With all the focus on AI these days, we tend to forget about that other tech obsession: youth.

Never mind the plastic surgeries or as The Wall Street Journal reports, “To combat fears of aging out of the workforce, men in tech are splurging on face-lifts, neck lifts and eyelid lifts, say plastic surgeons…Tech is a young person’s game.”

Unless you look at the fact:

First, the Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45, says the Harvard Business Review, but we know that.

Next, with the advent of AI, you’d think funding to younger founders is up, but Web Pro News reports that Startup Founders’ Median Age Rises to 40 in AI Boom Era, noting that “while young AI entrepreneurs are grabbing headlines—such as a recent Business Insider piece on 16 founders under 27 who’ve raised over $100 million collectively—the median remains higher. One venture capitalist remarked on the platform that investors’ perceptions often lag reality, with many still chasing the “20-something” archetype despite data showing otherwise. This disconnect influences funding patterns, where biases toward youth can overlook seasoned talent.”

Yet the press continues to exalt youth. In fact, to this end, every year Forbes Magazine publishes its 30 Under 30 list, whom they refer to as the Up-And-Coming Visionaries Shaping Tomorrow. “Altogether, Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2026 has raised $3.8 billion in funding and have amassed a 200M+ following on social media, showcasing how big their impact reaches. This year’s list features the largest cohort of Gen Z honorees ever, with 70% of the cohort being Gen Z, jumping up from 50% last year.”

The other side of the hype? How some of their honorees of past years have fared over time.

Note that If you’re one such honoree, you have a:

• 2% likelihood of becoming a billionaire
• 35% likelihood your company fails
• 63% likelihood you end up in white collar prison because you stole money trying to become a billionaire, and then your company fails

In fact, BU School of Law calls “30 Under 30 (a) Pipeline to Prison.”

So, are they outliers, those Forbes felons in training?

Let’s consider some more famous and often cited tech outliers who changed the industry:

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook when he was still in college – and how many times has he been hauled before Congress and the legal system for various ‘missteps’ on his company’s part, often with him having approved the dangers the platform caused, including most recently, “‘Marketplace for predators’: Meta faces jury trial over child exploitation claims,” reports The Guardian.

Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who were newly-minted Stanford grads at the time. Again, how many lawsuits has the company faced and how many fines have been levied against it, including most recently, as PC Magazine notes, Google to Pay $68 Million to Settle Voice Assistant Snooping Claims. A pittance for a company like Google, but hardly an outlier.

Bill Gates was 19 when he dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft and while he was at the helm, the company came under the scrutiny of the Justice Department for its monopolistic practices. Gates stepped aside and again finds himself in the news – not in a good way – with the Epstein Files.

None of these founders made the Forbes 30 under 30 list, as it wasn’t launched until 2011.

It’s one thing to play free and loose with the financials and number before the money comes in, but quite another once there are investors on the cap table. So what’s up? Is it the pressure of finding success at such an early age? The feeling of invincibility that accompanies youth and early success? The lack of seasoned professionals in the mix/adult supervision? D) all of the above?

Or is it that these people missed the unspoken part of that all-important tech mantra: Fake it till you make it – but don’t get caught. Onward and forward.