I am a 50-something engineer who recently worked at a well known startup. I am planning a new startup now. I reviewed my contemporary connections on LinkedIn to see how many I'd consider for my startup. I did not find many.
Many of my contemporaries have climbed the management or technical ladders to the point where they have not practiced the skills needed in a startup for years. They are managing fifty or more people. They are architects at large corporations. They are not designing products and writing code.
A smaller group of my contemporaries are set for life financially. They are no longer working or are only pretending to work.
Of those that are still actively working, I know that some of them have ratcheted up their lifestyle to match their high compensation. It would be a major adjustment for them to live on a startup salary.
There might be ageism in the startup world, but I think it's definitely the case that the pool of eligible and interested 50-somethings is small.
I personally have not experienced ageism. I was 20 years older than everybody else at my last startup.
Many of my contemporaries have climbed the management or technical ladders to the point where they have not practiced the skills needed in a startup for years. They are managing fifty or more people. They are architects at large corporations. They are not designing products and writing code.
A smaller group of my contemporaries are set for life financially. They are no longer working or are only pretending to work.
Of those that are still actively working, I know that some of them have ratcheted up their lifestyle to match their high compensation. It would be a major adjustment for them to live on a startup salary.
There might be ageism in the startup world, but I think it's definitely the case that the pool of eligible and interested 50-somethings is small.
I personally have not experienced ageism. I was 20 years older than everybody else at my last startup.