INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
an event in San Francisco, and followed up with a friendly informational interview at a Mexican restaurant
It was from these conversations that they created Clearbanc, the Canada-based VC firm that specializes in non-dilutive revenue share
agreements for startups.Startups with coupled co-founders at the helm are scoring big funding rounds and exiting companies
Julia and Kevin Hartz co-founded Eventbrite, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018
Married couple Diane Greene and Mendel Rosenblum were on the co-founding team of VMware, which sold to Dell in 2015
for their logistics startup, including a $97 million Series C from Brookfield and Sequoia
The solution is a simple rule enforced by an iPhone alarm
All work-related talk must cease after 8pm every day after the alarm goes off
They co-founded Anomalie, a wedding dress customization startup that has raised $18.1 million
Instead of vacationing to Bora Bora the day after their wedding, the newlywed founders hopped on a plane to China, where Leslie stayed for a
couple of months to set up the supply chain for Anomalie
not talking about wedding dresses
warming up to married co-foundersClearbanc wants to make it easier and faster for startups to raise growth capital
Their 20-minute term sheet product is meant to help founders raise money in 20 minutes, rather than the traditional 3 to 6 months the
them as a couple, especially since they had only been dating for a year at that point
This, they felt, proved that fear of investing in a couple was a false sense of increased risk.It seems investors today agree
entirely sure about what it meant to invest in a company run by a married couple.Founders Vera and Jose met while studying together at
Harvard Business School before working at two separate Rocket Internet companies in Mexico and foundling Apli
The business model, product market fit and potential impact for the company were typical factors the fund mulled over before writing a
Besides the obvious personal chemistry, there was a professional chemistry between Vera and Jose
Investors could be wary of founder couples depending on the equity structure
If their finances are combined, a co-founder couple could own a supermajority of a startup
necessarily agree with that logic, though
demise of a startupSara and Josh Margulis founded Honeyfund, a honeymoon registry site, in 2006
Sara says that Honeyfund is different from popular wedding startups like Zola and The Knot in that the core product is a crowdfunding
together, our separation process would have been different
experience of divorcing her co-founder is informing new products and a marketing strategy as she continues to iterate on her startup
Post-divorce, Margulis has been working on a content-focused strategy at Honeyfund that will include a book and a podcast centered around
the idea of how couples can successfully navigate marriages
Aligned passions, equal motivation, complementary skillsets and industry experience are a baseline for any co-founder relationship, married
But being married to your co-founder includes unique challenges like time management and setting boundaries in the boardroom and in the
partner at Initialized Capital and former Y Combinator partner
Is remote work allowed? Who do we accept funding from and how do we deploy capital? Who do we hire for a key executive role? There are
And co-founder disharmony has been a key reason many startups flounder
advantage because they already have built-in communication tools in their relationship.Ulevitch says that for him, couples as co-founders is
In what she describes as a rare occasion when executives are not aligned on a decision, she says that a vote will take place, and then the
team will all commit to the final decision
to your co-founder is a secret weapon, according to Helena Price Hambrecht and Woody Hambrecht.Haus co-founders Helena Price Hambrecht and
Woody HambrechtHelena and Woody met during the pre-swipe era on OkCupid in 2012
a dive bar in the San Francisco Richmond neighborhood on a date that culminated in drinking 40s and watching rap videos on their phones in
We knew we were going to know each other for the rest of our lives
compulsory, expensive happy hours
In deciding where to put their money, younger consumers are thinking about their bodies, brand image, transparency, sustainability and
trends, no one can make a direct-to-consumer alcohol brand
They had that idea when they had a three-month-old baby
They work with a business coach who has a background in psychotherapy, and believe that all co-founders should go to therapy together,
Their journey to the mental health world started from a crisis within their own relationship
them had experienced therapy
It taught them how to communicate better, read each other and support each other better
While studying, she says she was exposed to how broken the mental health system in America is
Roni says that research showed 25% of Americans suffer from mental health complications, yet an entire two-thirds of that bucket has no
access to mental health care
The two founders both felt passionate about fixing this problem based on how instrumental therapy was in rescuing their own marriage
healthcare, has now raised $110 million, most recently a $50 million Series D
The product ideation for the company was integral to the relationship, and the company now has more than 100 employees
But when Talkspace was a young, 10-person startup, it was a lot harder
Roni notes that the co-founder relationship provoked extreme anxiety
However, overall, her experience has been that sharing a mission and a goal empowers the marriage, a healthy inverse.Co-founder couples rave
about the experience of running a business with their spouse
exits.The married co-founder dynamic appears to be great for business, but time will tell if it works as equally well for marriages.
