Age and Silicon Valley

I turned 50 this month. A milestone by any measure, but, in Silicon Valley, being over 50 feels… kinda old.

Appropriately, perhaps, I received an AARP card in the mail just prior to my 50th birthday. I could barely open it. Why would they think I’m a prime candidate to join AARP when my kids haven’t even left for college yet? Perhaps their analytics tell them so.

The direct mail from AARP that inspired this post.

See, I’m starting to feel there are three main occupations for people over 50 in Silicon Valley. The first is to become a venture capitalist. Nice work if you can get it. The second is to check in to a slow-paced mid-management role at a dinosaur tech company, like H-P, IBM or Oracle. Collect your paycheck and coast. The third is to become a “consultant” -- often code for self-employed and trying to earn a few bucks on projects from companies that don’t want to hire a full-time quinquagenarian (someone in their fifties — had to look that one up).

Finally, the category that AARP seems to think I fall into as someone in their 50s in Silicon Valley, is to actually be retired. I’m constantly amazed how many contemporaries of mine seem to be retired — either because they made so much money, or want other people to think they made so much money, that they don’t really need to work.

Of course, the reality is that many of the “consultants" and “retirees” over 50 fall into another category — professionals who just aren't valued in the tech startup ecosystem. I increasingly talk with colleagues my age and older who admit the recruiter calls are less frequent, the second interviews less likely, and the job offers an increasing rarity. I have personally been told multiple times that I’m “over-qualified” for a position — most recently by a female founder in her late twenties. I probably was over-qualified, but isn’t that my decision?

I get it. I founded a company in my twenties. I was a VP by 32 at a multi-billion-dollar company, running a team of 30 people. When I was that age, managing someone in their 50s would have been like hiring my dad. I’m certainly not saying I feel discriminated against. I’m self-aware enough to know that I’ve been mostly the beneficiary of Silicon Valley’s prejudices. To borrow the metaphor from Scott Galloway’s excellent blog, I started out on third base.

That said, something has to be said about the ageism that is endemic in Silicon Valley. The sentiment that one ages out early is real and is a major theme of my novel, Bit Flip. Are we going to be an industry like professional sports or Hollywood that sends people out to pasture in their 40s? There are two big factors that cause this bias towards youth. First is the tendency to invest in founders who are young. That has a huge trickle-down effect because young founders are often reluctant to hire employees older than they are. Venture investors should be aware of potential age bias, just as they are gradually becoming more aware of gender, economic, ethnic and other unconscious biases that have impacted investment decisions.

Second is the fact that so many type-A, high-achieving people flock to Silicon Valley. They all expect to be VPs before they are 30. They all demand C-level titles, even if their company is only themselves and their co-founder. What I want to tell those twenty-somethings who are hell-bent on being VPs or CXOs is that they are limiting their future options — they too will soon be “over-qualified” for mere director roles. I want to tell them to be more patient in their career progression. More willing to learn than to just expect continuous promotions.

Unfortunately, these things aren’t likely to change. The trend line has only moved one direction, at least in my 25 years in technology. I feel like an old fart when I think: I’ve seen this before, I know how this is going to end, I don’t want to tell you I told you so… but I told you so. Nobody in their twenties wants to hear that feedback. Nobody is interested in sage wisdom when that wisdom is exactly what they are “disrupting.” They want to “move fast and break things” even if more experienced executives could help navigate just as fast with less breakage.

So I bite my tongue and try to keep my opinions and experience to myself. And I continue doing what I’m good at and what I love. I’m starting another company.