As I get older, my goals change: right now I have a year and a half to get onto Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.

No pressure.

But if that doesn’t work out, Business Insider explains that it’s okay: the average age of startup founders is not in the twenties, as many think it would be.

Sure, Zuck was 19 when he started Facebook, and Steve Jobs 21 when he launched Apple, and the list of successful, youthful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs is long still, but there are others:

However, it turns out that the idea that most successful startup founders are 20-something entrepreneurs is more of a persistent Silicon Valley myth. Yes, they exist, but statistically it’s rare.

According to a recent study by MIT, the average age of a successful company founder is much older than you might think. The study, which was conducted by MIT Sloan professor Pierre Azoulay and PhD student Daniel Kim, analysed 2.7 million people who founded companies between 2007 and 2014.

So what’s the age then?

Well, according to the results of the study the average age of “entrepreneurs who started a company that went on to hire just one employee was 41.9”, and the average age of founders who “started a high-growth company is even older, at 45 years old”.

Takes the pressure off a bit, doesn’t it?

There’s more:

The study also examined the age of entrepreneurs in sectors like specialised tech employment, venture capital investing, and patent firms, which yielded similar results: The average age of these people, too, was somewhere in their early-to-mid forties.

“Our primary finding is that successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young,” the study reads. “Founders in their early 20s have the lowest likelihood of successful exit or creating a 1 in 1,000 top growth firm.”

Meanwhile, Sloane here is still vibing for that Forbes list, even if it’s her last day today.

[source:businessinsider]