Welcome to Startups After 50 and the Ranks of Encore Entrepreneurs!
We are a new venture. Like those whom we serve, we are a startup. But our content and business model have been years in the making.
In addition, we are a "lean startup," a term coined by Eric Ries in his book of the same name.
The lean startup approach calls for creating a "minimally viable product," bringing it to market, monitoring the market response, then making the product more robust based on user feedback.
Thus, while you will find a variety of helpful resources on our site for encore entrepreneurs, they are merely the skeletal structure of what we envision as the site and our services mature.
Our Target Community
Startups After 50 is the fulfillment of a long-held dream of its founder, Dr. Mike Armour.
A veteran business leadership coach, Mike is committed to a thriving small business community. He also has a special admiration for the entrepreneurial spirit.
A decade ago he realized that more and more business startups were being made at mid-life and beyond by men and women who had little or no previous experience in launching or managing a business.
As he consulted dozens of these startups, he began to envision a package of services tailored to those who start their first business after decades of pursuing other career paths — the men and women who today are called encore entrepreneurs.
The Vision of Startups After 50
To be the eminent online source of information and guidance for encore entrepreneurs.
Our Mission
Using a web-based platform and personal coaching, we provide comprehensive resources, tutorials, and tools for starting, growing, and maintaining a thriving small business. We tailor our services to the unique needs of men and women who start their first business in their 50s or later, perhaps with no prior business experience.
Startups After 50 is a component of Leadership Development Corporation, based in Dallas, Texas. Other subsidiaries include Strategic Leadership Development International, Inc. and LifeThemes Press.