There’s a debate happening in boardrooms across Silicon Valley that I think is being framed completely wrong.
The question isn’t whether older board members can keep up with fast-moving tech companies. The question is whether you can afford to build a board without them.
The instinct to load a tech board with 35-year-olds is understandable. Speed feels like a young person’s game. But that instinct is built on an assumption that a new Yale School of Public Health study directly challenges.
Researchers Becca Levy and Martin Slade tracked 11,314 individuals aged 65 and older for up to 12 years. What they found runs counter to nearly everything Silicon Valley assumes about older people: 45.15% of participants actually improved in cognitive and/or physical function over the 12 years after age 65. Not maintained. Improved. And those who held positive age beliefs were significantly more likely to show that improvement — cognitively and physically both.
[Email readers, continue here…] The “inevitable decline” narrative turns out to be exactly that — a narrative, not a law.
So what does this mean for board composition in a fast-moving tech company?
It means the real question isn’t age. It’s what each person at the table actually brings.
A seasoned board member who has navigated three recessions, two market bubbles, and one company near-death experience carries a pattern library that no amount of raw intelligence shortcuts. They’ve watched founders make the same three mistakes in every cycle. They’ve seen which pivots work and which ones just burn runway. They know what a real term sheet looks like versus a trap disguised as one.
What they often lack is fluency in the current technical stack, current go-to-market motion, or current consumer behavior. That’s real, and it matters. The answer isn’t to ignore it — it’s to build a board where those gaps are covered by other members who complement rather than duplicate.
Charlie Munger (Berkshire-Hathaway) led at least one board well beyond his 90th year.
The best boards aren’t age-homogeneous.
They’re intentionally mixed. Deep experience sitting alongside current-market fluency. Crisis pattern recognition alongside product instinct. The Yale research doesn’t just challenge ageism in healthcare. It challenges the unexamined assumption that a 67-year-old in your boardroom is working with a declining asset. In most cases, they’re the most compounded one in the room.
Source: Levy, B.R. & Slade, M.D. “Aging Redefined: Cognitive and Physical Improvement with Positive Age Beliefs.” Geriatrics, 2026. https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/11/2/28
Younger people think they invented the wheel but all they do is rebrand it..
In my teaching at St Edward’s University I intentionally use really old cases, sometime hundreds of years old, to demonstrate that when it comes to basic business practices – there is nothing new under the sun. The technologies change, vocabulary change, basic business concepts remain the same pretty much ..
We sponsored a wine taste preference app for a presentation at North Bay Angels a few years ago. As the CEO was explaining to the selection committee, by touching a few adjectives like fruity, chewy, etc., the wine app will indicate the best fit wine and even find it on the shelf in retail, like Safeway. The selection committee members started to push back with the main question of who shops with their phone in their hand?!? Well, pretty much everyone shops with their phone in their hand. The reason the committee members asked the question is because average age was ~70. Of course, high net worth men in their 70s wouldn’t know this shopping behavior because 1. they don’t shop for their own groceries and 2. they don’t go to Safeway. Ever.
Good topic.
With CAIL having made many venture investments, we have noticed the better outcomes occur when the startup BOD has people with extensive and relevant experience in business and technology, high competencies in different domains, are very entrepreneurial and resourceful, learn fast, have good look ahead, are very results oriented, etc.
It’s not an age, gender, or ethnicity thing – rather, it’s about having a Brain Trust with the above qualities with people who are very good at identifying and making good on opportunity + accomplished at perceiving and managing the high risks inherent with supporting early stage companies.
As well, it’s important Founders and external BOD members be excellent communicators and listeners, have similar objectives, are good at strategy and execution, are able to create significant new value, act on good information, etc.
Interesting stuff ! For additional insights, see – http://www.cail.com/VI
A recent study showed that attitude determines whether aging improves or reduces ability. A positive attitude toward the future will benefit an older person and help them improve their mental and physical health.
After my wife’s death, our “board” consists of my son (current CEO) and me. He’s 49; I’m 83. We have weathered the loss of major clients and the vagaries of the economy for over 25 years. Entrepreneurs must be ready for anything. Having stratospheric IQs helps, but experience remains the most important aspect, followed by the ability to work hard, really hard, when necessary.
I am gaining muscle mass and learning new skills. I expect to continue for many years.
Your analysis is spot on.