Re:Age and high-growth entrepreneurship
by georgewsinger on Sunday January 23, 2022 @03:20PM
(#30050067)
This is a great response, especially RE Intel & Bell Labs.
Jensen and Buffett both count as "young" though, I think? In any event all of these founders are below the age of 45?
Re:Age and high-growth entrepreneurship
by erosenbe0 on Sunday January 23, 2022 @04:02PM
(#30050421)
True. I'm just countering the tendency to think that pure youth is best. That seemed to peak with the Elizabeth Holmes mess. Had she gained five years of experience and a more grounded plan of attack with the same level of charisma and ambition it may have turned out more favorably.
This is a very optimistic view considering every part of her methodology was and always will be physically impossible without completely changing how we understand biology.
Re:Age and high-growth entrepreneurship
by erosenbe0 on Sunday January 23, 2022 @11:31PM
(#30053770)
The implausibility was obvious even at the level of basic sciences. When I heard about Theranos, I checked the units on my last test from an established lab. Glucose and cholesterol -- which can be done with finger pricks -- measure in mg/dl. A standard blood test like a total thyroid test measures in ng/dl so that's one million times higher resolution. Free thyroid is in picograms/dl !!
2/3 Intel founders were about 40. Sam Walton did not own a store until at least age 35. Bell founded AT&T, maybe in historically relative terms the most successful tech company ever, at 37. Jensen founded Nvidia about 30. Warren Buffet bought up Berkshire in his late twenties.