想創業嗎?趁早吧
羅恩?康韋 (居中)
????馬克?扎克伯格在哈佛大學(Harvard)的宿舍里推出了Facebook;Twitter的杰克?多西和谷歌(Google)的拉里?佩奇以及謝爾蓋?布林都是在20多歲時就創立了自己的公司。所有這些人開始創業時都非常年輕,SV Angel的羅恩?康韋和大衛?李發布的一份報告認為這并非巧合。顯然,開始創業時越年輕,在一個競爭日益激烈的行業中取得成功的可能性就越高,這些領域中目前高估值已成為常態。 ????康韋的話并非空穴來風:今年早些時候,他曾告訴《財富》他參與了硅谷70%的初創企業交易。在此次紐約TechCrunch Disrupt會議上,他和大衛?李公布了一份報告的初步數據,撰寫時他們調查了過去15年曾投資過的500多家初創企業。在那些潛在或實際退出價值不低于2,500萬美元的初創企業中,47%的創始人不到30歲。潛在退出價值越高,創始人就越年輕。例證:能以不低于5億美元售出的公司67%創始人都不到30歲。 ????“我認為越年輕的創業者越愿意‘慢慢打磨’其業務,” 康韋表示,“Facebook就是一個很好的例子,以充分的耐心慢慢打磨。”他還指出,高朋(Groupon)和Twitter也是創始人早早起步但花多年時間精心打造的成功案例。 ????不過,還是要為歲月積淀的智慧說幾句。康韋和李以Facebook的聯合創始人肖恩?帕克為例。帕克多年來已參與創立了7家初創企業,包括21世紀初一度風行的音樂文件共享網站Napster。 ????“早在18歲時,Sean已洞察音樂愛好者的心理,”李說,“但我喜歡如今31歲的他。如今他更有經驗,從經歷中學到了很多。” |
????Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room; Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Google's (GOOG) Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded their respective companies in their twenties. All of them were young when they got their start, and that's not a coincidence according to a report released by SV Angel's Ron Conway and David Lee. Apparently, the younger you are, the higher your odds are at succeeding in an increasingly competitive area of the industry where skyrocketing valuations are the norm. ????Conway is in a good position to know: he told Fortune earlier this year he fields 70% of all start-up deals in Silicon Valley. And at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York City, he and Lee revealed early data from a report in which they queried more than 500 start-ups they've invested in over the last 15 years. Of the start-ups with potential or actual exit values of $25 million or more, 47% of those were run by founders who were under 30. But the higher those potential exit values got, the younger the founders became. Case in point: 67% of the companies that could sell for $500 million or more have founders under 30. ????"I think younger entrepreneurs are more willing to 'slow brew' their business," said Conway. "Facebook is the best example of a company that was slow brewed with plenty of patience." He also pointed to Groupon and Twitter as other examples of successful companies whose founders got their starts early but also spent years refining their services. ????Still, there's something to be said for age-old wisdom. Conway and Lee used Facebook co-founder Sean Parker as an example. Parker has been involved with several start-ups over the years, including the once-popular early 2000s music file-sharing service, Napster. ????"At 18, Sean was already wise about what was on the minds of music lovers," said Lee. "But I like him now at 31. He has more experience, and he's learned from it." |