Startup culture for an older co-founder

There have been a few articles written recently debunking the notion that most successful startups are founded by folks in their twenties, with data suggesting that many of the most successful startups (unicorns) being founded by folks over 40. That said, I can tell you that, amongst the startup founders that I have met in the last 2 years, the startup culture is still very much a young man’s game. So, here’s my story about being a co-founder in my fifties. My other co-founders are in their twenties.

I want to start by commenting on how strange I find the whole startup culture. For thousands of years, people have been starting businesses, yet somehow in the past few years the rules have completely changed. Virtually any new business is called a “startup” and is expected to look for investors and sell significant portions of their equity as stock to raise capital. In fact, I have found that many founders are so distracted by the quest for investors that they spend a significant portion of their time and energy on courting investors instead of focusing on their business. Success is measured more by how much they raise and less on achieving measurable business outcomes.

Here’s another startup culture that, as an older guy, makes me crazy. Young founders who insist that anyone working in a startup should expect to work 18 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week and that “hustle” is the most important success factor. While I don’t disagree that passion and hard work are keys to success, the “badge of honor” that some of these folks want to wear for working insane hours is a bit silly. Many fail to see that their ability to make good decisions and be productive beyond a certain point of exhaustion is so diminished that they would be much better off working less and getting some sleep. I will also acknowledge that the energy level of my co-founders is amazing and they can work a lot more hours than I can before hitting that exhaustion level that leads to the effects of fatigue on their performance.

So, what is the upside of co-founding with guys half my age? We complement each other in many ways. I feed off their energy and excitement for what we are doing. They benefit from my wisdom and calmness in the face of adversity or crisis. From them, I am learning a ton about social networking, growth hacking, and entrepreneurship in general. From me, they are learning about leadership, systems design, and how to negotiate with larger business entities. Together, we make decisions rapidly, experiment with purpose and measurable outcomes, and have managed to attract and hire some incredible talent to join the team.

My advice for anyone who is considering founding a startup after 50, like me, is don’t be afraid to work with young co-founders. It can be challenging but the benefits can also be tremendous. The diversity of perspectives, energy level, and fearlessness of young founders is something that gives them an edge. When we can blend that with some wisdom, ability to assess and articulate risks to avoid bad decisions, and the ability to recognize and adjust quickly when assumptions turn out to be inaccurate, the combination is powerful. I need my young co-founders and they need me.

As for our journey within the startup culture and ecosystem, we are not following the common path. We are bootstrapped, taking no money yet from investors. We are focusing on making the business successful, growing at a controlled and manageable rate, and being highly agile in every aspect of the business. We are definitely not a 40-hour a week crew but we also do not reward or honor pulling late nights or working 80+ hours in a week. We’ve enjoyed considerable success and had some very difficult and dark days as well. We’ve had hard lessons to learn and accepted that truth that the most important decisions we make are about people. Who we hire and who we do business with matter more than anything else. We have also adopted a culture of action. Don’t talk about something too much. Do it! When we understand how to measure the results, it is better to fail fast and fail cheap, if there is something we can learn from it.

Where do we go from here? My energy level is higher than it has been in years. I can’t work as many hours as my co-founders and we regularly disagree on things. That’s okay. We keep moving forward. Using an approach like the “plan, do, check, act” model, we experiment quickly and then double down on the things that are working and quickly abandon those that aren’t. It doesn’t matter if you are 24 or 57. Be fearless and build a team that complements and enhances each other’s strengths.