Garry Tan (@garrytan), Y Combinator's president and CEO, argued that "seasoned founders in the age of intelligence are aging like fine wine" in a post on X on July 29. The chart he shared showed the average age of unicorn founders reaching 40 in 2020, reinforcing his case that experience remains an advantage for company builders.
Tan's own career places him among the founders he is describing. He co-founded Posterous, sold it to Twitter, helped start Initialized Capital and returned to run YC after an earlier stint as a partner. He also worked as an early designer and engineering manager at Palantir, according to his YC profile. He now helps decide which founders receive Silicon Valley's most recognizable early-stage credential.
The data behind Tan's argument
The image Tan shared compares the average age at founding for unicorn founders with a random sample of founders, grouped by founding decade. The two groups were roughly the same age in 1990, but the gap widened over time. By 2020, unicorn founders averaged 40, compared with about 35 for the broader group.
The chart carries an a16z mark and credits Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Ilya Strebulaev's Venture Capital Initiative. Its footnote describes a combined sample of 5,463 founders.
Other research supports Tan's broader point. In an analysis of 2,732 founders of US venture-backed unicorns, Strebulaev reported an average founding age of 35 and a median of 33. One quarter of those founders were in their twenties, while one fifth were in their forties.
A separate study using US Census Bureau administrative data found that the mean founder age across new businesses was 42. Among the fastest-growing 0.1% of new ventures, it rose to 45. The researchers also found that prior experience in a startup's specific industry was associated with higher success rates.
The findings support Tan's argument that startup success is not reserved for twentysomethings. Seasoned founders can bring industry knowledge and experience in hiring, sales and financing to a new company. Tan's endorsement matters because YC helps direct early capital, recruits and customer attention toward the founders it selects, widening the profile of who can build in the AI era beyond the college-dropout stereotype.