In a recent Wall Street Journal essay, Daniel Akst, publisher of Tivoli Books, makes a case that lands squarely in Second Peak territory: starting a business in your 60s or 70s isn't a contradiction. It's often the point.
Akst launched his publishing venture at 67. He frames it through his late father-in-law, an orchid breeder who kept developing new hybrids deep into old age, knowing full well the flowers wouldn't bloom for years. The metaphor does real work. Akst isn't chasing returns either — he's chasing the books, the long arc, the thing that justifies showing up tomorrow.
His argument runs against the dominant retirement narrative on a few fronts worth pulling out.
On purpose: while his retired friends drift toward boredom, Akst deals with "a continual barrage of challenges great and small, most of them welcome." He flips the usual framing — people assume he's keeping the business going, but he suspects it's the other way around.
On terms of engagement: no job application, no age discrimination, no boss. You decide whether it stays small or grows into a modest empire. The business doesn't even need to make money, as long as it doesn't lose much. That economic freedom changes what's possible.
On staying current: running anything forces you to keep up. Technologies that once felt daunting become appealing when they solve actual problems you have. (His specific warning: you're going to get better at Excel whether you planned to or not.)
On the social dimension: a business is inherently social. Customers, collaborators, the occasional friend. His advice to anyone considering this path is to pick something that puts you in contact with people.
The line that anchors the piece: "Surely it is better to be consumed by purpose than lost in aimlessness."
Akst closes by noting he wishes he'd started years earlier — but he was busy earning a living and writing his own books. Now the kids are launched, his wife (a lifelong reader) has time to help, and old age "turns out to be an ideal opportunity for a stunt like ours."
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