????近日我參加了為一家社交網絡相關企業舉行的推介會，所見令我頗感意外。會前我曾和創業者有過郵件往來，了解初期商業計劃，商定會面事宜，但我們未曾謀面。結果出現在我面前的是三位年齡都在50歲上下、西裝革履的男士，隨身攜帶老款戴爾（Dell）筆記本電腦和一些關于產品設想的打印材料。

????我坐在那兒聽他們演講的時候，不禁想，如果這個團隊的平均年齡在二三十歲，穿著全套理科男或者書呆子的行頭（或至少是牛仔褲和運動鞋），我會有怎樣不同的反應。同時也不禁思考，風投業是否存在年齡偏見。

????在我面前的是三個人已經在商場摸爬滾打20-30年，但我始終無法說服自己，將期望中的創業者形象與眼前的三個人聯系起來。

????我們的一位有限合伙人曾問過一個類似的問題（具有諷刺意味的是，雖然當時我們是在我們的Boulder辦公室里，但那位有限合伙人穿的是牛仔褲，而我的合伙人們和我都穿著運動服，跟我們通常面向投資者進行演示時一樣）。我已經記不清他確切的說法，但差不多是“你們什么時候會因為上了年紀，再也干不了這一行？在你們專注的投資領域里，與年輕的創業者們不再有共同語言。”坦白講，在此之前我從未想到過這個問題。這可能是因為我認為自己依然年輕，依然緊跟潮流（雖然這兩樣都跟我不沾邊）。也因為當時我覺得只要我們對自己的事業充滿激情，就能和擁有類似激情的創業者們打成一片（當年我們對投資者的回答也差不多是這樣）。

????但事實上，風投業的確有一點年齡偏見。早期科技公司被認為是年輕人的游戲。盡管我曾和很多富有經驗、過去和現在都非常出色的企業家共事，但當我進入會議室，看到將由三個西裝革履的中年人向我演示商業計劃，那一剎那涌上心頭的疑團或許并不僅僅只是瞬間的遲疑那么簡單。

????我希望聽到你們對這個問題的看法……

????Seth Levine (@sether)在總部位于科羅拉多州的風投公司Foundry Group擔任常務董事。

????I recently waked into a pitch meeting for a social networking related business and was surprised by what I saw. I had interacted with the entrepreneur over email – taking a look at the initial business plan and setting up the meeting – but we hadn't met in person before. In front of me were three guys in suits, each in their late 40′s or early 50′s, with an older Dell laptop and a paper print-out of some product ideas.

????And as I sat there listening to their pitch I couldn't help but think about how differently I might have reacted if this team was in their 20′s or 30′s, dressed in full tech/nerd hipster outfits (or at least jeans and sneakers), and whether there is a negative age bias in venture capital.

????Here were three guys with 20-30 years of business experience, but I was having trouble getting past my expectation of what they were going to look and act like, versus what was in front of me.

????An LP of ours once asked a question that dealt with a similar subject (ironically, although we were in our Boulder office and the LP in question was in jeans, my partners and I were all in sport coats, as we always are when presenting to our investors). I can't remember exactly how he phrased it but it was something like: "When do you guys get to be too old to do this? To relate to the younger entrepreneurs who are starting companies in the investment areas in which you guys focus." To be quite frank, this question had never actually occurred to me before. Likely because I still think of my self as young and hip (although I am neither). And because I figured that as long as we are passionate about what we're doing, we'll relate to entrepreneurs who have that similar passion (some variant of that is how we answered our investor at the time).

????But actually it's true. Certainly there is some amount of age bias in venture. Early stage tech is considered somewhat of a young person's game. And while I've worked with many very experienced entrepreneurs who were and are fantastic, I wonder if the initial pangs of question I felt on entering a room with 3 middle aged guys in suits pitching me their business plan is something that is deeper than a momentary hesitation.

????I'd love your thoughts on this...

????Seth Levine (@sether) is a managing director with Colorado-based venture capital firm Foundry Group