My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
As people get older and more successful, they naturally become more bearish and cynical because they don't understand newer trends and technologies
The Reasoning
Success breeds confidence in existing frameworks while age reduces learning agility. Older investors have seen more failures and become risk-averse, missing opportunities that younger people embrace
What Needs to Be True
- Learning agility decreases with age
- Past success creates cognitive bias toward familiar patterns
- New technologies and trends genuinely create opportunities
- Cynicism is a learned response to repeated disappointments
Counterargument
Experience and wisdom actually improve judgment over time, and older investors avoid mistakes that younger people make due to lack of pattern recognition
What Would Change This View
Data showing older investors/entrepreneurs consistently outperform younger ones in new technology adoption, or evidence that cynicism actually leads to better risk-adjusted returns
Implications for Builders
Deliberately seek input from younger demographics
Force yourself into uncomfortable learning situations
Question your instinctive rejection of new trends
Balance experience with openness to change
Example Application
“Successful hedge fund manager in his 50s starts attending crypto conferences and hiring younger analysts specifically to combat his natural tendency to dismiss new asset classes”