Magnolia Optical was financed by $100,000 from family and friends, and $200,000 from a vice president of the former First Albany Cos.

“The only money we ever took was from a guy on an airplane who overheard us talking,” said Sood, referring to the $200,000.

Older entrepreneurs bring a level of knowledge and experience that comes from years of working in the corporate world, said Guy Cortesi, CEO of eSolve Solutions Inc., a business software company in Latham, New York.

“When you’ve worked for other companies, you understand what works and doesn’t work. You understand limitations and issues—too many meetings, for example—and know how to avoid those issues,” said Cortesi, a former employee of Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., who left the Schenectady company three years ago when it moved most of its operations to a facility outside Philadelphia.

Cortesi was 52 when he and three friends each chipped in $5,000 to start eSolve in 2007. Since then, the three friends left the company. Cortesi, who now operates the business with the help of his wife and two sons, said eSolve is profitable and generated $2 million in 2009.

The software and gaming industries continue to attract younger entrepreneurs. Still, the majority of the startup owners at High Tech Rochester’s two incubators are at least 35 or 40 years old, said James Senall, president of the nonprofit development organization.

“We’re definitely seeing a lot of high-level talent, previous presidents of large companies that are wondering if they should find a new job or start a company. Today, you’ll find people who know an industry quite well,” Senall said. High Tech Rochester operates the Rochester Bioventure Center incubator and the Lennox Tech Enterprise Center, which together house 20 early-stage businesses.

A dim job market has also attracted college graduates who want to start software companies, mainly because software requires a small initial investment, Senall said.

“But the companies with more engineered products and systems are older folks,” he said.

Older entrepreneurs are also motivated to venture out on their own as “lifetime employment” with a single company continues to diminish, and the potential for job security becomes less and less likely, said Woodward “Woody” Maggard, chairman of the Business Incubator Association of New York State Inc., and director of the University at Buffalo’s incubator program.

“The day of the '30 years and a pension' are gone forever for most people,” Maggard said.

He said people expect to work longer and are willing to invest time and effort into their own company, an inclination they may not have working for someone else.

Cortesi started a business briefly when he was younger, but decided it wasn’t the right time to take such a risk.

“Full-time work better suited family rearing,” Cortesi said.

Today, Cortesi would have a tough time working for someone else.

“I have learned more in the last three years than in all of the 20 years before that,” he said. “The hardest thing is being able to say, ‘I’m done.’ Otherwise, there’s always something to do.”

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Pam Allen writes for The Business Review, of Albany.