Age and the entrepreneur

There's been a lot of debate about the optimal or ideal age to start/run a startup. From Marc Andreessen to Fred Wilson to other celebrity tech bloggers.....everyone has an opinion. I don't have anything major to contribute on the topic other than my gut leads me towards the younger end of the spectrum (and my brain is swayed by pretty charts).

During my bschool days when I jumped on the bandwagon and tried my hat at "strategy" consulting, I remember interviewing with some partners from BCG. I recall them stressing the high level of involvement that new hires (fresh college grads or MBA grads) have on important engagements. 2 points stuck with me.

• First, they contended that younger people with little "domain" expertise tend to develop expertise from a completely different perspective. When tasked with solving difficult problems, they are not clouded (consciously or subconsciously) with preconceived notions of how things work or should work. They may also use seemingly irrelevant experiences to answer a question.
  
• The second point was that if you look at geniuses and their greatest accomplishments or contributions to society, "greatness" tends to take place at an early age (Einstein, Mozart, etc.).

While we may accept these observations as truth, many have asked for quantifiable data. While reading Marc's post tonight, I remembered an overhead projection slide from a class on tech entrepreneurship. I would like to direct everyone to Professor Edward Roberts at MIT Sloan. In his book "Entrepreneurs in High Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond" (especially Chapter 3) Roberts addresses "The Makings of an Entrepreneur."

The data is compelling.