Lots of interesting chat around on the ideal age to be an entrepreneur starting a new company.

Matt Mullenweg

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson’s view is that most entrepreneurs form their companies in their thirties, and few are older than that, although many are considerably younger. Matt Mullenweg, for example, started WordPress at the raw age of 19.

Nick Denton at Valleywag responds with some logic, “My guess: older entrepreneurs fail less often, but succeed less stunningly.”

It’s said that VCs will not back startups run by the over thirties. I’m sure we can all think of exceptions to that rule, but it probably has some traction in the marketplace. However, as Denton says, “Even if there were evidence that young entrepreneurs are more likely to strike out, risk-hungry investors will still fall for youth.”

As Wilson says, “… only one of the entrepreneurs in our current portfolio is older than 45. And he’ll probably be starting companies until he dies. It’s what he does”.

Of course, this debate begs a lot of questions. Would any VC back Richard Branson if he made an application for funding? The truth is Branson doesn’t need the money, having been successful for decades in putting together a billion plus fortune. So the chances of him approaching VCs are slim to vanishing. If someone like him were to arrive at the first pitch meeting, he would either be an unknown quantity or have previous failures behind him.

Anyone over 40 it seems should consider bootstrapping their startup. In their thirties? Ditto, unless there are pressing reasons not to.

Below 30, go for the money if you can, sell out soon and use the small fortune gained to set up a non-funded project that you can nurse for as long as you wish without pressure to sell.

As someone who is a bit older than 30, I know a number of people in older age-groups who have started businesses — even a few in retirement. A good proportion succeed because:

1. They have a lot of experience.
2. Are more cautious.
3. Probably have their own funding.
4. Have nothing better to do.
5. Have credibility with bankers and customers.

They won’t create YouTube, but they might just come up with a WordPress or a steady-as-she-goes content business.

Like everything else, it comes down to the individual.

As I’ve written many times here, the entrepreneur’s nightmare is to lose control of your business creation during the expansion process and then find yourself dumped by the incomers.

Whatever happened to Duncan Riley, for example? Now thriving at TechCrunch, he wouldn’t be a man you would want to lose in a hurry.

That is the cautionary tale of JPG Magazine, an online and print business that morphed into 80/20 publishing which resulted in disaster for its founders.

The story is told at some length by Derek Powazek, who describes himself as a thinker, designer, and writer in San Francisco.

His conclusions from the experience are :

If it’s any help to other entrepreneurs, here’s what I’ve learned.

1. Make no assumptions when it comes to roles and responsibilities. Like my dad says: “Someone’s gotta call quittin’ time.”
2. Communication between partners is mandatory. And you cannot communicate with someone who is not communicating with you.
3. Decisions aren’t decisions if you have to keep making them. Set on the course and stick to it. If you keep talking about things that have already been decided, nothing will ever get done.
4. When someone says one thing, but acts in a contradictory way, you have a choice between believing their words or believing their deeds. Believe their deeds.
5. Never let anyone tell you what you want. When someone says, “You don’t want that,” what they really mean is, “I don’t want you to have that.”
6. Don’t stay where you’re not wanted, respected, or happy. Even if it’s your company.

That goes without saying, but it’s still worth reminding people that business is a tough environment unless you hold the best cards.

PayPal is moving its British base for all European transactions to Luxembourg, where it will be regulated under EU rather than UK rules.

Currently, PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is the service provider for PayPal in the EU. PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is a UK company regulated and authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK …

From 2 July 2007, a new PayPal company, PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. & Cie, S.C.A. (PayPal Luxembourg), will become the service provider for PayPal in the EU. This is a Luxembourg entity regulated as a bank by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the Luxembourg equivalent of the FSA. PayPal Luxembourg will provide the PayPal service throughout the EU.

This is an ominous move for British users, since PayPal is now swallowed up in the eurozone currency area of which the UK is not a member.

This represents a downgrading of the service and yet another euroization of British business.

A quick reminder that our fourth network magazine, Moneyizor, will be launching on Wednesday.

It will range over finance and business and provide an aggregator for our money and business sites, as well as driving traffic to them.

Designed by Thord Hedengren, Moneyizor will have all the features of our other magazine portals.

Are you getting tired of hearing the whining, depressive voices of the new prophets of doom? Listening to technologists, scientists, politicians, pundits and economists, you would think we were passing through a Dark Age.

The threat from China and India is seen as dire and growing. Climate Change threatens our entire civilization. Terrorism stands ready to murder the lot of us in our beds.

We terrorize our own children in schools by telling them that flood, fire and famine are just around the corner — unless, of course, they recycle their sweet wrappers and stay at home in the holidays.

We warn of catastrophic job losses because of a rampant China and a burgeoning India … and maybe Brazil too.

Jihadist Islam is plotting to turn the world into a gigantic Caliphate in which men will wear turbans and women will all but disappear beneath miles of black cloth.

These are the bad times, indeed.

What tommyrot. We’re being manipulated by neurotic, self-serving attention-seekers demanding that we all become just like them.

The Good Times
In fact, these are The Good Times. In the north, we’re entering a balmy period of clement weather similar to the Medieval Warming Period, which lasted hundreds of years. Then, we Brits could grow wine in the northern fastnesses of Northumberland.

In the Little Ice Age that followed, the River Thames through London froze over every winter. They were the bad times.

Soon Scottish Chardonnay will be on every menu, and bourgenvillea will grow wild all along the English Riviera from Lands End to the White Cliffs of Dover. In a few centuries another cooling period will begin and the price of fur and coal will rise. Make no mistake, these are the good times.

China and India are interacting with rich Western lifestyles with the only comparative advantage they have : cheap labour. They send us cheap goods which keep inflation low and increase the standards of living of the poor. This has the effect of driving us to become innovation societies, with highly educated and high-waged populations.

The new Tiger economies will reach that stage soon enough and things will return to normal. But, for now, these are the good times.

As for terrorism, no-one ever took over the world from a cave in Pakistan. In fact, in the UK we suffered far more casualties from the Irish Troubles in the 1970s and 80s than we have from Islamic terrorism. Our grandparents went through two world wars when countless millions were slaughtered and mankind went collectively insane.

Then they had the Cold War to put up with, and possible instant annihilation or slow death by radiation poisoning.

So, here we are : great weather to come for a couple of centuries, comparative peace, and endless cheap goods and gadgets from the wonderful Chinese and Indians.

THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES.

Get used to it!

Could this be the first glimpse of the new Syntagma Towers?

It’s not what you think. I’ve drawn the building rather than show you a photograph, in case others move in before us. It’s a cut-throat market here.

This extraordinary house is situated on the edge of a fabulous country estate on the River Dart in Devon, England. It was designed in the 19th century by a famous cathedral architect in the Gothic (medieval) style when John Ruskin was all the rage.

The window lights are exquisitely carved out of sandstone, as is the noble fireplace. There’s also a tower nearby, designed by the same architect.

Needless to say, my drawing doesn’t do justice to the place, but is designed to keep the predators at bay.

More on this later. It’s the first prime candidate for the new Syntagma Towers.

Stay close.

Syntagma’s continuing Quest for a new Syntagma Towers is now documented on our Flickr account H E R E.

We’ll be posting new pics throughout the summer of our search for the perfect home for our new HQ. The photostream will also document the fabulous environment which is Exeter, Devon, England, plus surrounding areas.

Mind how you go.

Info : You can see all these photos on our Flickr Photostream.

The continuing search for the new Syntagma Towers goes on. I was up early today marching around Exeter and environs on the lookout for a suitable building — as I have been for many days (see previous posts).

The first pic was taken at lunchtime yesterday and shows how the Cathedral Close is used as a picnic ground by canny residents and tourists :

I do envy the tower of the cathedral, but don’t whisper it to a soul, will you?

So how about Parliament Street? Surely that must be grand enough for the new Syntagma HQ? I should tell you in passing that there hasn’t been a Parliament in Exeter for a great many centuries. Maybe that’s why the street has slimmed down a bit :

Amazing, isn’t it? It’s just over 2 feet in width and even has its own grafitti artist. If John Prescott ever got stuck in there, I doubt anyone would pull him out. He’d be yet another tourist attraction.

So no Syntagma Towers there then. Right, let’s look at the Elizabethan end of town :

Not quite towerish enough, is it? And the encroachment of the modern shops below doesn’t quite hit the spot. How about this then?

The building just visible on the extreme left is the Royal Clarence Hotel where Sir Francis Drake, of Mayflower fame, is reputed to have sunk the local ale. It’s now run by a trendy celebrity chef, so No Thanks.

OK, we’ll try the Georgian town, Southernhay, on the other side of Princesshay :

Now this is a distinct possibility … except, the place is full of lawyers and upmarket estate agents. Alas, not for us.

Something modern then? Here’s the entrance site of the new Princesshay Shop-Till-You-Drop zone, which is still under construction :

Alas, we’re going to have to take a trip out of town in our search for a new Syntagma Towers. There’s a holiday weekend coming up, so I’ll be looking further afield, along the coast and around the Dart Estuary and river.

This is an unusually quiet period here at Syntagma, helped by the English weather, which thinks it’s mid-summer.

Meanwhile, Thord is working hard on our new network magazine, Moneyizor, from his Swedish castle, amid the snows of the North Lands — and between watching the world snooker championships on TV. He’s busy forging our newest design, which should be unveiled next week. Mark it in your diary.

As we have now got the office in some order, after building work and new computers, I thought I would regale you with some pics taken on my morning walk. I know, I’m too good to you!

The Morning Walk has taken on added significance since we’ve been looking for a replacement for Syntagma Towers. Regular readers will know that we were beaten to the punch on Rougemont Castle, which was sold to a property company, by Charlie Falconer of dubious provenance.

However, my early morning trek of around five miles takes in some of the most historic sites in East Devon, so should provide possible substitutes. Not this next building though :

For it is Exeter Cathedral, and even I can’t bring myself to covet it, given its present owner (touches forelock).

Apart from the castle and the cathedral, the route takes me through our Farmers’ Market (pictured) :

and through some very ancient buildings and byways. I’ll show you Parliament Street at a later date. Astonishingly, it’s only 3 feet wide. Don’t believe me? Wait and see. Who says size zero is a modern phenomenon?

The route also takes me into the most spectacular development in Devon — the new shopping and chill-out zone at Princesshay. Most of it is still being built, but the bits that are open for business have attracted some upmarket clients, including a genuine Spanish tapas bar (which takes me back to the seven years I spent in Andalucia) a Trattoria and French coffee shop. Whatever happened to Anglo-Saxon England?

I’ll show you some pics of Princesshay tomorrow.

My route then circles round the historic centre and rises up and out of the city back to Syntagma Towers, from whose heights you can see America (I jest), and which makes the Leaning Tower of Pisa seem an upright sort of edifice.

One final glimpse then of Rougemont Castle and thoughts of what might have been :

Ah, the impregnability of the place!