4 ms·

I know several people in the 55+ age range that are starting businesses right now including my father. His problem is that at 59 it is near impossible to find s

I know several people in the 55+ age range that are starting businesses right now including my father. His problem is that at 59 it is near impossible to find someone who will hire you for 4-5 years, so why not start your own business? He has enough cash to start a small business without outside investment and he can use his 30 something years of industry connections to drive business to his new company. It seems significantly less risky than if I were to tomorrow even though I fit the more typical demographic.

edw519 17y ago
"...he can use his 30 something years of industry connections to drive business to his new company..." He can also use his 30 something years of industry experience to know what to do without too many false starts. Don't discount meaningful experience. Not everything important is learned from a book.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  As a part of their training, CIA analysts are shown satellite photos of a civil war battleground near Washington DC. There is what appears to be a large open field there. They are asked for an analysis. Afterward, they take a field trip to the actual site. There, they discover that the "large open field" actually has undulations that are as much as 10 feet from peak to trough. Being there on the ground can be a drastically different experience from reading reports and looking at remote data! 30 years of industry experience can give you some special insights.
  - byrneseyeview 17y ago
    I think HN needs a "spoiler" tag.
    - stcredzero 17y ago
      Whoops, I didn't stop to think that CIA analyst trainees might be reading this site! Anyhow, they had this bit on freaking NPR!
mixmax 17y ago
My dad is doing exactly the same. He's in his late 60's and officially retired so he already has a good pension meaning he doesn't need to make money straight away to survive. He's doing it for fun, it's much better than sitting around doing nothing but drinking chardonnay and it keeps him young and sharp.
ojbyrne 17y ago
My dad started a company after age 55 that was sort of interesting. He was VP at a Canadian subsidiary of a 50 year old American construction company that had been run into the ground by 20 something lawyers/entrepreneurs/whizkids. When the parent company entered chapter 11, he and a couple of the other employees at the Canadian subsidiary got a loan from the bank, got access to the construction equipment of the bankrupt company, and took over the government contracts that were the bread and butter of the now bankrupt company. He made a significant amount of money in the four years before the parent company managed to exit chapter 11. The twenty something lawyers/entrepreneurs probably moved on to fleecing other investors.

edw519 17y ago

"...he can use his 30 something years of industry connections to drive business to his new company..." He can also use his 30 something years of industry experience to know what to do without too many false starts. Don't discount meaningful experience. Not everything important is learned from a book.

stcredzero 17y ago
As a part of their training, CIA analysts are shown satellite photos of a civil war battleground near Washington DC. There is what appears to be a large open field there. They are asked for an analysis. Afterward, they take a field trip to the actual site. There, they discover that the "large open field" actually has undulations that are as much as 10 feet from peak to trough. Being there on the ground can be a drastically different experience from reading reports and looking at remote data! 30 years of industry experience can give you some special insights.
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  I think HN needs a "spoiler" tag.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    Whoops, I didn't stop to think that CIA analyst trainees might be reading this site! Anyhow, they had this bit on freaking NPR!

mixmax 17y ago

My dad is doing exactly the same. He's in his late 60's and officially retired so he already has a good pension meaning he doesn't need to make money straight away to survive. He's doing it for fun, it's much better than sitting around doing nothing but drinking chardonnay and it keeps him young and sharp.

ojbyrne 17y ago

My dad started a company after age 55 that was sort of interesting. He was VP at a Canadian subsidiary of a 50 year old American construction company that had been run into the ground by 20 something lawyers/entrepreneurs/whizkids. When the parent company entered chapter 11, he and a couple of the other employees at the Canadian subsidiary got a loan from the bank, got access to the construction equipment of the bankrupt company, and took over the government contracts that were the bread and butter of the now bankrupt company. He made a significant amount of money in the four years before the parent company managed to exit chapter 11. The twenty something lawyers/entrepreneurs probably moved on to fleecing other investors.