Stage (Not Age) by Susan Wilner Golden

STAGE (NOT AGE) by Susan Wilner Golden deals with “How to Understand and Serve People Over 60--the Fastest Growing, Most Dynamic Market in the World.” Golden, who advises and lectures on longevity at Stanford argues that “the tectonic demographic shift must be met with a similarly immense mindset shift.” She spends the first part of the book exploring language (e.g., lifespan generally refers to a numerical age vs. healthspan which she characterizes as a ‘stage’ concept) along with marketing segmentation. Golden’s publisher describes STAGE (NOT AGE) as “the concise guide to helping companies understand that people over sixty are a deeply diverse population.” And in the second part of the book, Golden reviews companies which have successful longevity strategies; she also looks at different types of customers, plus distribution issues, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Golden helpfully begins each of her eight chapters with a summary of its big idea and ends each with a list of key takeaways. In addition, she devotes roughly ten percent to the book to a valuable list of resources, further reading, and notes. Another relevant text is The Longevity Economy by Joseph F. Coughlin, the founder and director of the MIT AgeLab; I recently heard him speak. In fact, it is projected that in fifteen years there will be more Americans over 65 than under 18 – offering fascinating questions on how organizations – public and private – can best plan to meet the likely challenges and leverage this growing opportunity. Students, too, will find much to reflect upon.