Social media video advertisements lead the public to believe that entrepreneurship is a new and exciting territory led by young professionals. Tried and true entrepreneur, Jeff Ber, argues that this is simply untrue. Professor Daniel Kim presents concrete evidence that the most successful entrepreneurs are actually seasoned professionals averaging at age 45.
If you’re on social media, you see it all the time. A young 20-something-year-old interrupts your Facebook scrolling or YouTube video watching spree. His collection of flashy sports cars sits candidly in the background. Instantly, you know what’s coming…
Hey, you! I used work the ordinary 9-5 lifestyle. Now I’m an entrepreneurial rockstar. And you can be, too — if you just tune into my FREE workshop!
Equal doses nauseating and encouraging, these sugar-coated video ads would have their audience believe that entrepreneurship is a young professional’s arena. And at first glance, history seems to back these young professionals. Many industry pioneers were, in fact, young when they reached success.
Steve Jobs was 21 years old when he founded Apple in his family’s garage.
Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook at 19 years old in his Harvard University dorm room.
Evan Spiegel co-founded Snapchat at 21 years old while attending Stanford University.
Blake Ross developed web browser, Mozilla Firefox at 19 years old.
And the list goes on and on…
But according to a research study conducted by business expert and professor Daniel Kim — the most successful entrepreneurs in the United States are not young, but middle-aged. The average age of leading entrepreneurs across high-technology sectors is actually 45 years old.
Although seasoned entrepreneur, Jeff Ber, encourages entrepreneurs of all ages, he believes that this finding is important to keep in mind. While flashy ads (such as the videos discussed above) are great for motivating young professionals, there’s something to be said about the reality of the industry. These videos can very well dismay slightly older entrepreneurs who are still on their paths to success. These videos may also convince even younger entrepreneurs that they can’t possibly succeed because it’s already too late.
Time and time again, experience proves to be valuable when pursuing success. Jeff Ber believes that by embracing experience on their own timelines, entrepreneurs (of all ages) will have a better chance at success. Getting caught up in the apparently ‘recommended’ route, in his opinion, has a better chance at discouraging than encouraging new entrepreneurs.