Ageless Startup

The emerging markets for ageless entrepreneurs. Video blog - 4:44 Link to video blog hosted at YouTube

Many of the new posts here are focused on the Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs (CAE). The CAE is one of the featured outcomes from my book Ageless Startup. I'm working to get better at using short videos to present these messages. Here is the link to the video Join us at the CAE web site here.

I had a great conversation recently with Tiffany Moore at The Humanitarian Entrepreneur podcast. Among other things, we focused on opportunities for older entrepreneurs (3:27), what are the biggest myths that entrepreneurs face in the second half of their lives (5:04), the Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs, and the importance of teams. (12:18) Among my favorite takeaways was this: "We work in teams now and those with the best teams win. The idea is ot get yourself armored up so you can protect yourself and your family as you run your business. Then get into a team. That's why we're building these networks." - Rick (11:20) Thanks Tiffany for a great conversation! Link to the full podcast is here: PODCAST LINK Tiffany Moore is a Humanitarian Entrepreneur Coach helping activists looking to leverage their passion for change. Learn more HERE .

The news keeps coming from all sectors of the economy – the ageism that floods the discussion of older entrepreneurs is flat out wrong. This new Forbes article by Kumar Mehta cites some of the key factors that give older workers an edge when it comes to startups. I especially like this writer’s focus on working for the right reasons. Older workers have subject matter expertise and have worked to advance a specific version of that work. Also, that we are motivated by more than money. Companies and new organizations that succeed are driven to improve communities they love and markets they know. These are the three key factors this author says make the difference for older entrepreneurs: You Know Your Domain: "Domain knowledge and industry experience are crucial for any aspiring entrepreneur because you can only create a valuable enterprise by innovating, and for that, you must deeply understand your industry. Every successful founder knows their product a...

This is a is a one minute video introduction for the CAE

Startup Secrets for Entrepreneurs has a new name since we recorded last month. Congratulations to the team. Shelly and I had a great conversation about ageless entrepreneurship and how people can learn about the Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs. Shelly is not quite yet in our target demographic but wants to join. In this podcast I introduce the concept of the CAE 'kid's table'. Almost there! We're keeping a lignt on for you. Thanks Shelby Olyschlager and Evolvepreneur for the great conversation! Link to the full podcast

It's not just a reduction in spending. Your ongoing life can get stronger through the many kinds of entrepreneurship opening up for older workers.

Begin your journey: The Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs (CAE) - Click to learn more

"That's one of the reasons we started the Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs, to bring people people together from all kinds of different disciplines, learning and getting excited about options, learning about new projects, learning about who's looking for a network. You harden yourself up into a one person, two person business. Get all that legal structure around yourself. You want to be a professioinal, but then go and find other people - to not just be an atom, but start to become a molecule." Listen to the full interview here

"Typically the folks who are listening to my conversations are not 20 year olds sleeping under their desks and chasing VCs. These are people who want to make a difference in the world. They want to make their own lives more resilient. And there's plenty of ways to do that as really small businesses. Listen to the full podcast here

A good new podcast interview with John Chisum at 'All the Best' just published. Two links to short interview highlights follow. I thought John's questions and comments were spot on to the subject of entrepreneurship in the second half of life. Thanks for a great conversation John! The link to the full interview is here :

I found this article inspires healthy questions about what your next act could be. A few good quotes from this article... "Retirement means different things to different people. I did a deep survey of more than 15,000 retirees over the age of 60, and asked them one question: “What is your single biggest challenge in retirement?” "Here’s what this tells us: The biggest retirement challenge that no one talks about, in my experience, is finding purpose." "In other words, what is it that you are going to do once you leave the workforce? You can retire from your career, but you can’t retire from life." "In fact, a 2021 study of 12,825 adults over the age of 51 published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology associated a strong purpose in life with healthier lifestyle behaviors and slower rates of progression of chronic illnesses." "Finding purpose can also help retirees find new side hustle opportunities ...

"Entrepreneurship provides an exciting new career for millions of older Americans; one they would never have anticipated growing up in a world that presumed people’s work life would end at 65. Rick Terrien has provided a fabulous roadmap on how to approach this new chapter in life. His brilliant Ageless Startup is a handbook for how to shape your future, so your most rewarding work lies ahead — work that benefits you and makes a difference in the lives of countless others. A must for career planning for anyone over forty!" --- Carl Schramm, former president of the Kauffman Foundation, author of Burn the Business Plan, serial entrepreneur, active venture investor, and professor at Syracuse University

I wrote this a bit ago when the pandemic was just taking off. It was published in Entrepreneur Magazine. With the growing turmoil in the economy, it seemd like a good time to revisit this discussion of entrepreneurship as a late life career. How would you answer these 26 questions? "Instead of just asking "Why me?" ask yourself these questions to determine if becoming an entrepreneur after you retire from your job is a smart move for you." Link to the article: 26 Questions to Help You Decide If a Late-in-Life Business Is Right for You

Older entrepreneurs need better networks. Here is a public video introducing the nonprofit Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs / CAE. Introduction to the CAE. (4:18) We'll be hosting regular Zoom meetings to continue this series. Check for info on the web site and bring your questions. CAE NEWS: The CAE is a marketplace for entrepreneurs in the second half of life. Inside the CAE, we're creating member STOREFRONTS for interested members. STOREFRONTS can be used by members to post their skills and offerings for other CAE members to browse and connect. We also have Opportunity BOARDS for members to research new projects or post their own ideas for collaboration. CAE members - you are included on this email newsletter so you can pass along current news to friends. We are doing this inside an independent online platform, outside sear...

Good article in Inc. about a sales philosophy that helped turn Slack into a $27 billion organization This fits with everything I know about sales and is a good base for our members at the Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs. ### As Slack Founder Stewart Butterfield said: "Our position is different than the one many new companies find themselves in: We are not battling it out in a large, well-defined market with clear incumbents. Despite the fact that there are a handful of direct competitors and a muddled history of superficially similar tools, we are setting out to define a new (my italics) market. And that means we can't limit ourselves to tweaking the product; we need to tweak the market, too." "We're selling a reduction in information overload, relief from stress, and a new ability to extract the enormous value of hitherto useless corporate archives. We're selling better organizations, better teams. That's a good thing for people to buy and it ...

There is a good interview in Inc. Magazine with Dorie Clark who I follow. The article title is: 2 Kinds of Professional Networking That Work--And One That Doesn't. How to be intentional about building your network. This speaks directly to the kind of networking we're trying to enable at the CAE. I'll skip what doesn't work below, and go right to the good stuff. Worth a read: " Long-term networking. The best networkers think long term. According to Clark, you can start building long-term relationships by identifying people in your field who are doing cool things or whose work you admire. "You don't have a specific ask in mind: all you know is that this person is worth getting to know," says Clark. The relationships I built during my corporate career fueled my business when I launched my own practice. I once worked for a large public-relations firm where every conversation with a client had to be "billable." But I...

There are opportunities to build a new enterprise everywhere. Look for new ideas that make sense to you and start with one customer at a time. There are new ideas and programs emerging everywhere that are ready to grow. Ageless entrepreneurs are in the perfect place to help. "West Virginia small business owner wins 2022 National Small Business Person of the Year Award for the first time in state history" A West Virginia small business owner and educator who started a learning center to provide behavioral treatment for children with autism was named the country’s small business person of the year on Thursday by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Jill Scarbro-McLaury, who owns Bright Futures Learning Services, received the prestigious award during a virtual ceremony celebrating National Small Business Week. Scarbro-McLaury, who is the first person in West Virginia to receive the National Small Business Person of the Year Award, will be invited to ...

Good David Bowie quote... "Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been."

I was fortunate to share a panel presentation at Stanford's Longevity Center recently with Maria Thomas from Alive Ventures. Alive Ventures has just published a couple of great reports I'll link here soon. This quote and link are from one of those papers, Growing Older Better. Thanks Maria for bringing this to my attention. Below is a quote from Greg Isenberg, CEO of Late Checkout. I like the sentiment but would be sure to add that older, ageless entreprenurs themselves have unique perspectives and valuable contributions to make regarding products and services for older adults. “If there's any entrepreneurs listening, and you're considering the foray into building for older adults – do it. You might not look like a hero in 2022, maybe not 2023, but the tides are changing and by the end of 2023 - 2024, once we start seeing these like bigger valuation, older adult startups, and you're seeing a lot of success. My prediction is that there is going to be a...

Harvard Business Review just posted a good piece on flipping the narrative regarding ageism. While this speaks to teams within corporations, the same approach can be taken for teams coming together as entrepreneurs. There needs to be a seat at the table and voices in the air that represent older workers. The products and services that emerge - from corporations or startups - will be better for it. I liked the subheading: Generational identity should be a source of learning, not division. "Think of a multigenerational team of product developers, merging the seasoned experience and broad client network of its older members with the fresh perspectives and up-to-date supplier network of its younger ones. Such a group can use its age diversity to build something no generation could on its own." Full article: Harvesting the Power of Age Diversity Harvard Business Review Megan W. Gerhardt, Josephine Nachemson-Ekwall, and Brandon Fo...

Continuing with phased retirements.... The Wall Street Journal posted another good article about phased retirements. The sub heading is: "Workers have longed for a way to ease into retirement while keeping some pay and benefits. More companies are giving it a try." There is a surge in interest in keeping valuable employees connected to the organizations they work for. Instead of just cutting back their hours, why not unleash their creative ideas and industry knowledge and help them start small enterprises that can help all iinvolved? "In a forthcoming survey of 1,736 HR executives world-wide from consultant Mercer LLC, about 38% say they offer phased retirement, more than double the 17.2% that did so before the pandemic." "Phased retirement is 'a way to slow the brain drain and manage talent shortages' at a time when the U.S. workforce is agi...

The CAE is a non-profit org built to empower entrepreneurs in the second half of life. Entrepreneurship options for phased retirements can be a great option for companies to support their late career team members. It serves the employer by enabling team members to launch smaller enterprises into markets the employer may not be reaching. Phased retirement can unleash valuable new ageless entrepreneurs, with significant industry experience, back into markets and communities they know and love. The alternative to the 'Great Resignation' — phasing retirement The Hill. 3/12/22 “Enter phased retirement." "Enabling regular employees with benefits to reduce their schedules from full to reduced time over an agreed-upon trajectory can meet the employee desire for so-called semi-retirement and the employer need for retention of mature labor and the transfer of critical knowledge to development-seeking younger employees. Phased retirement programs ...

Good article by Chris Farrell and MarketWatch. March 8, 2022. ‘What do we do with all that talent?’ Older workers and the new economy - MarketWatch "Starting a business is a creative enterprise. In 2020 nearly one-quarter of new entrepreneurs were ages 55 to 64, according to the KauffmanFoundation. The share of workers who are self-employed also rises with age. For example, the share self-employed is under 20% for adults below age 50, while it’s 46% for workers ages 65 to 69, calculate economists Katharine Abraham, Brad Hershbein, and Susan Houseman in the working paper Contract Work at Older Ages." "Did you catch the half-time show at the Super Bowl highlighting hip-hop artists Dr. Dre, Mary J Blige, and Snoop Dogg? The performance garnered high praise among critics and the audience (including me). Less remarked on is that Dr. Dre, Mary J Blige, and Snoop Dogg are in the second half of life—ages 57, 51, and 50, respectively." ...

This is a good interview with Abby Levy, of Primetime Partners about the great need for new products and services to support citizens aging in place. I'll start with an earlier quote from Ms. Levy, that I posted here earlier . When asked last year about how their fund would advise new companies entering longevity focused markets, Ms. Levy responded" "I think I can guess what Alan would say, so I’m going to jump in here… I think what we would say – and this isn’t just because it’s consistent with our brand and our positioning – Go find an experienced professional who has been in the industry – for 20 – 30 years – of the industry you’re starting your startup in. Go find a cofounder who has that experience, that network, the understanding – and frankly the relevancy to the end user that looks like them. And go co-design a business with someone who is of the target group you’re looking to serve. I think that would be one piece of advice we feel would be VERY passi...

Sorting files ... This is from the 4th of July, 2013 - The Dodgeville Chronicle's front page review of my economic development work in Iowa County, Wisconsin. I was blogging about this in real time back then. Those blogs morphed into the book. Now we're launching the CAE. The formula is simple. Set up the infrastructure to develop new collaborations among small enterprises. "Economic development is a relationship business." ICAEDC celebrates four and a half years of promoting Iowa County 7/4/2013 The Iowa County Area Economic Development Corporation proved last week that it has a lot to be proud of as it released a report on the organization's successes over the past four and a half years. The ICAEDC, a non-profit organization founded in 2008, is dedicated to creating a positive business and economic climate in Iowa County. The organization's executive director, Rick Terrien, has played an influencial role at the ICAEDC and many o...

This Seth Godin quote highlights the need for peer-to-peer support networks. The CAE is designed to support entrepreneurs in the second half of life. Within that context we bring the right people and the right conditions together. "Chaos is uncomfortable, particularly if you’ve been indoctrinated in the industrial mindset. But if the right people and the right conditions are present, chaos creates possibility. " "Do it with intent" Seth Godin This quote is from Seth's blog post 2-27-22 - Chaos, connection and industrial systems You can subscribe to Seth's blog here . The graphic is also copyright Seth Godin.

Interesting article in the Washington Post about the boomers having trouble decoupling from businesses they started. The Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs (CAE) is set up to help entrepreneurs in the second half of life explore and grow. Our thinking here would be that if you started at least one business – do it again. Launch a new small enterprise focused on markets and communities and ideas you love. Pay it forward. Good quote from the article: “Baby boomers, a group now between the ages of 57 and 76, make up a large percentage of entrepreneurs. While there are no precise numbers, 30 percent of business owners are between the ages of 55 and 64 and another 20 percent are over 65, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey - that’s more than 2 million businesses in total.” When you include the full 40+ cohort, this number gets much bigger. Ageless entrepreneurship a viable option in a world full of transitions. ...

I was honored to present at the 2001 Stanford University Century Summit, put on by the Stanford Longevity Center. Our panel was titled 'Entrepreneurship in the second half of life.' Link to panel presentation at Stanford Century Summit December 2021 Video notes: Panel moderator Maria Thomas: 0:01 - 0:38 Maria's intro to Rick: 0:38 - 1:45 Rick intro to CAE: 1:49 - 2:59 Maria's entrepreneurship question to Rick and answer: 7:00 - 8:30 Mary Rawles plugging Ageless Startup: ~9:30 Thank you Mary!

I had a great conversation with Sheila West. Sheila's podcast, All About You, originates in Valencia Spain. Thanks for the thoughtful questions and ideas Sheila. I loved how you described the CAE as 'more problem solving than training.' Link to full interview at All About You .

This is the first of a two-part series published by SHRM - The Society for Human Resource Management "Phased retirement is an employer-based program that allows older workers to reduce their working hours and transition into retirement. These programs may include a partial drawdown of funds from defined contribution or defined benefit retirement plans and continuing employer-sponsored health coverage." '"Older workers may be tired of dealing with their current level of responsibility and are looking for less-stressful roles or roles that are project-based, where their schedules can be more flexible," said Sean Nehlsen, Cleveland-based regional managing director at OneDigital, an HR services provider.' Phased retirements also can allow time for older workers to share their knowledge with other employees, Nehlsen said. "When employees announce that they're ready to retire, it's too late to do any transfer of knowledge," he noted, which...

We had our first public meeting for the Center for Ageless Entrepreneurs (CAE) this evening. The book Ageless Startup began with blog posts starting in 2005. So many personal milestones since. All in the second half of life. A big one this evening. Today our CAE 'shipped'.

"Retirement often means leaving behind a current job and its daily demands to try something new, to find greater flexibility, to carve out time to pursue other passions and interests. But they find purpose by continuing to tap into the skills learned during their careers." "Your network will offer valuable insight on what might come next for you. They'll also make connections that will help launch your next chapter." Good article by Chris Farrell for the Star Tribune. 1-22-2022 Full article link here

“If you’re going into the second half of life and just hoping that the world is going to be rosy and that everything is going to come up flowers and you’ll be fine, I think you’re taking a pretty big risk. There is less risk in becoming more resilient and finding a way to make some further contributions. It can be based on a profession you had, or a community you love, or a market you love and want to contribute to. My advice is that it’s not hard, it’s just new.” --- Rick Terrien Link to the Youtube video Link to the Apple Podcast audio

"Even today at age 70, I am starting some major new businesses all over the world, and there is nothing encore about them. If you love what you do the word retirement does not exist, as retirement is doing what you want to do each morning when you get up, and I have been doing that my whole life." Michael Smolens Ageless Startup. Start a Business at Any Age. Page 16 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsmolens/

"While the increased demand from all stakeholders for the corporate world to invest in smart, sustainable, reproducible solutions is abundantly clear, there is far less recognition of the many contributions that older entrepreneurs make to sustainability innovations and applications. Similarly, the role of older founders in developing sustainability-centered companies has received relatively little attention. Planet-friendly business models are an ideal pathway for older entrepreneurs to create sustainable change, while adding to their own resiliency and the strength and value of the markets they serve. Older founders recognize that what endures is not the hype or any fame accreting to business formation and growth, but sustainability models designed to regenerate rather than extract resources. Entrepreneurs of every color, ethnicity, and background are coming to understand that their mission is to leave a better, more sustainable world as a legacy for thos...