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In response to a question about identifying fast-growing markets: "The good news about this is that this is one of the big advantages students have. You should

In response to a question about identifying fast-growing markets: "The good news about this is that this is one of the big advantages students have. You should just trust your instincts on this. Older people have to basically guess about the technologies...that young people are using. Because young people get older and become the dominant market. But you can just watch what you're doing and what your friends are doing and you will almost certainly have better instincts on fast-growing markets than anybody older than you." Vivek Wadhwa conducted a fairly large study[1] on successful technology company founders and discovered that the median age when they started their companies was close to 40. This seems to be in direct conflict with Altman's statements, so I wonder what statistics he has to back them up. Also, for all the talk about fast-growing markets and building huge companies, it's somewhat useful to look at who is actually making money and how much. In 2009, just 3% of all taxpayers who earned $1 million or more were under the age of 35 and of those reporting more than $10 million in adjusted gross income, only 409 were under 35[2]. Since a significant percentage of million dollar-plus earners are self-employed business owners, a lot of old farts running businesses are doing something right even if, according to Sam Altman, they have a harder time spotting fast-growing markets. [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/the-case-for-old-entrepreneurs/2011/12/02/gIQAulJ3KO_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/the-ca... [2] http://taxfoundation.org/article/who-are-americas-millionaires http://taxfoundation.org/article/who-are-americas-millionair...

sama 12y ago
actually i think younger founders have a lot more disadvantages, so it's very important to be aware of the advantages they do have. spotting market trends, stamina, and a relatively distraction-free life are at the top of the list.
- 7Figures2Commas 12y ago
  Market trends? The meaningful market trends that offer entrepreneurs realistic, actionable opportunities are typically industry-specific. It's not "Hey, everybody is sexting so let's build an iPhone app to share pictures that self-delete." It's more like, "Hey, consumers are increasingly showing an interest in unbundling financial services, so there may be an opportunity to do x better than the large banks that have historically dominated the market." How do you spot those kind of market trends if you have never worked in an industry? You typically don't. Stamina? What is that supposed to mean? That 35 year-old entrepreneurs are in bed by 9:00 pm? Distraction-free life? You know what's distracting? Not knowing where the money to pay your rent and buy groceries is going to come from. Starting a business when you have stable finances and the moral support of a spouse is very helpful. Interestingly, many of the things that Silicon Valley pop culture tells us are distractions (like family, homeownership, etc.) are ironically correlated with wealth. For instance, well over 90% of millionaire households in the US are made up of married couples.
  - philwelch 12y ago
    It's easier to accumulate a million dollars net worth if you're two people rather than one, and owning real estate is expensive, and most people are more attractive potential spouses if they have wealth, and having children is expensive, so it's not surprising that these things are correlated with wealth. But that doesn't mean getting married, getting a mortgage, and pumping out a few kids will help you get rich.
    - headgasket 12y ago
      I would say that to the contrary, getting married to someone you love, hoping for kids, and looking forward to getting a mortgage then be mortgage free are the simple yet overlooked steps to wealth. You can do those while working on a startup, at a startup, or at an established company if you have the right priorities: dont bother with what other people think about anything you dont have for sale, be frugal and hustle.
  - mdorazio 12y ago
    I think you're getting downvoted for a few reasons. 1) The kind of startup you're espousing is generally not easy to implement and test, and also very hard to rapidly grow. As a result, it fails the typical "good startup idea" test that SV applies. It's also at odds with this lecture series so far. 2) "Stamina" in this case means being able to throw yourself into something and work stupid hours fueled by ramen and passion until it's built. It tends to be a lot easier to do this when you're younger than it is later in life. The flip-side is that the "35 year-old entrepreneurs" you refer to are often able to work more steadily toward goals, but again this isn't what SV looks for in hyper-growth startups eyeing a fast exit. 3) "Distraction-free" refers to being able to focus solely on your startup without having to split time with a family, or worry about making mortgage payments, or most importantly, being afraid of failing. When you're young it's easy to take a hit and start over. When you're older and have large responsibilities it's a lot more difficult. Also to your earlier point, if your target market is HNIs, you're probably not in the startup business because that's a very small number of people to sell to. Please note that I don't disagree with you and think this is a valuable add to the discussion, but it's important to distinguish between the types of small businesses you're referring to and the types of startups that Ycom wants.
- mindcrime 12y ago
  My guess is that the ability to identify "fast growing markets" has a lot to do with what kind of market you're talking about. Of course I'm biased, being 41 and firmly in the "older" camp relative to this crowd. But I'd say a 20 something college student probably is well served to trust their gut on fast growing markets for things like consumer web apps, mobile apps, mobile devices, etc. But if you're talking energy, enterprise software, Internet infrastructure software, maybe healthcare, and some other areas, I'd think that it would be a push, or that an older founder might have the advantage.
- bueller_f 12y ago
  Could you elaborate on this in a future lecture? Perhaps a 2x2 of younger vs older founders? Thank you for the great courses and it would be super helpful to hear more about your experience here.
deleted 12y ago
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sama 12y ago

actually i think younger founders have a lot more disadvantages, so it's very important to be aware of the advantages they do have. spotting market trends, stamina, and a relatively distraction-free life are at the top of the list.

7Figures2Commas 12y ago
Market trends? The meaningful market trends that offer entrepreneurs realistic, actionable opportunities are typically industry-specific. It's not "Hey, everybody is sexting so let's build an iPhone app to share pictures that self-delete." It's more like, "Hey, consumers are increasingly showing an interest in unbundling financial services, so there may be an opportunity to do x better than the large banks that have historically dominated the market." How do you spot those kind of market trends if you have never worked in an industry? You typically don't. Stamina? What is that supposed to mean? That 35 year-old entrepreneurs are in bed by 9:00 pm? Distraction-free life? You know what's distracting? Not knowing where the money to pay your rent and buy groceries is going to come from. Starting a business when you have stable finances and the moral support of a spouse is very helpful. Interestingly, many of the things that Silicon Valley pop culture tells us are distractions (like family, homeownership, etc.) are ironically correlated with wealth. For instance, well over 90% of millionaire households in the US are made up of married couples.
- philwelch 12y ago
  It's easier to accumulate a million dollars net worth if you're two people rather than one, and owning real estate is expensive, and most people are more attractive potential spouses if they have wealth, and having children is expensive, so it's not surprising that these things are correlated with wealth. But that doesn't mean getting married, getting a mortgage, and pumping out a few kids will help you get rich.
  - headgasket 12y ago
    I would say that to the contrary, getting married to someone you love, hoping for kids, and looking forward to getting a mortgage then be mortgage free are the simple yet overlooked steps to wealth. You can do those while working on a startup, at a startup, or at an established company if you have the right priorities: dont bother with what other people think about anything you dont have for sale, be frugal and hustle.
- mdorazio 12y ago
  I think you're getting downvoted for a few reasons. 1) The kind of startup you're espousing is generally not easy to implement and test, and also very hard to rapidly grow. As a result, it fails the typical "good startup idea" test that SV applies. It's also at odds with this lecture series so far. 2) "Stamina" in this case means being able to throw yourself into something and work stupid hours fueled by ramen and passion until it's built. It tends to be a lot easier to do this when you're younger than it is later in life. The flip-side is that the "35 year-old entrepreneurs" you refer to are often able to work more steadily toward goals, but again this isn't what SV looks for in hyper-growth startups eyeing a fast exit. 3) "Distraction-free" refers to being able to focus solely on your startup without having to split time with a family, or worry about making mortgage payments, or most importantly, being afraid of failing. When you're young it's easy to take a hit and start over. When you're older and have large responsibilities it's a lot more difficult. Also to your earlier point, if your target market is HNIs, you're probably not in the startup business because that's a very small number of people to sell to. Please note that I don't disagree with you and think this is a valuable add to the discussion, but it's important to distinguish between the types of small businesses you're referring to and the types of startups that Ycom wants.
mindcrime 12y ago
My guess is that the ability to identify "fast growing markets" has a lot to do with what kind of market you're talking about. Of course I'm biased, being 41 and firmly in the "older" camp relative to this crowd. But I'd say a 20 something college student probably is well served to trust their gut on fast growing markets for things like consumer web apps, mobile apps, mobile devices, etc. But if you're talking energy, enterprise software, Internet infrastructure software, maybe healthcare, and some other areas, I'd think that it would be a push, or that an older founder might have the advantage.
bueller_f 12y ago
Could you elaborate on this in a future lecture? Perhaps a 2x2 of younger vs older founders? Thank you for the great courses and it would be super helpful to hear more about your experience here.

deleted 12y ago

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