Looking for a business partner for your startup? You might want to consider someone who’s much younger or older than you.
The value of May-December entrepreneur partnerships was the topic of a recent article appearing on nextavenue.org. When a 60-something retired executive launches a company with a 20-or 30-something hard charger, the combination can be powerful, writes Kate Ashford, the article’s author.
One example: David Horn, 65, and Francisco Gonzalez, 37, who collaborated to launch CoupTessa.com, a daily deals website for women. “Even though David is retired, he’s got the energy of five 30-year-old men,” Gonzalez says in the article. “It was obvious that I would be smart to partner with him.”
Teaming up can offer a way to combine an older partner’s decades of business expertise with a younger partner’s energy and tech know-how. In addition, these partnerships may make sense because: 1) The younger partner gains credibility, 2) the older partner gains flexibility and 3) both partners can play to their strengths.
The full post from nextavenue.org can be found here.
Late Blooming Entrepreneurs 
I absolutely agree, I work with a young man who is my son’s age. He is smart, a techie, and can run much faster than I. I have good ideas and can explain them to him and then he can run with them. It makes a great working team.
That’s terrific! Sounds like you’ve got the best of both worlds!
I also agree, I’m the younger one in our circumstance and bring a fresher and more modern approach, whilst my partner brings “old school” morals and principles which is also valuable.
That’s a good thing. A fresh approach is important. So are certain morals and principles (like honesty and hard work) that never go out of style. Thanks for reading.
You’re welcome. It was a great read 🙂
I think this makes a lot of sense and would love to see this become a trend. I had the experience, great credit so we could easily get our equipment financed and my start-up partners had the time and energy. While I’m 49, my two start-up partners are 29.
It seems like most entrepreneurs who have younger business partners are very happy with the arrangement. As more people see the benefits of these partnerships, they may increase. Thank you for reading.