Tech’s Ageism Problem is Getting Old
“If I go to a meeting without having someone in their twenties sit next to me”, a good friend told me recently, “more often than not, potential investors think I don’t know what I’m talking about”. My friend is a successful serial entrepreneur with an impressive record in launching tech start-ups and a wealth of industry insights. He also happens to be in his sixties.
There is a widespread notion that start-ups are a young person’s game. I have to admit that our own team tends to benefit from this preconception. We’re seen as young, tech-savvy, energetic, and well plugged in to the world of elite IDF units and out-of-the-box innovation. [These are indeed important qualities and they have clearly played a part in our success, including raising and closing our most recent fund of $77M entirely during the Covid-19 crisis period.]
But the truth is that as much as these qualities bring to the table, they are no replacement for the essential quality that simply can’t be hurried — true life experience.
Youthful dynamism, vigor and a dose of chutzpa are critical forces in driving us forward, but they would be worth little without the wisdom of those who have traveled these or similar roads before to help steer us in uncertain terrain. Like wine, this kind of experience can’t be rushed; it has to mature with age — and like wine, each bottle is unique and inimitable.
Woodrow Wilson famously said: “I use all the brains I have and the best I can borrow.” At Hetz we are truly blessed with a remarkable group of more experienced individuals who have chosen to share their personal experience to ground us and guide us along the way. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today. For example:
- One of our venture partners has been intimately involved in the Israeli venture capital scene since its very outset. As a result he has developed a finely honed instinct for pitfalls and opportunities that we could never hope to emulate.
- Another venture partner, with over thirty years in tech under his belt, twenty of those in the communications industry, is able to see current developments in a long-term perspective that goes far beyond our own more limited vision.
- A quarter of century as a deal maker at the highest level of government and finance has given our business development partner an exceptional network of high-end contacts, and even more valuable, extraordinary diplomatic and interpersonal skills.
- And decades as a leading fund manager and crisis consultant to major third sector organizations have given another partner, who we are fortunate to have as our chairman, a gift for strategic thinking and a rare capacity for values-based decision making.
These are pools of experience that we, the younger team members at Hetz, cannot hope to emulate — for a good while at least. Having them as part of our team adds to our know-how in a way that no formal education or training program could ever do.
When I am invited to speak on panels addressing young investors and entrepreneurs, I feel eager eyes waiting for me to spill the beans on breaking-the-rules approaches. And of course, there is an important place for that. But no less important is this take on President Wilson’s advice: Use all the experience you have — and the very best you can borrow. At Hetz, we’re lucky enough to be able to do just that.
