by Travis
The hostility between young and old mature entrepreneurs
David over at Mind Petals shared a video of his presentation at the New York Technology Meetup from last September. The video, which you’ll see after the jump, is a great intro for MP and anyone that hasn’t heard of his network/community, but I found the last three or so minutes the most intriguing.
When asked the average age of Mind Petals members, David responded “21 for contributors� and “27 for internal writers�. What followed was laughter from the audience.
“Raise the average age of your writers so they have some experience to share�, hollered one attendee, to which the audience applauded.
Another listener suggested writing and marketing content for baby boomers interested in starting a business. To which David replied “We can’t give (Mind Petals) to everybody�.
There has always been a bit of hostility between young and older entrepreneurs, in the online communities, media, and as you saw, the business world as well.
It’s hard for me to not be a little biased, being that I’m only 22, and the name of our website is Young Go Getter. But I will try my best to look at the issue from all angles and describe what I see as an opportunity.
When you label your product as “Young� you’re: 1) Defining your market, 2) Shunning older entrepreneurs, 3) Possibly asking for a bit of trouble.
While the majority of our readers are young entrepreneurs and we surround ourselves with such content, we forget that entrepreneurs as a whole are quite a small niche in the world of business. At the Aspect Ratio Convention, entrepreneurs would have a booth or two while those that work for others would have thousands.
I’m not going to get into a debate about experience or maturity, I’ve already done that. In the end, we’re all entrepreneurs no matter what our age is, and are equally responsible for improving the World and creating innovative solutions to problems.
The opportunity/issue comes in the content currently available for entrepreneurs. The largest source of such content is Entrepreneur Magazine. A publication that I personally think has been on a nosedive for the past few years, with guides on how to pick a desktop printer and lists of franchises for sale having become the recurring norm.
When it comes to entrepreneurial websites, there really isn’t a definitive leader.
So I think the opportunity exists in creating something that bridges the gap between young and older entrepreneurs without generalizing the content. Creating common grounds for both groups and enabling them to co-exist with equal respect for one another may be the dream community/publication/medium.
Instead of playing the young and rebellious card that most young entrepreneurs do, I think we as a community and individuals should focus on helping entrepreneurs of all ages better themselves and make our mark in the business world.
Can’t we all get along?
Thanks for sharing the video.
Great Video.
I always tend to want to take advice from younger guys but no matter what it is always beneficial to spend some time talking to someone who has been in the game for 20+ years.
I’ve been on all sides of this issue… and I even feel like I’m getting into the old guy category myself (only 25) with so many very talented teenagers building sites and products these days.
But, I’ve never really seen the point of a bunch of business newbie kids gathering together to support each other without outside experienced leadership. I’ve always spent time and energy reaching out for advice from people who have taken the knocks on the head walking the line I’m walking, so I don’t have to take so many of them.
With that being said, I’ve run into this sort of “older guy, brush off thing” several times and in fact got it last night. I went by the Oregon Entrepreneur Network pubtalk to get the word out about my webby and got some blank stares and tight lips when I asked the old guys that run it how the group could help me.
Some people are just stuck in their ways I guess. The person who comes out on top is the one who listens to both sides and draws his own conclusions.
These guys are stereotypical old dogs. They don’t know how to learn new tricks. It’s ok because success is the ultimate revenge.
However, I wouldn’t differentiate business minds by age but by actual experience and talent. I’ll tell you what there are lots of young entrepreneurs now that have more talent than these old guys will ever have. They may not have the experience but that comes with time and that’s something the old ones don’t have. They’ll never have talent.
Hey Guys,
Thanks for sharing my video, much appreciated!
I love young entrepreneurship. I love focusing on the 18 – 30 year old demographics. That is my niche. That will always be my niche. Indeed, it’s going to rub “some” people the wrong way, but it’s going to rub “others” the right way. And those “others” are going to be people who can really appreciate and relate to what I’m trying to do with Mind Petals. Quite honestly, I’m not trying to create a company that caters to the world, I’m trying to create something that caters to a small amount of people. And in a world with 6.5 Billion people, “small” can mean millions. Simply put, people “fear” young entrepreneurs. These baby boomers feel threatened, so they lash out and react negatively towards the Mind Petals movement. But all in all, the presentation went very well. About 30 “adults” gave me their business cards after the presentation and all invited to take me out to lunch to “talk business.” Go figure. To me, it was a successful day and I’m proud of the outcome and happy that the crowed reacted in the manner that they did — because it helped me to realize what I needed to do with the focus on Mind Petals :)
Yeah, it’s pretty obvious that they’re just afraid of what we’re capable of, especially with regards to the knowledge we possess in the realm of technology and the internet. We eat, breathe, and sleep this stuff and have for our entire lives (I was using a computer by age 4). It comes naturally to us, not them. They’re always playing catch-up; always one step behind. And as such, they fear the great unknown.
Finally, as much as I hate galvanizing the new-blood vs. the old guard by using the terms “us” and “them” as if this is some great battle we’re all embroiled in, it’s not too far from the truth…
What a load … on both sides.
Entrepreneurs are about fresh ideas and no age demographic has a monopoly on fresh.
Here’s the rub: At some point most people quit learning. These people turn old. People who keep learning stay fresh. Read the research on this by Carol Dwek.