Keep it Young, Keep It Strong
December 4, 2006

"Dozens of the world's biggest media moguls and investment bankers, dressed in perfectly pressed suits, mingled in the lobby of the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan ... at the annual FourSquare conference."

They were there, The New York Times reported, to talk about the world's most exciting medium, the Web, and to bring together some of its biggest players.

Among those attending were grey-haired Howard Stringer (CEO of Sony), Barry Diller (CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp), and Thomas Rogers (CEO of TiVo). But also Chad Hurley (the post-pubescent CEO of YouTube), Mark Zuckerberg (the 22-year-old CEO of Facebook), and Jerry Seinfeld. (Yes, that Jerry Seinfeld.)

What's going on here?

Nothing any passerby couldn't guess by looking at a publicity photo: Some of the biggest Internet windfalls are going to young people.

That isn't a new phenomenon. Think back to Microsoft, when college student Bill Gates started it up in 1975. Or Apple Computer, when 21-year-old Steve Jobs and 25-year-old Steve Wozniak put the company in the headlines.

Infrastructure and banking tend to be dominated by old men - but information, entertainment, fashion, and technology-oriented industries are the domain of young blood.

That shouldn't surprise us. It makes perfect sense that cutting-edge products need to be imagined by younger minds. But what is startling, at least to me, is how often this lesson is lost on middle-aged business owners.

Many of the successful CEOs of $100-million+ businesses that I know foolishly think they can grow their businesses on the brainwork of the same talent they used to launch them 20 and 30 years ago. (By "talent," I'm talking about copywriters, marketers, writers, editors, and product people.) That would be like a music industry executive expecting to produce gold records with 50- and 60-year-old singers.

One of the reasons my main client has had such success is the number of young people who are involved in the creative and marketing side of the business. I'm looking at a photo of the company's top brass at this summer's "Jamboree" in France. Of the 30-odd faces that are assembled, less than a half-dozen are wrinkled and grey. Most are in their late 30s and early 40s. Lots are younger than that.

I wonder if anyone has ever done a study comparing the average age of certain employees versus the success of a business ...

posted by M. Masterson @ 4:16 PM,

12 Comments:

At 7:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So are you saying that boomers can't come up with cutting edge ideas because they have wrinkles and grey hair?

That older employees are less valuable than younger ones? That experience and wisdom are less valuable than energy and enthusiasm?

It would be interesting indeed to see the results of that study, if anyone has done it.

 
At 10:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Michael's blog makes this 55 year old female feel a bit insecure about the ability to get rich by entering the Web information business!

 
At 10:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Damn! As a greying 50 year old hoping to make it in the "on-line medium" this is not good news :)

 
At 12:53 AM, Anonymous Bob Bly said...

This blog sucks.

 
At 2:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Michael Masterson is a walking talking contradiction. What I think he and ETR should do is place a "not advised for purchase for people over 40" banner over their hyped up advertising headlines. Also, they should not allow people over 40 to attend their overpriced bootcamps and seminars. I personally believe this Masterson guy is a BS artist.

 
At 4:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you are really listeing then michael is giving advice. Yes we will continue to fight to stay young, mentally and physically but its often wiser to listen to sage advice. Young people have an edge and are prepared to take risks that perhaps we would shy away from.

 
At 8:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a self- serving self-centered blog & blogger.

Geez--

GOOD-BYE!!

 
At 10:29 AM, Anonymous Leslie said...

A youngin's view point...

It takes the young and old together - one is not complete with out the other. When you are young if you have any wits you have mentors, masters or sages in your life. As you age if you have any wits you will mentor the inspiring creative youngbloods and in the process learn more than you actually teach. Then and only then we achieve the yin and yang or true balance of life.

Don't hate a man for his passions or beliefs use it as fuel to learn more about yourself. Then strike a balance!

 
At 3:05 PM, Blogger Al said...

Leslie nailed it, so I don't have to. I'm 43 and not that worried. I need to position myself to be mentoring people in 3-5 years, that's all.

 
At 5:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi! I noticed many people are over reacting to this blog. Michael makes a good point. However he left out the "other side" of this picture. Summed up in this story:

There was an old crow and a young crow. The young crow loved to fly above, below, and all around the old crow. But the one thing that the young crow didn't know that the old crow knew and that was....where to go.

And don't forget the Byrd's "My Back Pages." --- "We were so much older than, we're younger than that now."

Hope that gives Michaels blog here a new perspective.

 
At 5:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's another perspective:
Once there was an young crow and an old crow. The young crow loved to fly above, below, and all around the old crow. But the one thing that the young crow didn't know that the old crow knew..and that was where to go.

And finally. Don't forget the Byrd's "My Back Pages": "We were so much older than we're younger than that now." Hope that helps.

 
At 7:30 AM, Anonymous David said...

As a person who is being dragged by time, kicking and screaming towards his 40's, resisting it every inch of the way...

It is interesting to read the fears and apprehensions of the older set.

How can such a seemingly benign observation about the abilities and success of younger people cause such an overreaction in so many people?

Do they feel threatened? Insecure? Jealous?

What a great world we live in now where this is possible! All that we need is the investment of time and energy (something that the older set may struggle with, given their existing commitments, I know that this is a problem I experience), the willingness to take risks, and a fresh new idea.

If you don’t like what Michael says, then do something to prove him wrong! Be a success yourself, instead of having a whinge.

I for one, saw some great opportunities for money making opportunities within the words of the blog itself.

As Albert Gyorgyi once said “Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different”

Good on you Michael…keep up the good work

Tread your own path…

 

Post a Comment

<< Home