You got older.

Visa restrictions. In India, the 28 yr olds seem to dominate the age spread

Is it also the “double phd” phenomenon where now that we’ve built apps with a feed, what’s left that’s truly valuable is in companies solving deep science problems which often require phds to lead them.

inexperienced digital native --> advantage over experienced (but non-native) experienced digital native --> advantage over inexperienced digital native

It was probably an anomaly because the sample size at the top is so low. Statistically, founders over the age of 28 have always performed better.

Instinctive hypothesis: Because of those early founders, there came a period (of prob 10 years), where it became hugely more lucrative/attractive/comfortable to be a tech employee than a founder in your early 20’s - in effect a founder->employee brain drain.

Better to spend your twenties at FAANG then Senior position at BigTech to increase your chance to get funded in your thirties.

I suspect it’s much simpler than all those theories. Market shifted from consumer to enterprise. Enterprise startups often need more seasoned founders w/ deep relationships with established/sophisticated customers - and the patience for long sales cycles. Different demographics

Perhaps tech salaries have grown so large that for a young person the cost-benefit analysis skews in favor of working at a tech company over taking the risk to start their own venture. Older founders can maybe take risk as they’ve built reserves from years of working in tech.

They experienced it. Got the fruits. Then…. They stopped the younger ones from climbing up.