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Comment by patrickod | Hacker News Reader

maybe that's another reason that the mean age for founders is quite low. I mean if you're older and have dependents it's not the best time to throw your salary out the window and go it alone.

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The mean age for founders in the US is 39:

http://blog.checkadvantage.com/2011/02/09/baby-boomers-job-m...

I think the mean age for YC founders is ~26 from what I gather.

That's because I don't think older entrepreneur usually would go for a YC like program. A lot of them have worked long enough to have savings to bootstrap and connections. At least that's my hypothesis.

That may be so. I see the real value of YC as being mentorship from the team and the connections that follow rather than just funding and a stamp of approval for connections. Then again I haven't been in the business as long as most older entrepreneurs so I'll withhold judgement.

There's a value there for sure, but for folks like me (30's, savings, used to a large salary, own a home, married, etc...) relocating and everything else required may not be worth the trade off.

This is my big interest in YC and why I'll try applying this Winter--There are plenty of resources for doing all of this yourself, and many people have but given my background and experience I have, I probably can't get my idea off the ground without proper guidance and I think many people are like me who genuinely need that little bit of help more than they need large sums of money, a stamp of approval or what have you--that guidance will carry you to all of that stuff in the end.

Not for the type of start-up we talk about on HN.

Why, is the risk somehow greater ?

We mostly talk about internet software start-ups. Founders can be succesful with only coding experience and little capital, while most other industries require a roster of contacts, experience, capital and etc. Not that these don't help online software start-ups, but they are not as important.

There are two factors that can allow you to throw your salary out the window. Being young and having no expenses/obligations and being a bit older and having some accumulated wealth.

But I think you're right. MOST younger folks have no obligations. Relatively few older folks have actually managed to keep their burn rate low and accumulate wealth.

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