I read somewhere the average age of candidates funded at Y Combinator -– a leading incubator for start-ups -- is 26. I watched a YouTube video last night with one of the founders and someone asked if they accepted older applicants. "Yes, we've actually had people in their 30's." I had to laugh. We just applied for YC – me at 45 and my co-founder, Marlene, at 61. We are building what we believe to be a solid foundation for our startup, and we really want to be part of YC. Being mentored by the best would accelerate our learning curve significantly.
The funny story yesterday was in "the making of the video," an important part of the YC application process. Marlene lives in the Bay Area, and I live in SoCal, so we had to coordinate making a video, merging it, etc. We talked about what we were going to wear, how we were going to be positioned, lighting, backdrop, verbiage, etc. Marlene sent me a picture of a singer from her mother’s era -- Perry Como (may need to Google if you are under 50) where he's half sitting on a bar stool, leaning forward. On the wardrobe question, I say, "I don't want to wear anything too stuffy, …I want to look like I'm going to meet for tea." We make decisions and end the call.
I check YouTube to see sample videos posted by others who have applied to YC. Oh, my. Young, young, young people. The most amusing one included pictures of half-naked women on a refrigerator in the background. And my partner and I are talking about Perry Como and tea. I could not stop laughing. We might well be distinguished as the oldest applicants ever to apply to YC, but I’ll argue that our combined 64 years of experience give us some wisdom, mature judgment and thick skin. And maybe a little edge on success.
Here’s hoping we’re one of the lucky ones to be chosen for the YC incubator. If we are, we will have a great time, do our utmost and significantly raise the average age.