Should those who are “over the hill”, the people who are middle aged or older, be disregarded or discarded?
Needless to say, they still are consumers, but there is more to it than that. One should remember Mitchell Sharp, a finance minister, was in his 80s when he was perhaps the key architect of Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s administration.
Prime Minister William Gladstone probably was the greatest social and political reformer of the late 19th century in Britain and served as head of the government until he was nearly blind and 85 years old. Of course, Queen Elizabeth is 86 years old and remains extremely active in Britain and in the Commonwealth.
In the economy the rise of anti-ageism is occurring. It is argued, for instance, that there is no reason to finance a 40-year-old with a family and all that entails when an individual half that age will work extremely long hours for a much smaller income.
Some believe there are potential geniuses among the young, another one like the 28-year-old mastermind of Facebook. The creator of Zynga was 41 at that time, and the initiator of the U.S. publication The Huffington Post was relatively young.
Research suggests that not only should we look at our political leaders, who accomplished so much when older, but recognize the fact that age may in fact be an advantage for entrepreneurs.
Vivek Wadwa of the University of California reviewed more than 500 U.S. high-tech and engineering companies with huge sales volumes. He reported the average age of the founders of successful U.S. technology companies with impressive sales is 39, but there are twice as many eminent founders over the age of 50 as under 24, and twice as many over 60 as under 20.
Dane Stangler of the Kauffman Foundation examined the major U.S. firms started in the decade after 1996. He reported the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity took place among people aged 55 to 64.
It has become evident that experience continues to be a significant factor in government and business. It is one thing to invent a product, but quite another to turn that into a successful enterprise.
Two people, Bruce Weinberg of Ohio State University, and Benjamin Jones of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, examined the careers of Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry, physics and medicine, and stated the age at which they made their greatest contributions now is higher than it was 100 years ago.
Experience clearly begets creativity and samples abound of these entrepreneurs, such as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Ray Kroc of the McDonalds’ franchise system; both started over the age of 50. Above all, let’s not forget Winston Churchill, who in his late 60s saved Britain.
Hence, we certainly should recognize the contributions that older people can make.