Founders
Founders: fit and first steps
Founders who mean to build a lasting company, especially those whose experience predicts success, and capable founders who need more capacity than they can hire.
Experience is an advantage
Show the data as a table
| Group | Mean age of all startups’ founders (years) | Mean age of founders of the fastest-growing 1 in 1,000 (years) |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 41.8 years | 45 years |
| California | 41.4 years | 43.5 years |
| Massachusetts | 41.7 years | 43.2 years |
| New York | 41.5 years | 44.2 years |
| Silicon Valley | 41.7 years | 44.3 years |
| Entrepreneurial hubs | 41.2 years | 42.6 years |
| Technology employment | 43.2 years | 45.9 years |
| Venture-backed firms | 42.4 years | 43.4 years |
| Patenting firms | 44.4 years | 46.2 years |
Source: Azoulay, Jones, Kim and Miranda, Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship (NBER WP 24489; AER: Insights 2020) , April 2018 (working paper); March 2020 (AER: Insights)
Retrieved 2026-10-15. Values are copied from Tables 5 (panels A and B) as printed.
What the research found
Founders of the fastest-growing new firms were older and more experienced than the typical founder.
45.0 1
mean founder age of the fastest-growing 1 in 1,000 new U.S. firms (41.9 for all that hire)
1.8x 2
as likely: a 50-year-old founder against a 30-year-old, for top-growth firms
0.26% 3
top-growth rate with 3+ years in the same industry, against 0.11% with none
22.8% 4
of new entrepreneurs were aged 55 to 64 in 2021, up from 14.8% in 1996
- Azoulay, Jones, Kim and Miranda, Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship , Founders of 2007 to 2009 (41.9 covers 2007 to 2014)
- Azoulay, Jones, Kim and Miranda, Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship , Founders of 2007 to 2014
- Azoulay, Jones, Kim and Miranda, Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship , Founders of 2007 to 2009
- Kauffman, Who Is the Entrepreneur? (2022) , 1996 and 2021
Founders who mean to build a lasting company
WE works with founders who mean to build a company that lasts, especially those whose experience predicts success, and capable founders who need more capacity than they can hire. This page describes the working relationship in plain terms so you can decide before you start a readiness review. It publishes no founder stories and shows no client list.
The criteria below are how WE decides whether a company is a fit. They are about the business and the founder’s habits. They are not about who you know or where you studied.
What WE asks of a founder
Three things matter more than the rest. A founder keeps making the decisions about the product and the company. A founder speaks with customers often and shares what was learned. A founder reads the written plan for each checkpoint and says yes or no to it.
The team WE steers works on one company at a time. It cannot replace the founder’s judgment about the customer, and it is not meant to.
What a founder keeps doing
You own the company, its decisions and its customer relationships. You hire your own lawyer and accountant, and WE coordinates with them when you ask it to. You decide when the product is ready to show customers. You decide whether and when to raise money, and from whom.
Seven situations
One solar system, seven ways in
Founders reach WE from different places. Each world stands for a situation, never an identity: for anyone in that situation, the work starts where the company is.
- Leaving an industry to build in it. Your industry years are the head start.
- Starting later in a career. Experience is the head start.
- Building a second company. Start the second one at full speed.
- Building a U.S. company. Build here, with a team that knows the ground.
- Capable, but under-backed. Capacity now. Credibility over time.
- Early in a career. Borrow the experience. Keep the company.
- Starting after a change. A restart can be a real start.
- Leaving an industry to build in it Your industry years are the head start.
- Starting later in a career Experience is the head start.
- Building a second company Start the second one at full speed.
- Building a U.S. company Build here, with a team that knows the ground.
- Capable, but under-backed Capacity now. Credibility over time.
- Early in a career Borrow the experience. Keep the company.
- Starting after a change A restart can be a real start.
Find the path that fits you
- First-time founders
Considerations for a founder starting a company for the first time: what is hard, what to read and where to apply.
- Technical founders
Considerations for a founder who can build the product: the work that is not code, what to read and where to apply.
- Non-technical founders
Considerations for a founder who does not write code: what to check before you buy or build, what to read and where to apply.
- Solo founders
Considerations for a founder working alone: how to fund the work, who else to pay and what to read before you apply.
- Corporate innovators
Considerations for a person building a product out of an employer: who owns the work, what the agreements say and what to settle first.
- Student founders
Considerations for a founder who is still a student: who has a claim on the work, when a project needs a legal home and what to read.
- Second-career founders
Considerations for a founder moving into software from another career: starting points, client work and what to ask before joining.
- Global and remote founders
Considerations for a founder who works from outside the United States or with a remote team: what changes and what to ask first.
What fits
The core of the business can be built on a screen: software, a digital product, or a service run on software and expertise. You can fund a team from revenue, savings, outside capital or a corporate budget.
| Criterion | What it means |
|---|---|
| A business built on a screen | The core work is software, a digital product, or a service run on software and expertise. |
| A named customer and a named problem | You can say whose problem it is in a sentence, and why it matters to them. |
| A way to fund a team | Revenue, savings, outside capital or a corporate budget: any of them works. |
| Time and decisions | A founder is available each week to review work and make decisions. |
| Written working habits | You are willing to work from a written plan and written results at each checkpoint. |
What does not fit
WE is not the right help if the core work of the business is physical (food service, retail floors, manufacturing, clinical care), if you want capital above all, or if you need one deliverable. If so, WE will say so and point you to better help.
Limits to know before you start
- It is not for founders who want someone else to run the company.
- It is not for a business whose core work is physical, or that needs an office, in-person sessions or premises.
- It does not promise funding or investor meetings, or predict whether any company will raise money.
- It does not replace your own lawyer or accountant.
Stages WE works with
A company can start with WE at the stage it is in. The program page describes who the program is for; this page describes the working relationship.
| Stage | What fits |
|---|---|
| Idea (Dream) | The problem and customer are not yet tested. Dream work and service lines C and E fit here. |
| Prototype (Build) | You know the problem and need a first version. Build work and service lines B and D fit here. |
| First customers (Grow) | A version exists and you are earning your first users. Grow work and service lines C, F and G fit here. |
What happens after a readiness review
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Start a readiness review
Tell WE about the company, the customer and the stage it is at.
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Agree the scope
You and WE choose the service lines and roles that fit. A line you do not choose is not provided.
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Meet your team
WE steers a dedicated team that works on your company and no other.
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Work to checkpoints
Each stretch of work starts with a written plan you approve and ends with written results.
Accountant, attorney or small business center? Refer a founder.
Start a readiness review
The application form asks about your company, your team and what you are building.