Start Up Blog

You are regarded as ‘young’ at 30-ish when an entrepreneur. In marketing you are ready for the retirement village.

If you want to stay forever young, don’t work for someone. They will judge you by your age especially in marketing circles. There is a black hole for Brand Managers. After the age of 30 they all start to disappear. Sure, one or two make it to be Marketing Directors, but where do the others go? The smart ones leverage their skills in their own business. Very few careers develop such a diverse skill base. It is naturally geared to leverage in a business. You are sitting on a gold mine if you have enough courage.

I assume it is not too different with young architects, lawyers or any qualified profession.

The reason people become old in the corporate world is repetition. Your brain dies when it is not exercised, just as your body does. When you are put into a role and regarded as a “human resource” you are really just a change part now aren’t you? Taylorism is not lost on knowledge workers, just hidden better.

You will learn more in three months getting your own startup off the ground, than you will in 3 years as a Marketing Manager. As a bonus you will be regarded as a fresh graduate! The other day a VC said to me. “We need young people like you who are close to the action”.

On a previous blog entry ‘Who Funds Who’ I mentioned the Angel Investor. What does (a good) one look like? In my experience as follows:

• High net worth individual ($10m plus AUD)

• Experienced in starting a firm. Not just running a company

• They are not an employee

• Fingers not in too many pies

• Well connected

• Can give you at least an hour a week

Most of all, they must want to mentor. You will sense if they have this capacity in your first meeting. Some clues include sharing information which seems confidential, they will disclose personal financials, stories of failures and provide deep insightful advice, for no self benefit. They may also say something like… “I want to put something pack into the world.  I have made my money, you remind me a lot of myself at your age.”  They should be altruistic because the reality is you have a good chance of losing their money and they know it.

When people have had financial success they understand depth beyond money. It is this knowledge that assists in its accumulation.

One potential VC partner is the person described above. We hope he chooses to take us on. For a start up, getting the cash is the second most important thing.