Stage (Not Age): How to Understand and Serve People Over 60 - the Fastest Growing, Most Dynamic Market in the World

The $21 trillion opportunity that can only be unlocked if you rethink everything you think you know about people over sixty.

In the time it takes you to read this, another twenty Americans will turn sixty-five. Ten thousand people a day are crossing that threshold, and that number will continue to grow. In fifteen years, Americans aged sixty-five and over will outnumber those under age eighteen. This change is coming: Nearly everywhere in the world, people over sixty will become the dominant population.

Demographers tend to pose the new longevity as a crisis we are not prepared for. And there are serious issues to address in order to serve this population, and society as a whole.

But longevity also presents an opportunity for which companies need to develop a strategy. Estimates put the global market for this demographic at $21 trillion across every industry you can think of: entertainment, travel, education, healthcare, housing, transportation, consumer goods and services, product design, and financial services will all benefit if they can figure out a way to serve this market.

Stage (Not Age) is the concise guide to helping companies understand and serve this burgeoning market by focusing on life stage, not age, and identifying the deep diversity of needs within the demographic. It will reset your understanding of what an "old person" is, help identify the systemic barriers to entering the market, and outline ways to overcome them. Best practices of companies that have successfully shifted strategies to reflect the new demographics will show how success can be achieved.

Stage (Not Age) prepares you for an inevitable shift you can't ignore.

About the Author

Susan Wilner Golden is an expert on innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities created by the new longevity, and she teaches this subject at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is the director of the dciX impact initiative at the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute, and advises companies on their longevity strategies. She serves as an adviser to the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator and to Pivotal Ventures on longevity investment opportunities. Her career stops in venture capital, public health, and life sciences have given her a multidimensional, multidisciplinary perspective on longevity opportunities.