Business Opportunities Weblog

May 23, 2004 by Dane Carlson | 0 Comments

What’s it like to be 80-plus years old . . . married to the greatest management writer in history . . . and starting the first company of your life?

Inc.:

For years my role as the wife of a professional speaker was to sit in the last row of an auditorium and shout, “Louder!” whenever my husband’s voice dropped. I decided that there had to be a better feedback device, and if there wasn’t, I was going to invent one. Then I decided, at the age of 80-plus, that I would start a business to sell it.

My children thought I’d gone off my rocker. Friends were more tactful, but I resented their sometimes patronizing comments. (”Marvelous that you can still do it!”) Of course, the reactions weren’t surprising. Though start-ups have become our national pastime, they’re considered a young person’s game–certainly not an appropriate activity for senior citizens.

But starting a business at 80 is really no different from starting one at any age. The only prerequisites are that you are still alive, in good physical and mental health, and the owner of a vast reservoir of energy. One’s sense of urgency is a plus: if not now, when?

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