We tend to be drawn to the stories of the “scrappy young founder” doing whatever is necessary to get his or her company/product/idea off the ground, but we don’t hear enough about those who found success later in life. I think there is something to be said for having a plethora of both real life and business experience behind a new venture. Donna Fuscaldo delves into this in her article for Venture, “10 Entrepreneurs Who Started a Wildly Successful Business After 40.”
The entrepreneurs she discusses are:
- Donald Fisher – co-founded Gap at 41
- Lynda Weinman – co-founded Lynda.com at 40
- Herbert Boyer – co-founded Genentech at 40
- Bob Parsons – started GoDaddy at 47
- Chip Wilson – began Lululemon at 42
- Charles Ranlett Flint – launched IBM at 61
- Thomas Siebel – co-founded Siebel Systems at 41
- Bernie Marcus – co-founded Home Depot at 50
- Bill Porter – started E*Trade at 54
- Robert Noyce – co-founded Intel at 41