The Mozart Myth
Contrary to popular belief and public perception, the average entrepreneur is not a bright-eyed twenty-something, fresh-out-college upstart with a brilliant idea and mission to change the world. The Mozart myth might have you believe otherwise, that if you don’t become an entrepreneur at an early age, then you never will, but that just isn’t true.
It’s not unreasonable to say, “But what about Bill Gates? He developed Microsoft out of his garage!” Or Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook at only twenty years old. In fact, a lot of technological advancements do come from relatively younger entrepreneurs, but even they had to have years of experience playing around with what eventually became their Big Idea. They’re also the first generation that’s grown up learning their tech-savvy skills from early on, to the point that by the time college comes, they already have years of experience.
Yes, being younger has its advantages, especially for tech natives, and the mentality that comes with being young, but it’s not a guaranteed success. And it’s not even a disadvantage to start a business later in life, as disheartening as it may seem at first.
Being over the age of thirty doesn’t mean you missed your chance at becoming successful. In fact, it means the opposite – entrepreneurs, on average, are nearing forty at the time of their first venture. Alone, Baby Boomers outnumber Millennials starting new businesses, by as much as a 2:1 ratio, because with age comes experience. While experience is not required to successfully start a business, it does tend to make a positive impact on the entrepreneur’s level of profit. Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers have advantages that younger entrepreneurs don’t merely because they haven’t been around long enough to experience situations.
“Age, financial security, and experience are far more likely of an entrepreneurial career” because taking the time to work through the ranks of an established company over the years teaches you in a way that business school can’t, that reading from a textbook can’t teach you. Being young might mean you have less to lose, and sometimes that can be a really good thing, but being a little bit older gives you a stronger foundation to start from, and that can make all the difference in a business venture. You might be a marketing genius at twenty-five, but give it another twenty years, and you’ll have a network only years of making connections can bring.
Still feeling doubtful?
Try not to let the Mozart myth intimidate you. Craig Newmark (founded Craigslist at forty-two), Reid Hoffman (founded LinkedIn at thirty-five), and Ray Kroc (opened the first McDonald’s at fifty-three) certainly haven’t.
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