The Silicon Valley Cult of Youth: A Double Edged Sword for Founders Arlan Rakhmetzhanov's story is a classic Silicon Valley tale.
At 17, he landed an angel check from Y Combinator and went on to raise over $6 million for his AI tool company Nozomio.
But beneath the surface of this young founder's success lies a disturbing trend: the expectation that young founders must deliver growth at breakneck speed or risk being cast aside.