Old vs. Young: 4KTA By Naveen Bisht

This article was published in June 2015 issue of SiliconIndia.

Date:   Monday, June 01, 2015

These days, most of the articles about entrepreneurship in the media imply that successful companies can be started by young entrepreneurs only. Perhaps, there is some truth to that. When you look at consumer-centric companies such as Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Tinder, you find that all of these have been founded by young entrepreneurs. However, as you delve into the enterprise market, you will find that many companies are focused on providing infrastructure, hardware products, application software and services are typically founded by entrepreneurs with some amount of experience under their belt in specific market segments. They tend to be older and more experienced. Some of my observations and experiences that could be beneficial and add value to aspiring entrepreneurs regardless of their age are noted in this article.Here are four key take away (4KTA) points that focus on pros and cons around this topic to ensure that you can succeed as an entrepreneur.

1. Being Open-minded

I believe that one of the key advantages of being a young entrepreneur is being more flexible, open minded and being adaptable to new ideas. My experience was similar in nature when I started my first company. I barely had four years of experience working as an engineer and was clueless. I did not know anything about selling, managing employees to many other important aspects running a start-up. I had to take the fastest route to learning by being really open to listening, learning and adapting rapidly from many experienced executives, mentors and advisors while learning from my mistakes along the way and continue the journey. Now on the other hand, as we accumulate more experience under our belt, we fall into the trap of knowing everything. Instead of being pleasantly amazed with fascination about a new way of thinking or a new idea, we instantly think about why it can not be done. This is one important area, I believe, for any entrepreneur starting later in life to pay attention to and be aware of it all the time. Instead of thinking about all the possible concerns, how about looking at it with awe like it could possibly be a new window of opportunity. Instead, wonder why a new idea from someone could be a brilliant new way of doing something or could possibly be your next mega success in the horizon. So how do you develop this critical attitude to remain flexible and become more and more open-minded to new or other ideas? How do you bring rapid agility to your thinking that can get you out of your comfort zone? Here are few simple activities that you can incorporate in your daily lives such as taking a new route to work, reading something different from what you normally prefer or trying something new that you were afraid to do earlier. These simple activities may help you condition to becoming more and more flexible in your approach towards certain things. I am sure you can find many other books and articles by professionals around this topic.

2. Network
It is a well-known fact that older entrepreneurs will have a much broader and deeper network of industry experts due to years of cultivating these relationships. Chances are much better that these contacts occupy influential and leadership positions in various organizations. It does make a big difference to when your start-up needs help in introductions to executive level folks. At the same time, if you are a young entrepreneur, you can overcome this by leveraging using your experienced advisory board members to open doors for you. You must keep in mind, however, that you only get one chance. Make sure to use these prospect introductions wisely and timely. You must be well prepared to pleasantly surprise your prospects with something that would capture their imagination instantly and find tremendous value in your product or services in solving their high priority items and current challenges.

3. Experience
If your start-up is involved in selling products to enterprise customers, having experience in the industry does help you bring instant credibility while trying to convince potential customers in purchasing your products. On the other hand, if your startup is involved in developing mobile applications or social networking related products and services, young entrepreneurs who are growing up using these tools every day and more frequently are quite savvier than older entrepreneurs. They may have an edge in terms of how the new generation is using them. In every start-up of mine, I have used a number of advisors to help me navigate on various issues from technical advice, strategic business development and partnership introductions to resolving issues around personnel problems. Now if you are in Silicon Valley, the culture of using advisors is quite rampant and understood here. Whether you are a young or old entrepreneur, make sure to take advantage by assembling a set of high caliber advisors. Most of these advisors get compensated in the form of company stock that helps them to get aligned with your company\'s shared interests and motivates them further to help you succeed.

4. One last Shot
Sometimes an older entrepreneur may look at an opportunity as one last shot and will do anything to make it happen. Also, this person may be at a stage in life where he doesn't have to deal with the responsibility of raising kids as they may already be in college or out of college. On the other hand, there could be other reasons than just the one last shot. My own experience in doing my first product start-up as a young entrepreneur was fear of failing. I could not imagine anything but succeed as I felt if that happened, I may not have another chance to convince investors to fund my next company. The point is whatever motivates you or drives you to put your 200 percent effort in making your company success is a MUST whether it\'s one last shot or your best shot.

In summary, the four key take away points for entrepreneurs whether you are an old or a young entrepreneur is to ensure that you are being open minded, leveraging your network including your industry experience and are giving it your best shot.

The author is Co-Founder of AURISS TECHNOLOGIES INC. and a serial entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, California. Learn more at www.4KTA.com and follow Naveen on twitter @Naveen_4KTA.