Working In Tech & Worrying About Getting “Too Old”

The above tweet seemed to resonate with folks, and sometimes when that happens, I like to expand in a post, since the tweet will disappear in 30 days.

Ok, let’s talk about working in tech and feeling like your best years are perpetually behind you. It screws with your head! This was part of the reason I spent almost two decades metaphorically being chased by a failure tiger. No bueno for one’s health and wellness. Why does this feeling exist and what can we do to help ourselves and others navigate?

It exists because it’s true and part our popular mythology! Ahh you didn’t think I was going to start there did you? Seriously, any discussion of this topic should acknowledge that there’s an incorrect (and sometimes illegal when it plays a role in hiring) age bias in our industry. “Pattern recognition” of a what a founder looks like still gravitates towards, as one VC said (and I’m paraphrasing) “pasty young white males.” This is changing as we see women take their companies public and people start multibillion dollar companies in their — gasp- 40s. But to write a post confronting the “I’m too old” anxiety and not recognize all of this would be dishonest.

But let me tell you what does get better as time passes: the relationships, the accrued knowledge, your own self-awareness. These compound like high-interest…