http://www.economist.com/node/21548135
The article argues that entrepreneurship is not just for young tech nerds in California. Rather, entrepreneurs should take a lesson from all those old time rockers who are still producing new music well into their 70s. Even though age plays a major role in entrepreneurship, because young people are likely to take on more risk, it does not mean that our older population should stop trying because experience is a major advantage in starting a new business. For example, Ray Kroc started McDonalds in his 50s. Interesting read and gives us all hope that maybe years after being a lawyer we may start a new successful business.
Interesting read. I think this article also suggests the importance of being nimble and willing to pivot in the face of difficulty. I’m sure if someone like Paul McCartney or Keith Richards was told in 1968 that the music industry would look the way it does today, with a major shift toward touring and away from album sales, they would have been quite surprised. Discussion of whether this trend is a good one or not, the ongoing success of these musicians lies in their ability to adapt accordingly. Businesses need to follow in a similar fashion.
I do think, however, that this article fails to recognize how musicians like Leonard Cohen have been successful into their old age largely because of their ability to leverage their popularity while they were young. A better analogy would be the rare musicians who manage to break into the scene later on in their lives (say, Charles Bradley or the National).
Really fun article!! Before reading this I knew that there were many older start up owners. However, I was incredibly surprised to find out that there is a large proportion of people over the age of 50 involved in tech start ups because my impression before reading this was that the younger generation monopolized the tech start ups. I think my misperception was due in part because the people I have read about who have started tech companies are all young but I also think my perception was skewed because I get constant calls from my parents asking how to send an email, which led me to believe that the younger generation having grown up their entire lives with technology are more likely to know how to manipulate it in order to think of new innovations. It was really fun for me to read this and learn I had made a mistake.