Age and Experience of High-Tech Entrepreneurs

Posted: 29 Mar 2014

See all articles by Hervé Lebret

Hervé Lebret

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; INRIA

Date Written: March 27, 2014

Abstract

There has been a recurrent debate about the relative importance of age and experience in high-tech entrepreneurship where the uncertainty not to say non-existence of certain markets and products may render knowledge less critical than in established industries. Are the famous entrepreneurs in their early and mid-twenties exceptions? Some recent studies claim that the average age of entrepreneurs is closer to forty years old. We revisited the topic and analyzed not only the age of founders but also their roles when the company reached success and the links with geography, fields of business, value creation and venture capital.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, founders, high-tech, innovation, Silicon Valley, start-ups, venture capital, academic entrepreneurship

JEL Classification: M13

Suggested Citation

Lebret, Hervé and Lebret, Hervé, Age and Experience of High-Tech Entrepreneurs (March 27, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2416888 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2416888

Hervé Lebret (Contact Author)

INRIA ( email )

Domaine de Voluceau
Rocquencourt
Chesnay, 78153
France

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ( email )

INNO - VPIV
Quartier de L'innovation QI J1
Lausanne, CH-1015
Switzerland
+41216937054 (Phone)

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