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You spend half your career being told that you are too young by prospective clients and investors (I was rather astounded when we were turned down on this groun

You spend half your career being told that you are too young by prospective clients and investors (I was rather astounded when we were turned down on this ground at first, rather than anything to do with the product or service, but eventually grew to accept it), and then the next half being told you are too old by the same. Ah, to be forever 34 and eight months.

onion2k 8y ago
Whatever reason an investor gives for turning your investment down, it's actually code for "I don't think you can pull this off."
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  Or "you look like the guy that ran off with my wife". Like interview feedback, it's generally useless advice because people make emotional decisions rather than rational.
  - ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
    Ha true! Regardless of the bullshit the VCs feed about traction, team and such nonsense everything boils down to how charming you are. Worked with plenty of startups that essentially sold perpetual motion machine but the founders could convince you to buy ice in Antarctica
- pembrook 8y ago
  While I tend to agree (My experience has been that the desire to make money is stronger than the desire to be ageist)...it's still an area that is highly subjective. I would think bias is more likely to get eliminated the further up the funding ladder you go (i.e. sure this person might not look like me, but the numbers prove he knows what he/she knows what their doing). However at the angel stage, there's so much room for subjectivity that I can't believe bias doesn't play a role.
- addicted 8y ago
  I suspect a lot of older entrepreneurs are turned down for their age as well, but due to legal restrictions, this isn't stated outright the way it may be for a younger person.
- madaxe_again 8y ago
  In our case it was definitely age - the number of times I’d take an older employee along to a meeting and wryly smile as they’d assume he was me was substantial. Then I grew a beard and lost a load of weight, and things changed. I hate to say it, but it’s rarely what you do or what you say - it’s how you do it and how you look when you say it. These days I look like a mature, sensible businessperson, but I’m still the same twelve year old jackass I always was.
avighnay 8y ago
This might not be the case going forward for cloud, SaaS models with zero touch sales. Most software would move to this category sooner than we think as there is high vendor motive. It is hindered only by regulatory or compliance needs in certain industries/countries
- taurath 8y ago
  Those regulatory needs are more often than not the secret sauce and speciality of those vendors. Look at the payments space - now that every municipality is going to tax online sales it pushes more and more companies to outsource the cost of compliance to a vendor.
  - tonyedgecombe 8y ago
    That doesn't negate @avighnay's point that we are moving to zero touch sales, I just opened a bank account with a bank with no branches without making any phone calls in a couple of minutes. This is in an area that is highly regulated. The same applies to software.
ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
This is what I absolutely hate about VCs. The reasons are garbage and they are actually harming by trying to be polite. There is no such thing as too young or old for startups. Why do they even care if they think your startup is going to make it? I got turned down by one VC because "they don't invest in India". My startup is registered in Delaware, I pitched him in US and I am not even Indian citizen
- sumedh 8y ago
  but was your target market Indians?
  - ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
    No it wasn't. Target market was North America. We are still focused on NA
    - sumedh 8y ago
      well in that case I am assuming he wanted to say no but not to hurt your feeling he accidentally said "they don't invest in India" since you look Indian (I am assuming that based on your name) Or he could just be a jerk.
      - ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
        And that's the point I am making. VC's come up with reasons to say no and this one was the vaguest I heard. I do look Indian and talk Indian ;)
- corobo 8y ago
  What was/is the startup? Reading between the snark lines it sounds like the VC thought you'd struggle to achieve your goals without resorting to cheap outsourcing
  - ganeshkrishnan 8y ago

onion2k 8y ago

Whatever reason an investor gives for turning your investment down, it's actually code for "I don't think you can pull this off."

tonyedgecombe 8y ago
Or "you look like the guy that ran off with my wife". Like interview feedback, it's generally useless advice because people make emotional decisions rather than rational.
- ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
  Ha true! Regardless of the bullshit the VCs feed about traction, team and such nonsense everything boils down to how charming you are. Worked with plenty of startups that essentially sold perpetual motion machine but the founders could convince you to buy ice in Antarctica
pembrook 8y ago
While I tend to agree (My experience has been that the desire to make money is stronger than the desire to be ageist)...it's still an area that is highly subjective. I would think bias is more likely to get eliminated the further up the funding ladder you go (i.e. sure this person might not look like me, but the numbers prove he knows what he/she knows what their doing). However at the angel stage, there's so much room for subjectivity that I can't believe bias doesn't play a role.
addicted 8y ago
I suspect a lot of older entrepreneurs are turned down for their age as well, but due to legal restrictions, this isn't stated outright the way it may be for a younger person.
madaxe_again 8y ago
In our case it was definitely age - the number of times I’d take an older employee along to a meeting and wryly smile as they’d assume he was me was substantial. Then I grew a beard and lost a load of weight, and things changed. I hate to say it, but it’s rarely what you do or what you say - it’s how you do it and how you look when you say it. These days I look like a mature, sensible businessperson, but I’m still the same twelve year old jackass I always was.

avighnay 8y ago

This might not be the case going forward for cloud, SaaS models with zero touch sales. Most software would move to this category sooner than we think as there is high vendor motive. It is hindered only by regulatory or compliance needs in certain industries/countries

taurath 8y ago
Those regulatory needs are more often than not the secret sauce and speciality of those vendors. Look at the payments space - now that every municipality is going to tax online sales it pushes more and more companies to outsource the cost of compliance to a vendor.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  That doesn't negate @avighnay's point that we are moving to zero touch sales, I just opened a bank account with a bank with no branches without making any phone calls in a couple of minutes. This is in an area that is highly regulated. The same applies to software.

ganeshkrishnan 8y ago

This is what I absolutely hate about VCs. The reasons are garbage and they are actually harming by trying to be polite. There is no such thing as too young or old for startups. Why do they even care if they think your startup is going to make it? I got turned down by one VC because "they don't invest in India". My startup is registered in Delaware, I pitched him in US and I am not even Indian citizen

sumedh 8y ago
but was your target market Indians?
- ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
  No it wasn't. Target market was North America. We are still focused on NA
  - sumedh 8y ago
    well in that case I am assuming he wanted to say no but not to hurt your feeling he accidentally said "they don't invest in India" since you look Indian (I am assuming that based on your name) Or he could just be a jerk.
    - ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
      And that's the point I am making. VC's come up with reasons to say no and this one was the vaguest I heard. I do look Indian and talk Indian ;)
corobo 8y ago
What was/is the startup? Reading between the snark lines it sounds like the VC thought you'd struggle to achieve your goals without resorting to cheap outsourcing
- ganeshkrishnan 8y ago