"Peak age" for entrepreneurs

There's a vibe in the investment community that only ventures started by young people are worth backing. After all, a 22-year-old "boy wonder" fresh out of Stanford can work 100 hours a week on a startup and doesn't have parental responsibilities or outdated thinking.

I can see the logic. But I also think that middle-aged people have their own advantages and efficiencies, ranging from domain expertise (including specific technical abilities or industry networks) to management smarts (including hiring and team-building skills). The data on the success of young vs. old founders is mixed, but I am heartened by the success stories, including many companies started by middle-aged graduates of the mid-career MBA program that I attended. HubSpot, E-Trade, and A123 Systems are the most well-known, but there are many more up-and-coming ventures such as Buzzient and mob376. In addition, Bill Aulet, the managing director of the MIT Entrepreneurship center, started or joined several new ventures after completing the Sloan Fellows program -- and he has four kids!

Work-life balance for entrepreneurs who are parents

Last night I was awakened by the sound of my son crying. He was sick to his stomach, and he would spend the next few hours retching.

It also meant that one parent would have to stay home to keep an eye on him throughout the day. One of us has a steady job that brings in income and health insurance, while one of us doesn't have a fixed office address and works weird hours on two ventures that have yet to bring in a penny of revenue.

Guess who stays home?

Meanwhile, the educational product startup is on hiatus because my partner's wife just had a baby (their second). When do you think we'll be meeting next to move product development along?

I bring up these examples not to criticize my wife and my partner, but to recognize the reality of juggling a business and family responsibilities: No matter how hard you want to charge forward on your venture, you can only go so far in terms of sacrificing your family's well-being.

Where I draw the line often depends on the availability of childcare. My kids rarely see me at night on weekdays, because I am off at meetings or working on the software startup. But they can manage my absence, as my wife is back from work at 5:30 and can watch them. During the day, they are at school or daycare, which allows both me and my wife to work. But when one child is unable to attend school because of illness, or there's a new baby on the scene, that's when the ventures have to take a backseat to family realities.

Sole founders

Heard a story yesterday about a tech startup with a problem:

Only one founder.

This is #1 on Paul Graham's list of 18 things that kill startups, and as someone who is currently trying to get two startups off the ground, I can see why. If there's only one person, ideation sessions will be weaker, the founding team by definition will be weak in a few key areas because

• There are no complementary skill sets
• Things will take longer to get done
• Quality will suffer because no one else is vetting the work
• There is no moral support when bad days arise
• Investors will be skeptical

I've heard that the founder is pretty much consumed with raising money. His capital needs are actually much higher, because he's also a non-technical founder running a software startup. He can't code. As a result, everything has to be outsourced, which is just killing his funds.

Of course, it's not too late to bring on another founder, but he's got to move fast.