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Your theory is about a third right. Young founders do get more attention from the press. But not because of propaganda campaigns by their investors. The pres
by pg 17y ago
Your theory is about a third right. Young founders do get more attention from the press. But not because of propaganda campaigns by their investors. The press doesn't have to be talked into it: they already have a bias toward writing about young founders.
And it's definitely false that VCs prefer founders who are young because they can be pushed around. VCs are very unlikely to invest in someone they can push around. Nothing turns them off like weakness.
- jacquesm 17y agoAre you willing to share the number of companies YC has invested in where founders were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s or older ?
- pg 17y agoI don't actually know the numbers. We don't keep track. But I know there haven't been any with founders in their 50s, and only 2 or 3 with founders in their 40s or their teens. Most founders are in their 20s or 30s. Completely guessing, I'd say 15-20% have founders in their 30s.
- YuriNiyazov 17y agoHave you noticed any correlation between age and failure?
- pg 17y agoOff the top of my head, I'd say that older founders are more likely to succeed. They don't give up so easily. On the other hand, they also tend to have much higher burn rates, which make their startups easier for circumstances to kill.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- 10ren 17y agoAnother factor is that older founders will have (relatively) less need of YC: they'll have their own funds, experience and contacts. The age-distribution of YC startup applicants affects the age-distribution of those that are funded, and so doesn't necessarily generalize to all startups. E.g. Adobe was founded by a couple of guys in their 40's.