Ronnen Harary says twenties best time to start a company

Ronnen Harary, cofounder of Spin Master, says your 20s are the best time to start a company because peers are less likely to see you as competition.

Harary, whose Toronto-based toy company went public in 2015 and now sells brands like Paw Patrol, says young founders face fewer ego clashes early in their careers. He argues that people in their 20s are still figuring out their paths, so they’re more open to collaboration than rivalry. His own startup began when he and two friends were in their early 30s—but he now believes starting younger could have cut years off their journey.

According to Harary, the shift began after Spin Master’s IPO, when he started mentoring younger entrepreneurs. He noticed that founders in their 20s often had fresher ideas and less resistance from industry veterans. Data supports this: the Kauffman Foundation found that the average age of a startup founder is 42, but tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel launched their companies before 25. Harary points to these outliers as proof that youth brings both risk and opportunity—fewer obligations, more energy, but less experience.

What happens next could reshape how young founders approach entrepreneurship. Harary’s advice—start earlier, build faster, worry less about competition—aligns with growing trends like remote work and digital-first businesses. If more 20-somethings take the leap, we could see a wave of new startups that ignore traditional career timelines. The question isn’t just whether they’ll succeed, but whether the business world will finally stop treating youth as a disadvantage.