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It's (likely) not a strategy. Other explanations exist. You need to know more than just the age distribution of founders YC invests in. You also need to know th
by Towle_ 16y ago
It's (likely) not a strategy. Other explanations exist. You need to know more than just the age distribution of founders YC invests in. You also need to know the age distribution of founders who apply to YC. It's silly to assume that the age distribution of applicants is unlike the age distribution of those invested in if you don't have the data to make that claim.
If, for example, 20% of YC-invested founders are in their 30s and 20% of applicants are in their 30s, then in all likelihood age is a complete non-factor in their investment strategy. YC applicants are just disproportionately likely to be younger, due to the fact that older people are more likely to have financial dependents and commitments which make it far more difficult (if not entirely impossible) to do the 3-month-long YC experience.
- timr 16y agoI was thinking something similar. Not knowing anything about the actual applicant demographics, my intuition is that they would skew younger. From personal experience, the overlap of the sets: 1) of people over 30 2) of people who are entrepreneurial 3) of people who have actionable ideas 4) of people who are in a position to take income risks 5) of people who need the money/PR/connections that YC provides is pretty small. There just aren't that many 30-something entrepreneurs who are in a position to need what YC provides, and who are able and willing to take a vacation from what is probably a substantial, stable income.
- jon_dahl 16y agoFrom my perspective (early 30s), I know a ton of people who match all of these criteria. Even 4 and 5. Savings (4) can cover income risks for a time, and as it turns out, just about anyone can benefit from the PR and connections that YC provides (5). (The money, however, is almost a non-issue.)
- maxawaytoolong 16y agoIn my experience every programmer I know who is around age 35 has already worked at at least one startup and would prefer to avoid doing it again...