Why 20-Somethings Are the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

为什么这些20岁左右的人是最成功的企业家

When it comes to building a successful company, most investors and business advocates look for companies with an experienced management team. They want someone that has a “successful track record” with experience forming teams, writing business plans, building products, and managing a P&L.

You can’t blame them. As with almost everything in life, practice makes perfect and experience provides learning lessons that allow for improvement and growth. While betting on experienced batters can certainly produce doubles, triples, and even home-runs; the grand slams of entrepreneurship come from the young and ill-experienced 20-somethings.

Yes, I said it. That’s not what you’re going to read in the textbooks. You won’t hear that from a venture capitalist. And, you certainly won’t hear that in your MBA classes.

I know, I know. Some of you will say that I am biased because I was a 20-Something young entrepreneur when I started Lendio, but let’s look at the facts:

(Some of the) Most Successful Entrepreneurs of our Time and Their (Age):

: Steve Jobs (21) &Steve Wozniak (26)

Founders of Microsoft : Bill Gates (20) &Paul Allen (22)

Founder of Facebook : Mark Zuckerberg (20)

Founder of Wal-Mart : Sam Walton (26)

Anyone else recognize the pattern? Each one of the founders was between the ages of 20 and 26 when they founded what turned out to be one of the most successful companies of our lifetime.

In Pictures: The 10 Most Important Lessons For 20-Something Workers

20-Somethings Have Nothing to Lose

One of the main reasons that young entrepreneurs can build incredibly successful companies is that they really don’t have anything to lose. Most of these entrepreneurs are used to living in a cheap college apartment and eating ramen noodles. At that age, the entrepreneur usually doesn’t have a mortgage, a car payment, or a built-up lifestyle to maintain.

On the contrary, a more experienced entrepreneur that is starting a company later in life has everything to lose. By this time in their career, they are used to a strong-paying salary. They live in a nice neighborhood with a comfortable car — maybe even a luxury car with a monthly payment attached. When his/her spouse thinks about starting a new company, he/she will also consider the stark reality of losing the comforts of life that they have worked hard to build up during their career. Suddenly, when thinking about all that he/she has to lose, the experienced entrepreneur’s plan to build a successful company include hedges, calculated moves, and conservatism.

With nothing to lose, young entrepreneurs can look at solving problems with a completely different mindset. There is very little at risk. They aren’t required to hedge. And only the thing that crosses the entrepreneur’s mind is the drive to solve the identified problem in the best way possible. Fortunately, the young entrepreneur has the energy to consistently burn the midnight candle.

“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” — Bill Gates

Finally, without having been in the workplace, the young entrepreneur has a fresh perspective untainted from the way-it-is-supposed-to-be mindset that is so prevalent in most boardrooms. Consequently, their solutions are new, innovative, and groundbreaking.

If You’re a 20 Something…

Go for it. There will never be a better time in your life to live your dream of entrepreneurship. Swing for the fences with a goal to add your name to the prestigious list above. If you fail, it will have been one of the best learning experiences of your life.

每当论及创建一家成功企业时，大多数投资人及企业倡导人都会拿那些有资深管理管队的企业来做例子。他们需要找的是某个曾经功名成就的人，这个人必须是经验老道，可以为他们搭建班子、制定商业计划、组织产品生产并管理好经营业绩的人.

你也不能怪他们这样做，因为在现实生活中几乎所有事情都离不开熟能生巧这一准则，而且经验本身就像课堂学习，它是靠习得的，可以帮助一个人提高和成长。毋庸置疑，经验丰富的棒球手肯定能做到二垒安打、三垒安打甚至是全垒打，但真正的大满贯企业家（形容非常有成就的企业家）往往是一些20岁左右、没有多少经验的年轻人.

确实是这样的，我过去也这样说过。这些知识是你的课本中没有的，风险资本家也不会告诉你，MBA课程肯定也不会告诉你.

我知道，我知道！你们一些人也许会认为我偏执、不靠谱，认为我这样说仅仅是因为我正好是一名年轻的企业家，年轻时就创办了Lendio公司。那么，我们不妨来看看一些实实在在实例，年龄上讲这些成功的企业家大都是我们同时代的人:

谷歌公司的创始人：拉里•佩奇(25岁)；塞吉•布林(25岁)

苹果公司创始人：史蒂夫•乔布斯（21岁）；斯蒂夫•沃兹尼亚克（26岁)

微软公司创始人：比尔•盖茨（20岁）；保罗•艾伦（22岁）

脸书公司创始人：马克•扎克博格（20岁)

沃尔玛创始人：萨姆•沃尔顿（26岁）

还有其他人认识这些年龄结构吗？这些创始人创业时的年龄都在20岁至26岁之间，而他们创办起来的企业是我们今天最成功的.

图片中是为20岁左右的在职人员设计的20堂最重要的课程。20岁左右的人输得起 （小输没什么，大输是教训）

年轻企业家之所以能创建卓有成就的企业，一个主要的原因是他们不怕输（输得起）。这些企业家大都习惯了睡条件简单的大学公寓和吃拉面。在这些企业家创业那个时代，通常还没有抵押贷款、贷款买车以及高楼林立等条件。

相反，等到经验丰

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