The Compounding Benefits of Age

If you want to or have to start again, the odds are in your favor

When you quit or are laid off, the first question you'll be asked and ask yourself is: What now?

All of us who are or have been in regular jobs have learned how attractive a proposition it is to have one: you show up, fulfill your "expectations," and collect the benefits. You may earn the right to a 401K or a pension if you stay long enough. Or, if you work for a multilateral org or government, forever health care. Sweet.

Sometimes, life gets in the way. As I write this, the government—the last bastion of job security, is being disrupted. I can feel the pain and anxiety of so many who are having to ask, "What now?" for the first time.

Without meaning to be flip or to make light of what anyone is going through, I can't help but think: What a force we could grow to be as we reimagine and relaunch ourselves so we can continue to add all the value we still have untapped.

First, reframe the loss as an opportunity.

"This was not the plan:” The loss of agency

Last week, we talked about having agency over our work lives and the sting of losing it.

Owning a business ranks high on the agency spectrum. Entrepreneurs have decision-making authority, control over their time and work structure, and carte blanche to choose projects and clients. Ahh, the freedom to implement your vision!

Yet, as we advance in our careers, the years pass, and suddenly, you (and I!) have too many candles on our cake. I admit it: as I was preparing to leave Google, I Googled: Is 61 too late to start a business?

It turns out it isn't. Actually, as we age and accumulate knowledge, we have a better chance of succeeding.

Take a look at the data

In a recent The Science of Success column, Ben Cohen profiles Katerina Stroponiati, The Investor Betting on People In Their 50s and 60s—Because Older Is Better. Stroponiati only invests in founders 50 and older and says:

"They have connections. They have credibility. They have industry experience, domain expertise and the kind of relationships that can take years to cultivate. They've seen it all, so they can spot opportunities that others miss. They know the rules of their business—and how to break them. They also know which problems need to be solved because they have encountered those problems too many times themselves."

It's refreshing to hear and a bit counterintuitive. Ageism and stereotypes about innovation, that it must come from youth are prevalent. Peter Thiel's fellowship program only offers grants to entrepreneurs under the age of 23.

Younger people may be more energetic, but older people have more relevant experience, knowledge, and social networks, giving them a greater chance of success.

• Forty-Five Wins: The mean age at founding for the 1 in 1,000 fastest-growing new ventures is 45.0. (Source: "Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship" by Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda)

• Double Odds: A 50-year-old founder is 1.8 times more likely to achieve upper-tail growth than a 30-year-old founder. (Source: "Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship")

• Peak Sixty: The likelihood of success increases with age up to about 60 years old. (Source: "Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship")

• Rising Generation: In 2019, research indicated that over 25% of new entrepreneurs were between 55 and 64, which is an increase from approximately 15% in 1996. (Source: Kauffman Foundation)

• Emotional Wisdom: With increasing biological age, entrepreneurs experience less emotional exhaustion due to their enhanced psychological capital. (Source: Journal of Business Venturing)

The Steve and Bill Non-Lesson

You will read a million ways Steve thought or 10-books-Bill-read articles.

College dropouts indeed started the biggest companies of the last generation in their 20s: Apple, and Microsoft, not to mention the greatest of them all, Google, were all founded by college kids. But, the average age of successful founders is in their 40s, with many in their 50s and 60s.

The point is that Gateses are rare. Those businesses are outliers that emerged during a unique moment in history. So, don't set out to replicate their disruptive narratives or achieve unicorn valuation. Yours will likely never be a trillion-dollar company, and that is okay.

Today, success isn't necessarily about disrupting new territories but solving complex problems, navigating regulatory environments, and building sustainably: all challenges can benefit more from experience than fresh eyes.

This is an opportunity to leverage your deep understanding of specific industries, problems, and customer needs, especially since so many consumers are also older.

The Age Advantage

I hope my kids are skipping this post (I hate to make them feel bad), but there are so many ways I have a leg up on them. You, elder wise reader, do too. You, young reader, will have it in time. Patience.

We, who have been in corp for a (high) number of years, have accumulated and compounded value. We have learned how to negotiate and how to assess risk. We have solved more problems than we care to remember, but we remember how to do it. We have experience managing projects and people and a broad network of contacts, which is huge for new business founders. We are more likely to be financially stable: we've earned the ability to take some risks. We've learned flexibility and how to adapt the hard way. We've had to.

Then, there is this mind-blowing data point from a study conducted among German entrepreneurs: every ten additional years in a founder's age increases the likelihood of introducing a market novelty by 30%. Even if we take that with a grain of salt, Wow!

We are less interested in making a billion dollars than in making an impact, creating a personal legacy, and, if we are very fortunate, leaving something meaningful behind for future generations.

[K]Now you: From quitters, we become starters

I repeat myself when I say that we have the potential to become a huge force for growth if and when we are made to lean into our strengths and creativity to do more good.

If, as the research shows, founders and business starters who bring the experience acquired over their work lives are more likely to succeed, the odds are in our favor.

In addition to the work I put into Quitting Corp, I have another business idea. Right now, I am moving really slowly on it because I am intent on writing for four hours every day. I am making time each day to do some research, piling all of it into a Notebook LM folder and asking questions to help me brainstorm. My jaw drops at how useful it is.

What drives me forward and holds me back is asking myself many questions:

• Is this something I really want to do?

• What can I, particularly, add in terms of value?

• Why do I want to do it?

• Am I doing it just because I'm trying to be cool again?

• Would it give me joy?

I will keep you posted on how it goes.