Buzz

How Millennial is the Village?

March 25, 2015

I had someone come into my office the other day and try to offer their services to the Village. This 40 something individual told me, "the Village needs me because you guys are full of young kids who don't know what they are doing." His intentions were good, but obviously he didn't really understand who we are and was not what we would call a good culture fit. But it did make me wonder, how many other people think of us as a building with only 800+ millennial members? While yes, we do trend male and young, that is not all we are. And as the Atlanta startup scene grows, we are beginning to slowly see a more balanced ecosystem of tech entrepreneurs. Yes, startups require taking risks and historically, the younger are more apt to assume that risk. But for anyone to think that first- being young or lack of experience always equates to ineptitude and second, that we do not have any experienced entrepreneurs in our building is fallible at best.Ready for some numbers? Entrepreneurs at Atlanta Tech Village range from 18 to 62. As of today, almost a quarter of our Founders are in their 40's, 50's, or 60s. At over 800 members and 234 startups, you can assume at least 234 Founders. Of those 234 Founders, two are in their 60s, nine are in their 50's, and forty three are in their 40s. The rest are split among their 30's and 20's.Many of our older entrepreneurs are well seasoned veterans of the startup world, working on their 4th or 5th startup. They are greatly respected and have the skills, discipline and experience needed to be successful. Even better, they are willing to share what they have learned! Our younger entrepreneurs have great enthusiasm, innovative ideas, and fresh energy. Both make our community more complete. All learn from each other, are innovative, and have the tenacious startup mentality. And while resources, mentors, and connections are invaluable for young and growing startups, give our older entrepreneurs a little credit- we aren't all young and inexperienced. And even if we were, I'm pretty sure I know a couple of young and inexperienced guys who created this little thing called Yik Yak.

March 25, 2015
Karen Houghton