Somehow, in the last 2 years, VCs and others seem to have concluded by group-think that only young founders can start great internet companies.
Like this is such a new thing? Â Did we forget about guys like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who dropped out of college to start a couple of interesting start-ups?
The fact is, and always has been, software that:
- can be built by a smart kid or two,
- typing alone,
- copying/improving something (a better version of XXXX),
- distributed for free one way or another,
- without business domain expertise required,
will often be the domain of the young.
Luckily, SaaS can favor old people, over 30, or even older. Â SaaS often needs some combination of:
- capital to get going,
- a cross-domain team to start,
- sales and marketing,
- richer MVP feature set,
- business domain experience, to understand customers and workflow and business processes.
See, e.g., Salesforce.com or NetSuite or Successfactors or Workday. Â All started by old people, well over the age of 30. Â Young people can do it, too, but those products often are hatched in the consumer-ish space and meet the first set of bullets before they tilt.
So don’t sweat the young talk. Â It’s somewhat true, but nothing new. Â And luckily, SaaS is good for old people.