Is Entrepreneurship a Young Person’s Game? A Meta-Analysis of Age and Entrepreneurial Success

Entrepreneurship is often seen as "a young man’s game" but so far, little attention has been given to the theoretical role of entrepreneurs’ age. We review various theories about entrepreneurs’ age, and synthesize effect sizes of age on entrepreneurial career successes reported in 80 samples with a total sample size of 55,162. Results show that entrepreneurs’ age has bivariate relationships with only some specific measures of success (e.g., subjective success, and employee size). More interestingly, there is a U-shaped relationship between age and overall entrepreneurial success, with mid-aged entrepreneurs at the bottom of performance. Furthermore, age’ effect on success is more positive among female entrepreneurs. We call for additional research on midlife and older entrepreneurs and their careers.