Peak Entrepreneur Age: 40
The Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson is on the case. First, there’s the harsh reality: your uncool, 40-something dad is definitely a better entrepreneur than you are:
The Reason: Debt
There’s more than one underlying reason why the young generation aren’t starting businesses. They’ve got it rough. But there’s one big one: They’ve got debt problems. Hillary Clinton knew what she was doing when she announced her plan to forgive student loans for entrepreneurs: It’s a major reason why they don’t take risks in their careers. Fear of failure stopped 40 percent of Millennials from starting businesses in 2014. Young people very well may lead the country in entrepreneurship, as a mentality. But when it comes to the more falsifiable measure of entrepreneurship as anactivity, older generations are doing most of the work. The average age for a successful startup-founder is about 40 years old, according to the Kauffman Foundation, a think tank focused on education and entrepreneurship. (In their words, one’s 40s are the ‘peak age for business formation.’) The reality is that the typical American entrepreneur isn’t that hover-boarding kid in a hoodie; it’s his mom or dad. In fact, the only age group with rising entrepreneurial activity in the last two decades is people between 55 and 65.” An economy without Millennial entrepreneurs is less diverse and less robust, as major industry leaders can expand their power unopposed. Still, there’s hope: A drop in Millennial entrepreneurs might just mean a boost in smart, capable Millennial employees — also a great source of movers and shakers. Also, the tide might be turning in general: There’s some optimism for you, all aspiring Millennial entrepreneurs: You’ll be successful by the time you reach your 40s. Oh boy.
