The Inc 500 arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago and here is the most interesting fact: 72% of the CEOs are over 35 years old.  In the world of Zuckerberg (Facebook), Williams (Twitter), Rose (Digg), and every other famous Harvard drop out it’s easy to get the feeling that you need to start a business in college or shortly thereafter in order to be successful.

In reality most successful entrepreneurs don’t get that way until after the age of 35.  Granted there are usually early signs, perhaps a few failed ventures prior to that age.  But the key is that you don’t need to be a wunderkind to start a successful business.

It’s not an  earth-shattering revelation, but it’s re-assuring to those of us that are already beyond 30 and feared that our entrepreneurial chance had already passed us by.  Another intriguing stat: 80% of the CEOs are married.  Also good news to those of us with competing priorities in our lives.