◼ SOLUTIONS Bloomberg Businessweek September 23, 2019
41Retire, Reboot,
Start a Business
a networking lunch that November and found the
experience unsatisfying. She shared her story with her
mom over the phone. Schrader had worked in manage-
ment in human resources at several companies, including
Ford Motor Co. and Alcoa Corp. From that call came the
spark that led to the creation of a new business—Mixtroz,
a networking and team-building mobile app for events.
The partnership works for the two first-time entre-
preneurs. “She takes so much of what she has learned
over her career and pours it back into Mixtroz,” Ammons
says. “And because of that we’ve been able to avoid so
many potholes.” For example, Ammons credits Schrader’s
financial acumen and close attention to cost control for
keeping the business afloat early on.
The past few years have been a whirlwind, includ-
ing working together at an accelerator in Chattanooga
in 2016; rebooting Mixtroz in 2017; participating in
another accelerator in Birmingham, Ala., where the com-
pany is based; securing a $100,000 investment from the
Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, co-founded by billionaire
Steve Case and writer and managing partner J.D. Vance,
author of the memoirHillbilly Elegy; and closing on a
$1 million round of funding earlier this year. “I could quit
working if I wanted to today,” Schrader says. “But I enjoy
the business.”
Fundamental shifts in the economy and society help
make multigenerational entrepreneurship practical.
Startups such as Mixtroz can tap into the growing ecol-
ogy of entrepreneurial knowledge and advice for start-
ups. Cities and towns are encouraging the spread of
entrepreneurship by supporting incubators, accelera-
tors, and new business competitions in their communities.
These communities offer opportunities for older entre-
preneurs to meet younger people with shared interests
in creating a company. Advances in information technol-
ogy lower the cost of starting a company. The office is
frequently a room in the home or co-sharing workspace.
One of the most powerful motivators comes from
dissatisfaction with the traditional view of retirement.
Full-time leisure isn’t always as engaging as it’s usually
portrayed. Mike Fronk, 77, spent much of his career work-
ing in management for two large companies, General
Mills Inc. and Land O’Lakes Inc. He took early retirement
near his 60th birthday in 2002. Soon after he partnered
with his adult children and bought a small networking
IT business in his native Minneapolis. “What many of us
stereotypically expected was we’d get up at 9 a.m., have
coffee, read the papers, watch the news—and we had no
clue after that,” he says, laughing. “I always looked for
meaning.” �Chris FarrellTHE BOTTOM LINE Starting a business during the traditional retirement
years is rising: Fifty-five- to 64-year-olds accounted for 26% of new
entrepreneurs in 2017, up from 15% in 1996.Wondering what to do next now that retirement looms?
How about starting a business? Seriously.
The 55- to 64-year-old age group accounted for
26% of new entrepreneurs in 2017, according to the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. That’s a significant
increase over the 15% figure from 1996. Research by the
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows the same age
group has the highest rate of business startup activity
globally over the past decade.
Older entrepreneurs have figured out one way to
hike the odds of a successful startup: partner with the
younger generation. This strategy offers what hospital-
ity entrepreneur Chip Conley calls the “intergenerational
potluck” advantage. “In music, art, science, and just about
everywhere else, diversity—diversity of age, diversity of
background, diversity of thought—ignites the creative
spark,” Conley writes in his bookWisdom @ Work: The
Making of a Modern Elder. “Why should it be any different
in the workplace?”
The economics of intergenerational entrepreneur-
ship are compelling. Older partners usually bring plenty
of industry experience and a lifetime of connections
and potential customers into the business. They may
also contribute some capital. Members of the younger
generation—whether they’re relatives, former colleagues,
or industry acquaintances—are typically digital natives.
They’re ambitious to make their mark yet often bur-
dened with student loans. “The incentive is they really
need each other,” says Elizabeth Isele, founder and chief
executive officer of the Global Institute for Experienced
Entrepreneurship. “It’s how to add value to each other.”
Value added describes the relationship between
Kerry Schrader, 57, and her daughter Ashlee Ammons,- Here’s the back story: Ammons was working in
New York as an event producer in 2014. She attended
More people
in the second
half of life
are taking
a turn as an
entrepreneur