The following is from an AEA paper published by Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda titled ‘Age & High Growth Entrepreneurship.’ This abstract describes the mistaken perception that youth is an indicator of “starting a successful firm.”

Many observers, and many investors, believe that young people are especially likely to produce the most successful new firms. Integrating administrative data on firms, workers, and owners, we study start-ups systematically in the United States and find that successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young. The mean age at founding for the 1-in-1,000 fastest growing new ventures is 45.0. The findings are similar when considering high-technology sectors, entrepreneurial hubs, and successful firm exits. Prior experience in the specific industry predicts much greater rates of entrepreneurial success. These findings strongly reject common hypotheses that emphasize youth as a key trait of successful entrepreneurs.

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I discovered this abstract on Marginal Revolution.

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