is important has to do with building one's personal network.
One of the most important parts of building a company is being correctly positioned in the founders' market. You can learn to build that adjustment at a college or university; Zuckerberg is a great example. And it is also possible to develop deep experience in academia. If you have a PhD in a particular field, for example, you are likely to be among the world's leading experts in that field.
Ren Ng obtained a doctorate in computer science with a dissertation in the field “digital light photography.” Then he founded Lytro, launched a $400 camera that turned out to be a novelty, raised round after round of funding (the last one was a Series D of $60 million) and finally went to Google for $40 million.
From a startup or venture capital investment point of view, Lytro was not a success. But mediocre business performance aside, this startup is a perfect example of how you can turn a PhD into a business venture.
However, what you rarely have after college is experience. An investor is much more likely to invest in a founder with a wealth of industry contacts, years of experience in a market, or a couple of successful startups under their belt. You can only get something like that with persistence y tiempo.
The founders take note. I see more and more startups founded by people in their 40s and 50s who have been around in this environment of creating business models. There is good precedent for founders wanting to start companies a little later in life: Herbert Boyer founded Genentech when he was 40 years old. Lynda.com was founded by 42-year-old Lynda Weinman. Costco, Red Bull, Geico, GoDaddy, Lululemon, The Gap, Intel, and Garmin were all started by people who had rich careers, extensive networks, lots of experience, and probably a midlife crisis or two under their belts.
Zoom was founded by Eric Yuan after experiencing the pain of video conferencing deeply: he was one of the first Webex employees. When Cisco acquired Webex, he became Cisco's corporate vice president of engineering and, in conversations with customers, he realized that They universally hated the way video conferencing worked and saw an opportunity.
As an investor, you have a choice: Do you invest in someone fresh out of college who is frustrated with how clunky Skype is? Or do you invest in someone who has been working in the video conferencing world for 15 years, has a deep understanding of the technical and marketing challenges, and has convinced a team of 40 people to leave Cisco and finally solve the video conferencing challenge? calls between people over the internet?
This dilemma has two answers. One is that both founders can receive funds; the other answer is that Zoom is worth $21,62 billion today.
Problems are everywhere. People who have a deep, personal connection to the ways things are resolved have a great chance of success. Investors know this, and that's why the myth of the young founder is just that: a myth.
pour in a founder with a wealth of industry contacts, years of experience in a market, or a couple of successful startups under their belt. You can only get some of that with persistence and time.
Founders are taking note. I'm seeing more and more startups founded by people in their 40s and 50s who have been around the corner. There is good precedent for founders wanting to start companies a little later in life: Herbert Boyer founded Genentech when he was 40 years old. Lynda.com was founded by 42-year-old Lynda Weinman. Costco, Red Bull, Geico, GoDaddy, Lululemon, The Gap, Intel, and Garmin were all started by people who had rich careers, extensive networks, lots of experience, and probably a midlife crisis or two under their belts.
Zoom was founded by Eric Yuan after experiencing the pain of video conferencing extremely deeply: he was one of the first Webex employees. When Cisco acquired Webex, he became Cisco's corporate vice president of engineering, and in conversations with customers, he realized they universally hated the way video conferencing worked and saw an opportunity.
As an investor, you have a choice: Do you invest in someone fresh out of college who is frustrated with how clunky Skype is? Or do you invest in someone who has been working in the video conferencing world for 15 years, has a deep understanding of the technical and marketing challenges, and has convinced a team of 40 people to leave Cisco and finally solve the calling challenge people online?
This dilemma has two answers. One is that both founders can receive funds; the other answer is that Zoom is worth $21,62 billion today.
Problems are everywhere. People who have a deep, personal connection to the ways things are resolved have a great chance of success. Investors know this, and that's why the myth of the young founder is just that: a myth.
