Who are the new Entrepreneurs?

I was reading an interesting study about entrepreneurs and found various articles that relate to it...I have summed up what I found and thought of sharing this with you. While reading it remember that any research displays averages...any results are not set in stone and you are the one in control of your future.

The Research Findings:-

When you think of the word 'entrepreneur', who do you visualise? You might be inclined to think of a student who is in his early 20's who dropped out of college to follow his or her dream.

But according to a study by the Kauffman Foundation, it's not young people who are driving entrepreneurial activity in the United States. It's actually the Baby Boomers.

The study found that over the past decade, the highest level of entrepreneurial activity was seen amongst the 55-64 age group. What about the wonder kinds we see featured on most renowned magazine covers? Their entrepreneurial prowess is largely an illusion. It was actually found that the 20 - 34 age bracket who are thought of risk taker youths (think of Google, Yahoo, Facebook) has the lowest rate of entrepreneurs.Perhaps most surprising, this disparity occurred during the eleven years surrounding the dot-com boom—when the young entrepreneurial upstart became a cultural icon.

In a related study that looked at 5,000 companies started in 2004, the Kauffman Foundation discovered that two-thirds were started by founders in the 35-54 age bracket. When it came to technology companies specifically, the average age of a founder was 39.

When you think about it, this really isn't all that surprising. Although stories like that of Mark Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm room, make for great stories, they're great stories precisely because they're so unusual. When it comes to the reality of entrepreneurship, it makes sense that older people would be more apt to start businesses. After all, an older founder is more likely to have significant experience, greater knowledge, better networks and the financial resources required to start a new venture. The hunger and ambition typically associated with youth can only take you so far.

In looking at what the future holds, the Kauffman Foundation notes that the ongoing recession could increase the incidence of entrepreneurship amongst those under 30 but also points out that other trends, such as the diminishing notion of the 'lifetime' job and longer lifespans, likely supports a healthy crop of old entrepreneurs.

So what's the key conclusion? As much as the tech startup community values youth, it's a bad idea to ignore those who are more experienced and more knowledgeable. Given that the billion and trillion dollar markets of tomorrow aren't going to be found in the consumer internet, for instance, wisdom is more important than ever. So the next time you're networking, don't forget to talk to the guy who looks like he could be your dad. He may not be starting the next Facebook but he could be the founder of the next Cisco.