Ironically, the beauty of this article is that the title is wrong.
These 10 reasons are good at any age.
(Reminds me of the story of the 40 year old woman who was reluctant to go to medical school because she'd be 48 by the time she could open her own practice. Until someone asked her how old she'd be in 8 years if she DIDN'T go. She went.)
Instead of saying the cost of failure is zero, I think the author should have put it in terms of risk tolerance. In general, people younger in age have less to risk, thus 100% risk while younger < 100% risk when you're older.
Oh boy, are you wrong. Age is just a number, an abstraction, it has nothing to do with starting a startup or anything else.
If you can't start a startup for whatever reason, put yourself in the position to start a startup before starting a startup -- you might not be able to control some things, but start with the things you can control.
Rose Blumkin started her second business that competed with Warren Buffet, at age 98, after selling the first one to Warren Buffet.
It's all in your head my friend, start there and remember, you only have to get it right once.
And, finally, a quote I read from Marc Andreessen "Take acute pain now in order to avoid years of chronic pain."
I don't get why people make such a big deal about financial freedom (living off of interest). As far as I can tell, it can easily be achieved with about 5 years and a decent job.
There are biological, psychological, and social differences between a 25 year old and a 45 year old, none of which are in favor of the 45 year old.
For example, the highest prize in Mathematics is the Fields medal, awarded every 4 years to the most outstanding mathematician under 40. Only once was there a problem with the age limit as all the important work in mathematics is done by young minds, anyway. The almost exception, by the way, was 41.
I don't think everyone is ready to start a startup at any specific age. It requires planning, study of what works and what doesn't, and a huge commitment.
But I definitely agree with you in the 'you only have to get it right once'. You can make 1000 mistakes that don't really have too much of a negative impact on your life, but the one really good move you make could make your startup a success.
He's describing things that people of older age usually have. Kids, family, mortgage, car payments, college savings, taxes. Let's not kid ourselves at thinking when you turn 30, 40, 50, or 60, you have the equal same amount of spark and vitality as you did when you're 20.
No one will ever force you to become a permanent corporate drone, buy a McMansion, and populate it with screaming children. Not now, not at any age. If and when you make the progression, it will be on your own free will. No evil overlord will have disqualified you from startup adventures. You will have done it entirely on your own.
Since I'm forty, I'll just ignore those last three words in that title. I've now enough experience to know what works and what doesn't, and how to do things profitably and well. The only thing I don't know is if I have enough stamina to essentially work two "jobs" indefinitely until I no longer need the "day job". In my late twenties I worked full time supporting my family while studying full time at university. In the four years that I did that, I thought it was going to kill me. I probably shouldn't expect any different with my startup efforts.
Yea, this is the tough part. I've done almost everything I could think of with my personal life to maximize my startup's chances of success. Diet, exercise, sleeping, time spent with family, adjusting work schedule, leveraging technology, etc., etc.,etc.
Good thing I started at 25, I am now 26 and still doing the start up thing so I guess that is a good sign.
I get there is less risk before having a family and such, but I think it is pretty hard all the time, and always a good idea if it is really well suited to who you are.
These 10 reasons are good at any age.
(Reminds me of the story of the 40 year old woman who was reluctant to go to medical school because she'd be 48 by the time she could open her own practice. Until someone asked her how old she'd be in 8 years if she DIDN'T go. She went.)