Building Something New at 60: Why I’m Not Done Yet

Brian Cogan
Jul 24
3 min read

Surviving QuickBooks. Building Automated. Starting again at 60.

They say life begins at 40. But I think those of us still in the game at 60 are proving that life can begin again—whenever you choose.

I’m 60. And I’m building something new.

Not just a side project. Not a retirement hobby. I’m talking about a full-on, heart-led, time-consuming, dream-pursuing build. The kind where you don’t know if it’ll work out—but you do it anyway because you feel like you have to. Because it matters.

In my case, it’s a business. A couple actually. One built from decades of bookkeeping expertise—Automated Bookkeeping of Arizona. And another built around a cartoon world of monsters and misfits trying to make QuickBooks make sense. I call that one Surviving QuickBooks, and if you’ve ever cursed at a Chart of Accounts, it’s for you.

Not every bookkeeping empire is built from a high-rise. Mine is built from this desk—with a purring assistant and a Monster Ultra Zero in reach.

And here's the truth: starting something new at 60 isn’t easy.

There are days my body reminds me I’m not 30 anymore. Days when I wonder if I’m too late. When I look around and see 27-year-old tech bros building apps with $2M in seed funding, and I think, “What am I doing?”

"Miscellaneous is not a strategy. It’s a monster." (And yes, it eats receipts.) — **"Miscellaneous is not a strategy. It’s a monster."** *(And yes, it eats receipts.)*

But then I remember: I’m not starting from scratch. I’m starting from experience.

And I’ve got something those 27-year-olds don’t.

I’ve got grit. I’ve got stories. I’ve been the guy balancing client books at 2AM and the one chasing down missing receipts in a glovebox. I’ve also been the one rebuilding after loss. Rebuilding after burnout. Rebuilding after everything changes.

So I build now not because I think it’ll be easy—but because I know it’ll be worth it.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about time—how much we have, how much we’ve used, and who we lose along the way. People who were the soundtrack and spirit of my early working years—Hulk Hogan, Ozzy Osbourne, Chuck Mangione—are gone now. They were the icons of my coming-of-age. And as they fade into memory, here I am... still here. Still building. Still showing up. Maybe that’s part of the calling: to prove that even as eras end, we don’t have to.

If you’re wondering if you’re too old to start, you’re not.

If you’re wondering if it’s too late, it isn’t.

Start messy. Start tired. Start with doubts. Just start.

I’m doing it. With cartoons. With code. With client care. With faith.

And I’m not done yet.