I recently had a conversation with someone interested in starting a company. He’s smart, has an idea, and has an entrepreneurial spirit. He wanted my perspective on the idea and his chances of success. I thought the idea was a good fit for him and the chances of success were equal to those of any other startup. I sensed something else was holding him back, so I asked. He said he thinks he’s waited too late to start a company. He’s in his thirties, so this surprised me.

I thought about this a bit and a diagram from Funders and Founders came to mind. From the headlines in the last decade, you’d think that twentysomethings have been creating billion-dollar companies right and left. In my opinion, that’s more the exception than the norm.

I started CCAW in my twenties, so I can speak to the experience. There are pros and cons. Youth is on your side physically, for sure. You have more energy and can work insane hours for long periods of time. I pulled more than my fair share of all-nighters. On the other hand, the younger you are the more deficient you are in experience. Translation: you work harder but not smarter. There was so much I didn’t know when I was building CCAW. Looking back, I wasted tons of time on things that were useless. Why? I didn’t know any better. In the end, thankfully, my decision to quit my job to build a company worked out pretty well. With the help of a great team, I scaled CCAW to over $10 million in annual revenue.

I’ve come to realize there’s no optimal age at which to start a company. Everyone’s circumstances are different. Some people grew up around entrepreneurs or have financial safety nets. Their risk of ruin is lower than average, so they’re comfortable taking the plunge early. For others, the risk of ruin is very real. They take longer to get comfortable with the uncertainty of entrepreneurship.

The decision whether to start a company shouldn’t be based on your age. Other things are much more important. Your risk tolerance. Your motivation level. And your unfair advantage—that is, why are you better positioned to succeed with your idea than other people would be? Make a decision that fits your personal situation, and if entrepreneurship is right for you, don’t give up that dream because of an abstraction like age.