Business
#ScaleStrategy: Growing sales from one to many
How Nudge.ai CEO and co-founder Paul Teshima is using hard-earned lessons from the past to transform his startup sales team into a scaling one.

Published
5 years agoon

#ScaleStrategy is produced by DX Journal and OneEleven. This editorial series delivers insights, advice, and practical recommendations to innovative and disruptive entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Read the in-depth Q&A with Teshima here.
“One of the most important aspects of scaleups is figuring out how to transition sales – from a founder to a larger sales team. It’s also one of the hardest,” says Paul Teshima, CEO and co-founder of Nudge.ai, a relationship intelligence platform that helps sales teams to access new accounts, analyze deal risk, and measure account health.
And, he knows what he’s talking about.
Teshima is a Canadian-born serial entrepreneur and a rare breed too. His previous company, Eloqua, achieved unicorn status.
As part of Eloqua’s executive team, Teshima grew the company to more than $100 million in revenue over 13 years, through two economic crises, its IPO and its eventual acquisition by Oracle for US$957 million in 2012.
Today, from Nudge.ai’s office in OneEleven, Teshima and his co-founder Steve Woods (also a co-founder at Eloqua), are hoping to scale up again. Since launching in 2014, the company has grown to 22 employees, several major enterprise clients and over 20,000 B2B users on the platform. And they were recently featured in the Wall Street Journal on how AI is changing sales. It’s no surprise they’re gaining momentum given the growing need for digital relationship management support. After all, Google, Salesforce, Microsoft, Cisco, and more tech giants are moving into the space.
As Nudge.ai builds out a sales team, Teshima is leaning on lessons from his past and learning new ones about who, how and when to hire, what founders forget about when training newbies, and the art of cracking an enterprise deal.
From One to Many
When it comes to the first few sales hires, Teshima believes they should be entrepreneurial. His approach to building a high-performance sales team is what he calls a classic best practice: hire people in pairs so that you can start removing variables. For example, if both salespeople are having trouble, it may mean that it’s not the right time to transition. If one is successful and the other is not, then it could mean you didn’t hire someone with the right skills.
Nudge.ai is in the process of transitioning its founder-oriented sales team to a larger group. “We’ve got some salespeople working on that delicate transition period now,” he says. “I can tell you that I’m already overestimating how much I think they know because I take my knowledge for granted. I mean, of course they don’t know what I know, it’s in my brain still.”
As a company scales, Teshima urges founders to pause and appreciate how much they know about the business, and how quickly they can make decisions at the drop of a hat in a deal cycle. Those skills are not always things salespeople can do right away.
“It’s really important to simplify,” he says. “Understand what can be translated to a salesperson that he or she can then repeat over and over again.”
To support their success, Teshima focuses on being as methodical as possible throughout on-boarding and training. In addition, he brought someone in to help simplify the sales process to determine what can be scalable.
Hiring Sales People
Should you hire a Director of Sales or build the team from the bottom up? Teshima says it depends on where you sit on the revenue curve as well as the capital and talent that’s available to you at the time.
He definitely sees the value of of hiring a Director of Sales first who can “carry the bag” and help to scale that initial phase, but also agrees with the approach of hiring a hands-off VP to go build up the entire team.
“Both require early evidence of some form of scale. You have some sort of process that defines how the sales process works today and also key metrics about it,” he says.
Teshima acknowledges that finding sales talent can be a challenge. “Are there less seasoned salespeople in Canada who have gone from $0 to $100 million than in the Valley? Yes. Do we need to solve that problem? Absolutely. But you are seeing a lot of seasoned people coming back and as that continues you’re going to see those people train others to get to the next scaling point,” he says.
Closing Enterprise Deals
Enterprise deals are coveted targets for scaleups for the revenue, for the credibility, and for the learning that they offer.
“The hardest part of closing an enterprise deal is finding it,” says Teshima. “Getting involved in the sales cycle itself is challenging because decision-makers are so inundated with a barrage of outbound outreach. These buyers shut down and avoid dealing with 20 or 30 vendors.”
He says that if you’re going to play in the enterprise space, you should understand what you’re getting into. First, it’s difficult to get in. Secondarily, startups can’t wait out a 44-month sales cycle knowing the deal may not close. “You can, but you’ll be losing a lot of sleep,” he says.
Teshima’s scaleup strategy is to show pocketed value right out of the gate. “Lock them in and then go from division to division quickly. And do it more cost-effectively than the competitor. Try that approach versus just the top down approach.”
When it comes to offering freebies or deals to close a deal quickly, Teshima believes low-paid pilots can be risky.
“Enterprises today actually have slush funds to experiment with technology where they didn’t before,” he says. “You could be in a small little pilot where they throw money at you and you wouldn’t even know if it’s a real deal or if they’re throwing real resources behind it. It is absolutely true that if they put some skin in the game, you’ll have a more successful pilot. You need to be pretty disciplined about qualifying, and if you invest in the cycles then put a price on it.”
What about when enterprise customers who scaleback during the renewal process?
Teshima says he hasn’t experienced this yet at Nudge.ai, but in the earlier days at Eloqua, there were times when customers pulled back.
“It’s only a death cycle if you don’t learn from it for the other existing customers. You should never forget that customers can always come back and champions can always move jobs. You always want to do right in those situations because you never know when you’re going meet them next in the ecosystem,” he says.
Channel Partners Sales
In B2B sales, channel partners can be a tempting avenue to explore. While there are good synergies on the tech side – on the cloud and services side – it can be more challenging to have channel partners depending on the nature of the product, says Teshima. In fact, he warns against channel partners in the early scaling stage.
“If you think training your first salesperson is hard, try training channel partners on your product when they have 20 competing products to sell and they’re making a small margin on your product,” he says. “You can get lucky and find one strategic partner and go big, but more often than not, you’re going to find that they’ll get all excited, get trained, and not sell anything. Even if they do close something, it may not even be the right fit,” he says.
Instead, Teshima recommends, clearly establishing that you can directly sell your product in a repeated way before you think about channel partners.
Scaling a sales team isn’t easy. And it won’t happen overnight.
“My one piece of advice is that it’s never one thing,” he says. “It’s a million little things you need to do every day. That’ll make you more successful than trying to figure out the one thing that will help you hit the jackpot.”
Want more? Read the in-depth Q&A with Paul Teshima for more insights on scaling sales.

#ScaleStrategy is produced by DX Journal and OneEleven. This editorial series delivers insights, advice, and practical recommendations to innovative and disruptive entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.
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Fluctuating gas prices have many feeling pain at the pump—but owners of gas-guzzling cars feel it more acutely.
Stacker used data from the Department of Energy’s fuel economy database to rank the 23 most gas-guzzling cars of 2023. Duplicate models of the same car line were excluded from this analysis: For example, the data includes information on the Rolls-Royce Ghost, Ghost Black Badge, and Ghost Extended, but this analysis only includes information for the base model, Ghost. Only 2023 model cars were considered, and those included here were released between May 2022 and February 2023.
Gas prices rise due to higher demand and higher costs for crude oil and they typically vary by season. In June 2022, the average price for a gallon of gas was over $5 in many states but fell as demand and crude oil prices sank.
New fuel efficiency standards may help your wallet when gas prices rise. In 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released new standards that require manufacturers to have a fuel efficiency rating of 49 miles per gallon averaged across all of their models by 2026 and for every model by 2029.
Owning a gas guzzler won’t just cost you more at the pump—cars that get less than 22.5 miles per gallon also incur a “gas-guzzler tax,” which starts at $1,000 but climbs to $7,700 for cars that get less than 12.5 mpg. The tax is usually paid by the manufacturer or importer but is no doubt passed on to the customer in the purchase price.
Read on to see which new cars are the least fuel-efficient for 2023.
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Martyn Lucy // Getty Images
Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd V12 Vantage
– Combined fuel economy: 16 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 22 mpg
– City fuel economy: 14 mpg
– Manufacturer: Aston Martin
– Engine size: 5.2 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automatic (A8)
Sjoerd van der Wal // Getty Images
Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 4MATIC+
– Combined fuel economy: 16 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 22 mpg
– City fuel economy: 14 mpg
– Manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz
– Engine size: 4 liters
– Cylinders: 8
– Transmission: Automatic (A9)
Martyn Lucy // Getty Images
Audi R8 Coupe quattro
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 18 mpg
– City fuel economy: 13 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 5.2 liters
– Cylinders: 10
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S7)
Sue Thatcher // Shutterstock
Audi R8 Spyder quattro
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 18 mpg
– City fuel economy: 13 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 5.2 liters
– Cylinders: 10
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S7)
Anadolu Agency // Getty Images
Lamborghini Huracan Coupe
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 18 mpg
– City fuel economy: 13 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 5.2 liters
– Cylinders: 10
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S7)
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Lamborghini Huracan Spyder
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 18 mpg
– City fuel economy: 13 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 5.2 liters
– Cylinders: 10
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S7)
GabrielPreda.ro // Shutterstock
Bentley Flying Spur
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 19 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 6 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S8)
FABRICE COFFRINI // Getty Images
Bentley Continental GT Speed
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 20 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 6 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S8)
Shang Saal // Shutterstock
Chevrolet Corvette Z06
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 21 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: General Motors
– Engine size: 5.5 liters
– Cylinders: 8
– Transmission: Semi-Automatic (S8)
Raymond Boyd // Getty Images
Dodge Charger SRT Widebody
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 21 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: FCA US LLC (Chrysler)
– Engine size: 6.2 liters
– Cylinders: 8
– Transmission: Automatic (A8)
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Cadillac CT5 V
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 21 mpg
– City fuel economy: 13 mpg
– Manufacturer: General Motors
– Engine size: 6.2 liters
– Cylinders: 8
– Transmission: Manual (M6)
JDzacovsky // Shutterstock
Dodge Challenger SRT Widebody
– Combined fuel economy: 15 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 21 mpg
– City fuel economy: 13 mpg
– Manufacturer: FCA US LLC (Chrysler)
– Engine size: 6.2 liters
– Cylinders: 8
– Transmission: Automatic (A8)
Martyn Lucy // Getty Images
Ferrari North America Inc. 812 Competizione
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 16 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Ferrari
– Engine size: 6.5 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual (AM7)
Raymond Boyd // Getty Images
Bentley Continental GT Convertible Speed
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 18 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 6 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S8)
Tim Ockenden – PA Images // Getty Images
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Phantom
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 18 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Rolls-Royce
– Engine size: 6.7 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Semi-Automatic (S8)
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Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Carbon Aero
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 19 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: General Motors
– Engine size: 5.5 liters
– Cylinders: 8
– Transmission: Semi-Automatic (S8)
Tricky_Shark // Shutterstock
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Ghost
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 19 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Rolls-Royce
– Engine size: 6.7 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Semi-Automatic (S8)
Camerasandcoffee // Shutterstock
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Cullinan
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 19 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Rolls-Royce
– Engine size: 6.7 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Semi-Automatic (S8)
Sjoerd van der Wal // Getty Images
Mercedes-Benz Maybach S 680 4Matic
– Combined fuel economy: 14 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 20 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz
– Engine size: 6 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automatic (A9)
Mau47 // Shutterstock
Ferrari North America Inc. 812 GTS
– Combined fuel economy: 13 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 15 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Ferrari
– Engine size: 6.5 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual (AM7)
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Ferrari North America Inc. Ferrari Monza SP1
– Combined fuel economy: 13 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 15 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Ferrari
– Engine size: 6.5 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual (AM7)
Martyn Lucy // Getty Images
Ferrari North America Inc. Ferrari Daytona SP3
– Combined fuel economy: 13 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 16 mpg
– City fuel economy: 12 mpg
– Manufacturer: Ferrari
– Engine size: 6.5 liters
– Cylinders: 12
– Transmission: Automated Manual (AM7)
Grzegorz Czapski // Shutterstock
Bugatti Chiron
– Combined fuel economy: 11 miles per gallon
– Highway fuel economy: 14 mpg
– City fuel economy: 9 mpg
– Manufacturer: Volkswagen
– Engine size: 8 liters
– Cylinders: 16
– Transmission: Automated Manual – Selectable (e.g., Automated Manual with paddles) (AM-S7)

Founded in 2017, Stacker combines data analysis with rich editorial context, drawing on authoritative sources and subject matter experts to drive storytelling.
Business
What questions should companies ask before going all-in on AI?
Problem-solving, data sets, and the consequences of getting it wrong.

Published
10 hours agoon
March 22, 2023
From chatbots that answer our questions to emails that write themselves, AI is increasingly present in our lives — and the advent of startlingly sophisticated and headline-making tools like ChatGPT suggest that presence is likely to grow.
As it stands, the technologies are advancing at a seemingly breakneck pace, impacting sectors as diverse as public health and transportation. Given the spread, it’s easy to assume AI could be used by just about any company — and there are plenty of adoptees.
The 2022 McKinsey Global Survey on AI reported in December that although it has stabilized in recent years, the proportion of organizations adopting AI in at least one business area has more than doubled since 2017.
Furthermore, “the average number of AI capabilities that organizations use has also doubled — from 1.9 in 2018 to 3.8 in 2022,” the report found.
But what are companies actually using AI for? And, what are some critical questions experts say companies should ask themselves before going all-in?
Let’s take a closer look.
Why AI is becoming increasingly useful
One reason AI is becoming especially useful is because by definition, it is the ability of machines to learn and make decisions based on data and analytics. And it should come as no surprise that companies now have access to more data than ever before.
How much more? Well, Gil Press — a senior contributor with Forbes — reported toward the end of 2020 that in the 10 years that came before, “the amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed in the world increased from 1.2 trillion gigabytes to 59 trillion gigabytes.”
That’s almost 5,000 per cent growth, Press said.
And with the help of emerging technologies like AI, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Online explained, companies are now able to capture user data that can help them make informed business decisions.
“AI is no longer an experimental technology only used by select brands,” it said. “For many companies around the world, it has become a core part of their operations.”
AI: What is it used for?
So, how is AI being used by companies and organizations?
Common applications cited by Business News Daily include the detection of cyberattacks and threats, digital personal assistants that manage calendars, and customer service chatbots.
The latter is also where some companies are using ChatGPT. Bloomberg reported on March 1 that the technology has already found a home on apps for Instacart, where customers will be able to ask it questions about recipes; Shopify, where it will offer suggestions; and Quizlet Inc., where it will provide users with a “tutoring experience.”
In more specialized fields like healthcare, AI’s uses include helping to make potentially life-saving cancer diagnoses. The New York Times reported on March 5 that AI known as “computer-assisted detection” is helping to detect breast cancer missed by mammograms.
More generally, some popular uses for AI include service operations optimization, contact centre automation, customer service analytics, sales and demand forecasting, and risk modeling and analytics, according to the 2022 McKinsey Global Survey on AI.
And when it comes to deciding how to apply AI, Wharton Online reported that companies often focus on driving growth.
That growth, according to Entrepreneur’s Auria Moore, is focused on three central areas:
- AI-powered analytics, which can allow businesses to gather information about users for better product creation.
- Customer service satisfaction, where AI chatbots can provide answers to users faster.
- Targeted digital marketing campaigns, which has AI granting marketers the ability to “enhance personalization at an individual level.”
Meanwhile, supply-chain management is where the highest-reported cost benefits from AI were identified in the McKinsey survey — while “the biggest reported revenue effects are found in marketing and sales, product and service development, and strategy and corporate finance.”
“The bottom-line value realized from AI remains strong and largely consistent,” the report said.
“About a quarter of respondents report this year that at least 5 percent of their organizations’ [earnings before interest and taxes] was attributable to AI in 2021, in line with findings from the previous two years.”
What to consider before going all-in
Given its vast possibilities for application and seemingly limitless potential, investing in AI could seem like a no-brainer for businesses. But some experts warn that it shouldn’t be.
“The first question to ask yourself when considering AI is what problems might be solved with the technology,” Inc.’s Ben Sherry reported last May.
While some companies would find AI genuinely useful — for example, Sherry said, an e-commerce company could use it to market specific products to customers based on data — others could wind up with an unnecessary expense.
“Ask yourself if automating part of your business has an easily identifiable benefit, or whether you have routine tasks that could easily be automated,” he suggested.
AI’s algorithms also need a lot of high-quality data to deliver valuable insights, Open Data Science (ODSC) explained in November 2021, and machine learning needs varied data to build its intelligence.
So before investing in AI, ODSC said, it’s critical to make sure your company has access to a sufficient amount of high-quality data sets.
“Without data and specifically, high-quality data, your AI investment is useless,” ODSC said.
“It’s essentially like purchasing an expensive car with an incredibly powerful motor without any access to a fuel source.”
Finally, some experts say a critically important question for companies considering AI to ask themselves is: what are the consequences if it fails?
“AI models work through very sophisticated algorithms and statistical correlations, but there is always a margin of error. Does the company want to implement AI in a process with high variability and a low accuracy rate, or the opposite? What risks and how much investment would be lost if it didn’t work out?” industrial IoT company Nexus Integra asked in a blog post.
“Depending on which systems and data are available, the company must evaluate whether the accuracy of these models is expected to be high enough to proceed.”
And Ricardo Baeza-Yates, director of research at the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University, wrote in an August 2021 piece for Forbes that “as the usage of AI grows exponentially, so have the number of AI incidents.”
As such, Baeza-Yates said companies looking to use AI should first ask themselves if they have deeply considered the direct, and indirect, impact of their product or service.
“Here, the accuracy of your model is irrelevant. What matters is the impact of the mistakes you make, even if they are few,” he wrote.“In cases where people were falsely accused by facial recognition systems, killed by driverless cars or unethically targeted for fraud, the damage was severe and lasting.”

DX Journal covers the impact of digital transformation (DX) initiatives worldwide across multiple industries.
Business
States with the most adults of retirement age still working

Published
1 day agoon
March 21, 2023
For many Americans, the typical life plan has long been school, work, retirement at 65, and living comfortably. But not as many people are traveling that path anymore.
Nearly 19% of people of retirement age—65 years or older—remain in the workforce. In fact, Americans over 55 are the only age group that increased its labor force participation rate from 2001 to 2021. Projections expect that trend to continue into the next decade.
Many simply don’t want to retire because they enjoy what they do and don’t want to slow down. Some find that retirement doesn’t suit them and return to work to add meaning to their lives.
Others work because they can’t afford retirement. According to the Economic Policy Institute, roughly one-third of workers aged 55 to 64 don’t have access to a retirement savings plan. Those who rely solely on Social Security benefits may find they don’t cover all of their living expenses. Major unplanned expenses like medical bills can also keep people in the workforce.
Stacker used 2021 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau to find what share of each state’s retirement-age population, those 65 and older, still participate in the labor force. Labor force statistics are calculated based on the civilian noninstitutional population, meaning those adults who are not incarcerated or in long-term medical facilities. It’s helpful to note that age 65 is the typical age for retirement, as it’s the age to qualify for Medicare.
Continue reading to find out whether your state has the most adults of retirement age still at work.
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Susanne Pommer // Shutterstock
#51. South Carolina
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 14% (142,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.6% (967,223 people)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
#50. West Virginia
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 14.8% (56,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 20.7% (368,775 people)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
#49. Mississippi
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 14.9% (73,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.8% (496,945 people)
Tim Roberts Photography // Shutterstock
#48. Arizona
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 15.1% (195,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.3% (1.33 million people)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
#47. Alabama
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 15.8% (137,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.6% (885,809 people)
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#46. Tennessee
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 16% (194,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.0% (1.19 million people)
f11photo // Shutterstock
#45. Kentucky
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 16.1% (123,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.0% (768,416 people)
turtix // Shutterstock
#44. New Mexico
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 16.3% (65,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.5% (391,797 people)
Eduardo Medrano // Shutterstock
#43. Arkansas
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 16.6% (91,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.4% (525,153 people)
mariakray // Shutterstock
#42. Florida
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 16.7% (744,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 21.1% (4.60 million people)
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Real Window Creative // Shutterstock
#41. Delaware
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.1% (35,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 20.1% (201,551 people)
Paul Brady Photography // Shutterstock
#39. Michigan (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.2% (319,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.1% (1.82 million people)
photo.ua // Shutterstock
#39. Ohio (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.2% (373,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.8% (2.10 million people)
Brett Barnhill // Shutterstock
#37. Georgia (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.4% (279,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 14.7% (1.59 million people)
Charles Knowles // Shutterstock
#37. Idaho (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.4% (56,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.5% (314,010 people)
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kan_khampanya // Shutterstock
#35. Washington (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.8% (213,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.2% (1.25 million people)
marchello74 // Shutterstock
#35. Illinois (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 17.8% (373,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.6% (2.10 million people)
Josemaria Toscano // Shutterstock
#34. Oregon
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 18% (148,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.6% (789,896 people)
ESB Professional // Shutterstock
#33. Pennsylvania
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 18.3% (466,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 19.0% (2.46 million people)
Joe Hendrickson // Shutterstock
#32. Missouri
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 18.6% (203,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.6% (1.08 million people)
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#31. New York
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 18.9% (669,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.5% (3.48 million people)
Derek Olson Photography // Shutterstock
#30. North Carolina
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.1% (367,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.0% (1.80 million people)
TFoxFoto // Shutterstock
#29. Louisiana
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.3% (147,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.6% (766,330 people)
KYPhua // Shutterstock
#27. Indiana (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.5% (219,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.4% (1.12 million people)
TierneyMJ // Shutterstock
#27. California (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.5% (1.18 million people)
– Population ages 65+: 15.2% (5.96 million people)
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Sherry V Smith // Shutterstock
#26. Virginia
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.6% (277,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.3% (1.41 million people)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
#25. Oklahoma
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.7% (126,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.2% (645,174 people)
Canva
#24. Texas
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 19.9% (788,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 13.2% (3.89 million people)
Tony Savino // Shutterstock
#21. Wisconsin (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 20.1% (205,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.9% (1.05 million people)
Joseph Sohm // Shutterstock
#21. Maine (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 20.1% (63,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 21.7% (297,101 people)
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Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
#21. Nevada (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 20.1% (114,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.5% (519,568 people)
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#20. Utah
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 20.9% (79,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 11.6% (388,120 people)
Paul Gana // Shutterstock
#18. Colorado (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 21% (182,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 15.1% (880,167 people)
f11photo // Shutterstock
#18. New Jersey (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 21% (341,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.9% (1.56 million people)
Jon Bilous // Shutterstock
#17. Montana
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 21.1% (49,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 19.7% (217,298 people)
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Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock
#16. New Hampshire
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 22% (65,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 19.3% (267,741 people)
MNStudio // Shutterstock
#13. Hawaii (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 22.1% (62,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 19.6% (282,567 people)
C Model // Shutterstock
#13. Wyoming (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 22.1% (23,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.9% (103,822 people)
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock
#13. Massachusetts (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 22.1% (271,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.4% (1.22 million people)
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
#12. North Dakota
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 22.7% (29,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.0% (123,840 people)
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Big Joe // Shutterstock
#11. Rhode Island
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 22.9% (48,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.3% (200,201 people)
Grindstone Media Group // Shutterstock
#10. Iowa
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 23.3% (130,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 17.8% (567,581 people)
Real Window Creative // Shutterstock
#9. Maryland
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 23.4% (234,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.3% (1.00 million people)
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
#7. Minnesota (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 23.5% (215,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.8% (959,272 people)
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
#7. Washington D.C. (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 23.5% (20,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 12.8% (85,615 people)
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Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
#6. Kansas
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 23.8% (116,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.7% (489,676 people)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
#5. Connecticut
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 24.3% (164,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 18.0% (649,172 people)
Mary Swift // Shutterstock
#4. Alaska
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 24.7% (24,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 13.4% (98,410 people)
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
#2. Nebraska (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 25% (77,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 16.4% (322,833 people)
haveseen // Shutterstock
#2. Vermont (tie)
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 25% (36,000 people)
– Population ages 65+: 20.6% (133,173 people)
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Steven Frame // Shutterstock
#1. South Dakota
– Labor force participation among ages 65+: 26.7% (Estimated 42,000)
– Population ages 65+: 17.6% (157,883 people)
Note: Labor force participation data for South Dakota seniors was not available from BLS, so Stacker used data from a South Dakota Department of Labor report. Stacker estimated the state’s 65+ labor force based on available Census Bureau data. Since the data comes from two sources, there may be some discrepancies in actual values and comparisons.

Founded in 2017, Stacker combines data analysis with rich editorial context, drawing on authoritative sources and subject matter experts to drive storytelling.
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