In the latest episode of Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates, OpenAI chief Sam Altman broke a myth or two about his company. “It is not run by a bunch of 24-year-old programmers,” he asserted.
“You have a lot [of employees] in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. It’s not the early Apple and Microsoft where we were really just kids,” fretted Gates, now in his 60s.
Altman said that somehow it is a bad sign for society. “The best founders have trended older over time. Then in our case, it’s a bit older than the average,” shared Altman, saying that he tracked this during his YC days where companies have gotten older in general.
Is age just a number?
Not just OpenAI, if you look at the majority of the tech companies, the likes of Perplexity AI, Midjourney, Stability AI, Anthropic, Cohere and others, most of them have folks in their late 30s or early 40s. The same goes for next generation tech startup people, the likes of Humane Ai and Rabbit, who are in their 30s and early 40s, having previously worked at companies like Apple and Baidu, respectively.
“This is a topic that could engender endless debate (esp since team age != founder age),” said the general partner of RRE Ventures, Jason Black, highlighting the trend of older individuals increasingly founding successful companies, especially in the B2B sector.
He said that seasoned entrepreneurs, rather than first-timers, often make the best founders due to their experience and ability to experiment more effectively, a luxury not as accessible to younger entrepreneurs in the past. He also noted that raising significant capital tends to be easier for those over 30.
Additionally, Jason highlighted the complexities in pioneering new technological fields, which often require not just innovative breakthroughs but also new infrastructure and industry expertise. This expertise is frequently found in individuals who have already established notable careers, and hence are older.
“While I think these factors influence the trend towards the ‘best’ founders trending older, our entire industry is based on the exceptions. Fortunately, exceptional people are exceptional regardless of their age,” shared Black.
“As a founder in my 30’s, I am encouraged by this,” said founder of Passio AI, Dmitriy Starson, saying that most exciting, inspirational, e/acc ideas he is seeing these days are coming from the 30-40 year olds.
“40 is the new 20!! 😎” wrote founder of GAIM Network, Brady Lewis, saying that he understands the nuances of tech and business much better after spending eight years in a tech leadership role at Salesforce.
The Rise of Older Tech Founders
Research from the HBR supports this trend, indicating that the average age of successful tech founders is 45 years old. This data suggests that experience is increasingly valued across various industries, not just technology.
A study published last year revealed that business founders aged 50 or older are more likely to introduce significant new products or services compared to younger entrepreneurs. Further, the study found that for every additional decade in a founder’s age, the likelihood of bringing something new to the market increases by 30%.
This is preceded by the study by the Census Bureau and MIT professors published in 2018 challenging the tech industry’s youth bias. The research also highlighted that the probability of success increases with age. For instance, a 50-year-old founder is 1.8 times more likely to launch a successful company than a 30-year-old. If this continues, will it be likely that the founders in their 50s and 60s build successful companies?
