Do You Remember How Old 50 Used To Be?

In 1993, the show Frasier aired for the 1st time. The story is that Frasier moves back to Seattle to take care of his father, Martin Crane, a retired, over the hill ex-cop who couldn’t live independently anymore.

The actor who played Martin was named John Mahoney - and he was just shy of his 53rd birthday when the 1st episode aired.

Thankfully, 50 is different today - Pedro Pascal - the internet’s zaddy/daddy is has hit that milestone.

Age doesn’t really need to be a thing any more (though it should be - talking to you Bill Bellichick…) but you can hit your stride whenever.

Older entrepreneurs are just better.

In a 2017 Ted Talk, Paul Tasner cited a study that quoted a 70% success rate for senior entrepreneurs (vs just 22% for their whippersnapper counterparts).

In Germany, a study showed that every 10 years in age added €35,000 in additional revenues from innovations That shows the old folks are better at generating revenue from their new ideas compared to the shin-biters.

There are lots of reasons for that. As we age, our intelligence changes. In the world of math, for instance, stunning breakthroughs tend to happen early in a mathematician’s career. That is attributed to a mix of creative energy and a mind that is clear from the limits of what has already assimilated as “canonical knowledge”. But older mathematicians often solve complex problems that have stayed unsolved for decades of centuries because they are more quick to see patterns in this unsolved problems that mirror or are similar to other problems that they’ve solved in their careers.

There are true benefits in starting your entrepreneurial journey later in life…

Get your money right, get your books right - it matters.

Hey, welcome back.  Nice to see you.  Did you do your homework from last week? (if you didn’t see that, go here, then come back).  If you did take the time to make our lists of your strengths and talents, and your list of how you like to spend your time, you now have some good data from which to work.

This week, we’re going to start connecting the dots. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to look at your two lists side by side and start spotting patterns, overlaps, or curious pairings. Where do your skills and your joy intersect?

Circle anything that appears on both lists. For example, if “writing” is on your strengths list and also on your “things I enjoy” list, that’s a bright, shiny clue. Draw arrows, make doodles, scribble little “??” notes next to things you think might work well together. This is not about having a full business plan today - it’s about teasing out possibilities.

What we’re after here is a direction. You might notice, “Oh, I’m good at explaining things and I love crafting, maybe I could teach craft workshops.” Or “I’ve got admin skills and I weirdly enjoy organizing chaos, maybe I help creatives with the back end of their business.” It doesn’t have to be revolutionary. Just something that makes you go, “Huh… that could actually work.”

Think of this step as planting seeds. Some will sprout fast, others might take a while. But don’t rush it - this is the dreaming and noticing phase. Let it be loose and exploratory. Keep the lists where you can see them this week and add to them as ideas pop in. We're not building the whole thing yet. We're just sniffing out the trail, like Scooby hunting for snacks.

Next time, we’ll start thinking about narrowing your idea down to something worth trying. For now, keep your brain simmering. You're further along than you think.

See you next week.

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We hope you enjoyed this edition of chapter neXt. What do you want to learn about?

chapter neXt is a newsletter/community/guide for entrepreneurial folks in their 50s and beyond. It is published by Julia Kelahan (check her out on LinkedIn, her amazing strength-based learning center & her ADHD & Executive Function coaching business) and Tim Kilroy (check him out on LinkedIn & his agency growth business & his agency-focused newsletter). They are the proud parents to 5 kids, they live near Boston & their dog’s name is Fred.