While a young man barely out of puberty may still be the public's idea of a startup founder, the reality is quite different.

In Australia, for example, the highest numbers of startup employees are in their 30s. Even if you haven't been coding in your bedroom for years, it shows you can still take the leap with a good idea and the right team.

You'll have plenty of company. According to Startup Muster's 2015 report, 23.8 percent of local founders are in the 30 to 35 age range, followed up by 18 percent aged 35 to 40. Nevertheless, 50 percent had no previous startup experience.

Having had a career, or maybe two or three, before becoming an entrepreneur can be helpful. Not only do you know how to negotiate, you likely come with an established network. Still, there's a lot that can be intimidating. You have to give up financial security in particular, and for people who may have families and mortgages, that can be a lot to ask.

Mashable Australia spoke with three entrepreneurs about beginning their startup journey while mid-career and why it's a smart idea.

When to take the leap

Bruce Wren, 53, the CEO of Swipezy, knew he had a head for business after he missed out on a chance to take over a financial technology company in the 1990s. "I couldn't convince my then-wife to take it on, so I had to let the opportunity go," he said. "That's when I knew I was an entrepreneur. I wanted to take the risk."

"That's when I knew I was an entrepreneur. I wanted to take the risk."

A serial entrepreneur, after working in companies across marketing, technology and finance, he's now based out of the Stone and Chalk financial technology hub in Sydney. Swipezy, which converts old Word and PDF documents into useful digital formats, is his fourth startup.

In his view, you can join a startup only if you're ready to give up some of the perks of corporate life. "I think if you're into status, and you've got to have a big mahogany desk in the corner, then you're not going to come into a place like this," he said.

Phoebe Adams, 38, founder of Our Little Foxes, a startup that sends creativity boxes to children, took a different route. She worked for years in marketing and advertising, but when she had her daughter, now 7 years old, things started to shift.

"I felt this huge guilt — I'm working in this corporate job that's an hour and a half away, and I'm not really enjoying it, and I can't be there for her," she explained. She decided she needed a challenge, but one that would still allow her to pick up her daughter from school.

Phoebe Adams. Image: Phoebe Adams

After leaving her job in 2014, she started working on her first idea, which was a gifting website. While it didn't work out, the business led to Our Little Foxes and a place in the Muru-D accelerator program in Sydney.

Being part of an accelerator has been particularly helpful while making the change. Although she feels she's at the older end of the spectrum, Adams finds the entrepreneurial spirit of the young people at Muru-D refreshing. "Having the mix is really good. I've never felt like the old lady, although you do sometimes when they tell you what year they were born," she laughed.

Regaining confidence

After working for years in another industry, leaving it all behind to found a startup can be a steep learning curve.

Casey Mulder, 32, had been a high school teacher for seven years before she came aboard Today We Learned, a company that helps teachers engage parents through digital updates about their students. The company joined the accelerator Startmate in 2015.

Leaving teaching, where she had been very successful, dinted Mulder's confidence. "Moving from an environment where I'm quite confident in my skill set and abilities into a very new space where I'm not has been personally very challenging," she said.

Not being a technical founder has also proved difficult. "I'll be honest, when I started at Startmate and was listening to people talk, I was constantly Googling terminology," she laughed. "There were so many things I did not know."

While feeling out of her depth, Mulder has also welcomed the chance to learn again. "When you've been in the same career for awhile, it's very easy to get set in your ways. I love that this is pushing me," she said.

Bruce Wren. Image: Bruce Wren

Benefiting from experience

In many ways, becoming an entrepreneur mid-career means you have a head start on younger founders. You have learned how to deal with the hard knocks and already have a solid network of contacts.

Although Muru-D connects its participants with mentors, Adams pointed out that, thanks to her previous experience, she comes with her own network. "I'm able to combine this new network, which can help me build the business and grow it, with people I've known for a long time who are also really networked," she said. "You exponentially grow your network, rather than create one."

"I feel like I'm a lot more prepared and able to brush off the things that are challenging and just move forward."

Resilience is also built-in. "Having been through a lot of challenging corporate environments, I feel like I'm a lot more prepared and able to brush off the things that are challenging and just move forward," Adams said.

After having worked for years, you know how to take care of yourself. Rather than feeling pressured to work late into the night if she's feeling exhausted, Mulder said she can step back. "I've worked in really challenging schools, where if I don't have excellent self care, I can't do my job properly," she explained.

Adams said she also knows when not to take things too seriously and ignore criticism. Recently, there was a complaint in a Facebook startup group complaining Australia doesn't have a strong working culture because co-working spaces are empty by 6 p.m.

"If we leave at 6, it's because we're picking up our kids from after school care, we're cooking them dinner, putting them to bed, and then we start working again," she said. "It's a different kind of way that you need to work. It doesn't mean you're working any less."

Letting go of financial security

Perhaps most significantly, leaving a corporate career to join a startup means giving up a salary.

For Adams, the financial insecurity has been tough. "When we started the business, my husband and I sold the house. We basically lost our asset, and we've gone into debt," she said. "I had a high-paying job, I had security, we went on holidays. Whereas now, we really have to monitor what we're spending."

Financial risk is also an issue for Wren. "A single entrepreneur of 22, if you fail, you're failing with not many resources," he said. "When you're doing it as a mature age entrepreneur, you're putting a lot more on the line. If it fails, you impact on other people's lives besides your own."

Wren finds it's his alone time in particular that he has lost. "It just means you work longer hours, and you take it out of your own leisure time," he said. "I think that's the balancing act. I'm certainly not at the pub every night."

Casey Mulder. Image: Casey Mulder

Building a supportive team

To succeed when making the shift to startups, Mulder advised seeking out people who have gone before you. "There's been people I've met, especially other women, who have been a really deep encouragement to me," she said.

Wren also believes in building a mixed team. "I certainly don't think that innovation is limited to people in their 20s ... but good teams are a combination," he said. "They've got some youthful energy and exuberance. You've got people who can work long hours. But also sometimes, they go off on a whim, and wiser ears will say, 'no, that idea was tried 10 years ago.'"

For Adams, adaptability is key, for yourself and your career. "Things are moving so quickly, you can't get tied to one role or definition of career," Adams said. "Everyone's got to adapt. The more technology we incorporate into our lives, the more opportunities it creates, not less. You've got to be willing to try something different."

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