[rossenberg79]

No, it isn’t. And I’ve said this before, a 45 year old has a grip on life that an early 20 something can’t even conceive of, especially if they’ve just lived a fairly easy life sailing through school and college thus far.

A 45 year old has a better idea of how life can be improved in ways that matter, and has the connections and skills to capitalize on it. Sorry kids, the big dogs will eat your lunch.

[jshaqaw]

I’m 43 for whatever that matters. I think the experience and gravity a 45 year old brings vs a 25 year old is incredibly valuable. That said, at this point in life I am no longer willing to give all my life to work. I have a family. I realize how previously brief life is (ah mid age) and want to savor enjoying it. I work hard but with definite limits. A 25 year old has no such burdens. So there is a balance.

[neilv]

Honest points, though of course doesn't apply to all.

Of course, some people burn out, or were never focused enough on work to end up knowing much more about work at 45 than they did at 25.

Others at 45 are as sharp and energetic about work as they ever were, and constantly learning, with the added benefit of much more experience than they had at 25.

Some people in early 20s start families, or would prefer to spend all their time traveling and rock climbing.

Some people in 40s live to work, for the craft and/or bigger goals for the world, and, even if they were financially independent already, would be doing much the same work, even without being paid.

[m0zg]

Yes, I know many a 25 year old who work really, really hard on things that either could be done much more simply or don't need to be done at all. They just don't know it.

[dsfyu404ed]

>especially if they’ve just lived a fairly easy life sailing through school and college thus far.

Which, lets be honest here, is most 20-somethings in tech. The people who were forced to grow up real fast and go on to start businesses usually wind up starting blue collar businesses .

[JohnFen]

That's an interesting point. I started my first successful business at 25, but I came from a poor, blue-collar family. I was a tech-head since I was 12, though. Being poor is why I became a software engineer -- my primary interest as a child was in electronics, but I learned early on that you had to be able to afford to buy parts and tools to really do that. I had access to a mainframe computer through my school, though, so programming was free to me and that's what I did.

I never lost the electronics bug, though, and the first computer I ever owned was one that I designed and built myself when I was in high school.

Thinking back on it, although I didn't know it at the time, learning how to work around scarcity really did teach me a lot of skills that were critical to my business and professional successes. That remains true to this day.