YOU MISSED OUT.
You woke up this morning and you think it's passed you by.
Didn't make the 30 under 30 lists.
Didn't squeak into the 40 under 40.
You remember that Bill Gates founded Microsoft when he was 20. Steve Jobs was 21 when he founded Apple. And Marky Mark Zuckerberg was 20 when he started Facebook. You've lived twice their life, and haven't launched a company that will revolutionize the way people live their lives. Haven't reached the leadership posts at your company. Hell, you're not even in the field or company that you dreamed of working at your whole life.
You might as well lace up your New Balance kicks and buy a mini van, because as far as Gen Z is concerned, you're ancient. A kind of nostalgia act, like Nelly or Evanescence. Sure, you might have an idea or thought that people will nod to, much like the bopping of heads when "Hot in Herre" comes on, but you feel that you don't have the gravitas to influence culture anymore.
Ohhhh how the mind lies to us just to "protect us".
In 2020, researchers Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, Daniel Kim, Javier Miranda, from MIT, Northwestern, Wharton and the U.S. Census Bureau produced a study on the relationship between age and startup business success. It found the mean age of startup founders across the U.S. was 42 years. The mean age of high-tech startup founders was 43. And the average age of founders of the rare ultra-fast growth companies was 45. Furthermore, it also found that the likelihood of success for the company increases with age until the age of 60. A founder who is 50 years old is twice as likely to build a successful business that has either an IPO or an acquisition as a founder who is 30.
It's an axiom that's not limited to startups. Especially coming from the agency world, workers who are in their 40's or 50's walking the halls are few and far between. Folks are nudged out of the business at a certain age (especially as creatives).
So what is it that causes this fetishization of youth? Is it as simple as companies realizing that they can pay a 1/3 of a salary to someone who can hopefully deliver 1/2 of the quality of work? "Oh Peter...now you're minimizing the value of the young worker!" you say. And while there are certainly exceptions, I ask you kindly to look back on how you were when you were 22 compared to now. How much more knowledge, experience and value do you bring to your profession now compared to then?
In both cases, it's a mindset.
Many more experienced workers have conditioned themselves into believing that their time has passed and that they need to maintain the security and comfort of their current position. And leaders have been conditioned to believe that new ideas, cultural influences can only come from the youth.
I would challenge both subjects to shift their mindset.
To the workforce...I would urge you to work on your craft. Find what you love, and work on excelling at it. And then, when you're ready, shoot your shot. Almost daily, we read about layoffs and companies letting folks who thought they had secure, long-term careers secured. There's more risk in standing idly by rather than taking a chance on yourself.
To leadership, I would like to remind you that even Michael Jordan needed half of his Chicago Bulls career to win his first title. Workers, with experience, are going to be more efficient at their craft, and when empowered, more confident to lead true disruption.
And tomorrow? Wake up realizing that every day is an opportunity to create opportunity. That you can reinvent, revitalize, reinvigorate. And most importantly, that you haven't missed out on anything, because the best can be yet to come.
