"For the past decade, the archetypal founder was creeping up from someone in their 20s to someone a bit older. The average age of a "unicorn" founder-an entrepreneur who builds a startup valued at more than $1 billion-had steadily climbed to 33 by 2024, as investors gravitated toward seasoned veterans to navigate a complex market. However, a new report by global venture capital firm Antler, looking closely at the unicorn phenomenon, suggests the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is quickly reversing this trend, empowering a new generation of twenty-somethings to build massive companies at unprecedented speeds."
""We're seeing that potentially 25 is the new 30," Fridtjof Berge, cofounder and chief business officer at Antler, told Fortune in an interview. "There's just for smart people now [the ability] to use a lot of the tools presented to them ... perhaps you need to rely less on networks or less on sector-specific expertise." While cautioning it's probably too soon to draw a decisive conclusion on this space, he added "if you're someone who's quite confident, fast-working, not afraid of trying things and then quickly iterating," then the current AI space is a great fit because it's a "constant iteration." Berge added he thinks a "fundamental shift" is happening in terms of the age of AI founders and their urgency to get things done. He said he sees a "drive and willingness to constantly iterate on what's working ... I think that's really the key for successful founders in 2026.""
Generative AI has created a distinct before-and-after in the startup ecosystem. The broader founder population has aged, with the average unicorn founder rising to 33 by 2024. In contrast, AI unicorn founders' average age dropped from a peak of 40 in 2020 to 29 in 2024. Young founders leverage AI tools for efficiency, reducing reliance on networks and sector-specific expertise while enabling rapid iteration. Key founder traits tied to success include confidence, speed, willingness to try and iterate, and an urgency to get things done. The trend signals a youth-driven acceleration in AI entrepreneurship.
Read at Fortune
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