Too old to be “VC cool”.
Ageism is alive and well in the startup world.
So, I mentioned I do coffee, LOTS of coffee with exec colleagues from a wide range of business sectors…
So, last week over a latte (yes, I am THAT guy!) a friend and I were chatting about startups we had interacted with, and new AI products we had used. I was discussing how despite the “downturn” there was a real rush of products built around AI coming to the market, feeling much like the emergence of a DOTCOM bubble (I am old enough for that!).
Anyhow, she leaned in conspiratorially...honestly, I thought this was going to be a REALLY juicy tidbit, something uber-worthy of a gingerbread Santa and “mocha-chocca-soy-light-with a double espresso”…
“I had this fabulous idea for a transactional-analysis engine about a year ago. I got together with a couple of data scientist friends and we actually built an MVP. A bit rough around the edges but it worked and it produced some amazing results.”
“Oh,” thought I, “Is this where she asks me to help her with some post-funding strategy on PMF or even GTM?”
“I mean, it flew. We had a couple of customers expressing a real interest in using it — we applied it to their data and they were wowed.”
I sit forward, attention grabbed now…
“Turns out, I and my team of grizzled data scientists aren’t ‘cool enough’ or ‘young enough’ to warrant any investment beyond a loan.”
I spat my coffee out in faux-surprise. Faux because in my admittedly “limited-to-broad-discussions-and-anecdotal-evidence” experience this is in no way surprising.
Turns out that IMHE VC funding is only available if you are sub-40 and can use words only heard at the cool-kids table at a crypto-company or the new Google (the current one is passe now).
She sat back, with a look that said “I am NOT ready to turn my toes up and make full use of ‘OAP Discount Day’ at my local garden centre”, sipped her Cortada and sighed.
I felt her pain. I am “too old” now as well. No matter how many ideas and MVPs I have under my belt it seems that the risk of me shuffling off this mortal coil is a little too much risk for VCs to take. I mean us oldies have a LOT of experience and even more ideas. Maybe the “young-uns” are unencumbered by the harsh realities of life expressed by their apparent love for communism or the realities of the market (because they are making new markets) but, the world is missing out on a lot of new ideas because of an “institutionalised mindset” of ageism.
Case in point? I tried to find a picture of an older person programming a computer in a stock library, the oldest-looking person I could find was about 35!
Says everything lol
Won’t somebody think of the “oldies”?
What are your exp[eriecnes of trying to get funding as an “Older” entrepreneur or inventor?
If you liked this article, you might also like:
