• Tech News
    • Games
    • Pc & Laptop
    • Mobile Tech
    • Ar & Vr
    • Security
  • Startup
    • Fintech
  • Reviews
  • How To
What's Hot

Elementor #32036

January 24, 2025

The Redmi Note 13 is a bigger downgrade compared to the 5G model than you might think

April 18, 2024

Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 is a budget smartwatch with a premium look and feel

April 16, 2024
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest VKontakte
Behind The ScreenBehind The Screen
  • Tech News
    1. Games
    2. Pc & Laptop
    3. Mobile Tech
    4. Ar & Vr
    5. Security
    6. View All

    Bring Elden Ring to the table with the upcoming board game adaptation

    September 19, 2022

    ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni reveals its opening movie

    September 19, 2022

    GTA 6 images and footage allegedly leak

    September 19, 2022

    Wild west adventure Card Cowboy turns cards into weird and silly stories

    September 18, 2022

    7 Reasons Why You Should Study PHP Programming Language

    October 19, 2022

    Logitech MX Master 3S and MX Keys Combo for Business Gen 2 Review

    October 9, 2022

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen10 Review

    September 18, 2022

    Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Chromebook, 16-inch+120Hz

    September 3, 2022

    It’s 2023 and Spotify Still Can’t Say When AirPlay 2 Support Will Arrive

    April 4, 2023

    YouTube adds very convenient iPhone homescreen widgets

    October 15, 2022

    Google finishes iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets rollout w/ Maps

    October 14, 2022

    Is Apple actually turning iMessage into AIM or is this sketchy redesign rumor for laughs?

    October 14, 2022

    MeetKai launches AI-powered metaverse, starting with a billboard in Times Square

    August 10, 2022

    The DeanBeat: RP1 simulates putting 4,000 people together in a single metaverse plaza

    August 10, 2022

    Improving the customer experience with virtual and augmented reality

    August 10, 2022

    Why the metaverse won’t fall to Clubhouse’s fate

    August 10, 2022

    How Apple privacy changes have forced social media marketing to evolve

    October 16, 2022

    Microsoft Patch Tuesday October Fixed 85 Vulnerabilities – Latest Hacking News

    October 16, 2022

    Decentralization and KYC compliance: Critical concepts in sovereign policy

    October 15, 2022

    What Thoma Bravo’s latest acquisition reveals about identity management

    October 14, 2022

    What is a Service Robot? The vision of an intelligent service application is possible.

    November 7, 2022

    Tom Brady just chucked another Microsoft Surface tablet

    September 18, 2022

    The best AIO coolers for your PC in 2022

    September 18, 2022

    YC’s Michael Seibel clarifies some misconceptions about the accelerator • DailyTech

    September 18, 2022
  • Startup
    • Fintech
  • Reviews
  • How To
Behind The ScreenBehind The Screen
Home»Startup»The myth of the college dropout and ageism in startup culture
Startup

The myth of the college dropout and ageism in startup culture

August 18, 2023No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
An older Black woman and another woman sit at a meeting table with notes and pencils in hand, chatting animatedly at a startup table.
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Perhaps the most pervasive myth in startup culture is the myth of the college dropout, the young, twenty-something kid who dropped out of college (usually ivy league) to pursue their dream of a successful startup company and then go on to be an ultra-successful billionaire. 

With some of the most famous names in tech (Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft, respectively) all dropping out of college and founding their companies before the age of twenty-two, it’s easy to think these famous outliers are a part of the ‘norm’. 

But according to a study from the Harvard Business Review, only 4% of college dropouts become successful startup founders. Furthermore, the research found that 62% of Unicorn founders held post-graduate degrees. (Unicorn founders own companies valued at a billionaire dollars or more.) 

The research also found time being on your side. Finding that the probability of extreme startup success only increases with age, until your late fifties. The average age of the founders behind America’s largest growth startups is forty-five. Even Unicorn founders are most likely to be well over thirty before they start. (So don’t worry if you’re not primed to make Forbes Thirty under thirty.) 

The higher the age of a founder the more experience they have and the more likely they are to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. The average ages for different industries vary widely, as well. The average age across all startups hovers somewhere between twenty-nine and thirty-one with the average age steadily increasing year after year.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The average age for tech startups is somewhere in the early forties, despite the image that the famous aforementioned wunderkinder of tech put out. The oil, gas, and biotechnical industries see an even higher average age of forty-seven. 

See also  Tips for employees and leaders navigating job cuts – Startup

What about the most successful startups? Research discovered that the top 0.1% of startups based on growth in their first five years, we find that the founders started their companies, on average, when they were 45 years old. These highest-performing firms were identified based on employment growth. The age finding is similar using firms with the fastest sales growth instead, and founder age is similarly high for those startups that successfully exit through an IPO or acquisition. In other words, when you look at most successful firms, the average founder age goes up, not down. 

However, when you look at success rates conditional on actually starting a company, the evidence against youthful entrepreneurial success becomes even sharper. Among those who have started a firm, older entrepreneurs have a substantially higher success rate. Older entrepreneurs were found to take more risks than their younger counterparts, and in business, many times those risks pay off. Our evidence points to entrepreneurial performance rising sharply with age before cresting in the late fifties. 

Relative to founders with no relevant experience, those with at least three years of prior work experience in the same narrow industry as their startup were 85% more likely to launch a highly successful startup. And it makes sense, right? Just as you wouldn’t hire a freshly-minted college graduate with little on the resume as a senior vice president and expect them to be successful, it is unlikely that a young person with very little experience would be highly successful with a startup. 

However, venture capitalists still tend to favor the young and inexperienced in Silicon Valley. Age bias, though unfair and unfounded, is still very much alive in Silicon Valley. VCs are not simply looking to identify the firms with the highest growth potential. 

See also  Q&A with former Facebook exec leading a new health data analytics venture in Seattle – Startup

The bottom line? Don’t let the media warp your perception of what a successful entrepreneur looks like, it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. 

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Source link

ageism college culture Dropout myth Startup
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Multiple Milestones As New Majority Capital Boosts Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

September 26, 2023

Getty Images Plunges Into the Generative AI Pool

September 26, 2023

3 Hot Startup Opportunities In Augmented Reality

September 26, 2023

The ChatGPT App Can Now Talk to You—and Look Into Your Life

September 25, 2023
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Editors Picks

Monster Hunter Paradise is not truly the subsequent recreation within the collection

July 25, 2022

Modulous, which helps developers build prefabricated homes, raises $11.5M – Startup

September 12, 2022

Is Self-Doubt Keeping You From Becoming An Entrepreneur? Insights That Might Help

September 11, 2023

Someone Tried to Use an AirTag to Track a Police Car in Japan|It Didn’t Work

July 11, 2022

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest news and Updates from Behind The Scene about Tech, Startup and more.

Top Post

Elementor #32036

The Redmi Note 13 is a bigger downgrade compared to the 5G model than you might think

Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 is a budget smartwatch with a premium look and feel

Behind The Screen
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Vimeo YouTube
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 behindthescreen.uk - All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.