Are You Over 45 Years Old Asking "What's Next?" and "What Else?" Welcome To The Encore Economy.
Five surprising facts on why you'll run circles around young creatives and entrepreneurs.
Maybe you’re like the many proven leaders I meet … those executives and entrepreneurs, artists and athletes, over the age of 45 who are asking two questions:
”What’s next?”
Meaning, you are looking ahead to your next season, your second act, your encore years, and realize you have the capacity, connections, creativity, conviction, and credibility to do something more than spend the next thirty-years collecting seashells and visiting grandkids.
”What else?”
Meaning, you are restless, overflowing with ideas and opportunities that could be realized, leveraging your existing platforms and positions — if only you had the time, partners, capital, and strategy.
These are very worthwhile questions to be asking … and to socialize with trusted friends, advisors, and mentors.
Here’s why the Encore Economy is on my mind. America favors youth. We think startup culture is a college drop out wearing a hoody. We believe the next great artist is a teen TikTok star. But as Woody Allen said, “Youth is wasted on the young.” And here are five surprising, counterintuitive, and conversation-shifting facts that show why that is absolutely true.
The average age of a successful startup founder is 45, the top 1,000 fastest-growing companies were founded by people averaging 45 years old, and the 45–54 cohort has the nation's highest startup rate. And yet the cultural story we tell about entrepreneurship still centers the 22-year-old in a hoodie. We are missing where talent and potential actually live.
31% of Americans ages 44–70 want an encore career but aren’t in one yet. That’s tens of millions of people with the motivation, the experience, and the desire to contribute, but are sitting in a gap between what they’ve done and what they could do next, without a clear path forward.
A 50-year-old founder is twice as likely to succeed as a 30-year-old. And yet venture capital, accelerators, and startup culture almost entirely ignore them. The highest-probability entrepreneurs in America are the ones no one is investing in.
More than 70% of Americans 50+ plan to work during what previous generations called retirement. The old model of full stop at 65 has been replaced by financial necessity, longevity, and a desire for continued purpose.
The 50+ population would be the world's third-largest economy. Americans age 50 and older contribute $8.3 trillion annually to the U.S. economy. That is roughly 40% of GDP. If they were their own country, they'd rank third globally, behind only the United States and China.
I’ll summarize with one of my favorite quotes: “In your 20s you think you can do everything. In your 30’s you think you can’t do anything. In your 40’s you think you can do one thing. And in your 50’s you do it.”
It’s time to rename the older generation from Seniors to Encores.
Photo: Ray Kroc was a 52-year old milkshake salesman when he “founded” McDonalds.