“VCs believe they have pattern recognition abilities that they simply don’t have. Instead, they rely on suppositions and stereotypes that don’t match the underlying data on startup success. The reason older founders are ignored by the ecosystem is the same reason why women and other minorities struggle in the Valley: It’s really not about what you build, but what you look like while building it. Data like those found in this paper should force all of us to reevaluate the kind of founders with whom we should be partnering.”

Danny Crichton (TechCrunch 2018)