46ers, 55ers, 81ers, and today

if you want to know what the most ambitious 20-year-olds today will be doing in 20 years, just look at the zeitgeist of now.

if the zeitgeist is powerful enough, ambitious people get sucked in like moths to a MacBook charger. so if you want to know what the most ambitious 20-year-olds today will be doing in 20 years, just look at the zeitgeist of now.

the 46ers

1966 was a time of great change in the United States. When people say the “sixties,” they don’t really mean the first six years (1960–1965). The first half of the decade was basically the 1950s but with better haircuts and in color TV.

The real sixties began in 1966 — a time of massive societal change and generational strife. everything exploded: war protests, free love, generational chaos. If you were 20 in 1966, you were living the revolution, whether you liked it or not. You might’ve loved the changes or hated them, but you absolutely felt them.

So we’d expect our major political leaders to be born in 1946.

And you’d be right.

1946 was, by far, the year that produced more dominant politicians than any other in U.S. history. We got three presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.

Three presidents, all born within three months of each other.

That’s 24 years of governance, all from the same baby-boomer nursery. It’s not a coincidence. It’s a cluster of destiny.

the 55ers

1975 was the dawn of the computer revolution. It would’ve been impossible to be an ambitious 20-year-old and not see computers coming. you could feel it — the world was about to get digitized. They were the future — the glowing boxes of infinite potential and Pong.

So you’d expect the digital revolution to be dominated by people born in 1955.

And again — you’d be right.

Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Vinod Khosla. Eric Schmidt. All 1955ers. If you were born that year, your destiny was debugging the universe. They didn’t just ride the wave — they wrote the code.

the 81ers

Fast-forward to September 11, 2001. That day rewired the national psyche. Security, terrorism, geopolitics — that became the obsession.

So if you were an ambitious 20-year-old then, your career path probably had “national security” written all over it.

And sure enough, the 1981 class — Tulsi Gabbard, Jared Kushner, Mike Needham — are already at the center of the national security power rooms. The 81ers are the ones who grew up on fighting terror, military over-reach, and airport shoe removals.

The 81ers are truly the Homeland Generation — forever TSA prechecked and geopolitically caffeinated.

the 05ers

While ChatGPT launched in late 2022, “AI” didn’t truly take over the national imagination until this year (2025). It’s the thing — the new electricity, the new internet, the new cocaine of ambition.

So the future AI titans are the 20-year-olds of today — the 05ers. They’re growing up in a world where every thought starts with “I asked ChatGPT…”

Let’s watch this generation. They’ll build machines that outthink us and outwork us … and still forget to do their laundry.

---

you have seen all my rants about Booz Allen. Below is an article I wrote on May 4 on why Booz is a good short.

not to toot my own horn, but here this is how the stock is going (below).

at least a dozen of you traded on this. i hope you made a killing.

---

note: Flex Capital invests in 70+ seed-stage start-ups per year (1-2 per week). typical first check is $400k. please reach out if you know amazing founders that want to change the world.

---

X of the week:

---

if you like this article, please do three things:

1. share it with someone you admire

2. follow me (@auren) on X

3. subscribe to the “World of DaaS” podcast

(if you hate this, please share with all your enemies)