There is a tendency to think that young entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed. But are young people really the most successful?
There is a myth in the entrepreneurial ecosystem (and outside of it) about the success of startups founded by young people. There is a tendency to think that young entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed.
The same thing usually happens in the business world as well. In fact, some employers insist on hiring only young people, and others even encourage young people to abandon their studies so that they can start working as soon as possible. But are young people really the most successful?
As the experts of the Future Trends Forum mention in the report on longevity, older people have professional and life experience that can be very useful at certain times. In the conference on longevity of Luis Castillo, OATS Delegate in Spain, he gave Nicolas G. Hayek as an example as a successful senior entrepreneur.
Hayek was the co-founder and former chairman of the Swatch Group, where he was instrumental in launching the first Swatch watch, a watch that revolutionized the watch industry. Almost 15 years later, the first Smart is presented, a very new car concept for its size and price and also devised by Hayek. This story shows, according to Luis Castillo, that the best in people, from an entrepreneurial point of view, is often revealed when they are over 65 years old.
In addition, according to the study “Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship” by Kellogg School professor of strategy Benjamin Jones, Javier Miranda, from the US Census Bureau, and Pierre Azoulay and J. Daniel Kim, both from MIT, the best entrepreneurs are on average 45 years old. In fact, a 45-year-old entrepreneur has twice the chance of success as a 30-year-old and almost three times as much as a 25-year-old.
But why do we tend to think that young entrepreneurs are more successful? Is it because of ageism? One of the researchers of the study, Benjamin Jones, argues that it may be because young people are more likely to have transformative ideas, are digital natives and do not have as many economic or family responsibilities. However, older people have decades of professional and life experience, as well as strong problem-solving skills that can help a startup thrive. They may know less about trends, but they know more about potential business opportunities, Benjamin concludes.
You can read more about this report on the Kellogg Insights website.
