When I was trying to raise for my previous startup, a Venture Capitalist (VC) analyst was surprised at my long years of experience in the industry as she said “Oh, you guys are a veteran team!”, I did not know what to respond, was she complementing our experience or mocking our age because she did not event want to even understand the idea.
Two years past, this is my experience trying to raise for my current startup – www.dpod.io. First, there were suggestions from many that I need to hire a young co-founder which will help us send a better message to VCs, I have all the respect for young founders but if someone don’t believe in the idea or my execution ability, I really don’t want to have any relationship with that VC.
And recently when I was trying to fill an application form for a VC firm which asked founder’s date of birth, my question on whether there is ageism in startup funding is answered.
I am not saying all VCs are like this but if you wish to startup you should definitely start early, probably right out of college or in late twenties, so, even if you did not succeed after few years, you can still find a good job in tech industry, the other way around is not going to work. You may show exceptions of successful founders in their late 40s and 50s but its very rare and mostly they all have a pedigree of working at “C” level in large enterprise or have an influential mentor in the industry.
