Falling in love and getting married is a wonderful journey, but there’s a troublesome part in between this: the prenuptial agreement. Legal tech firm Hello Prenup was created to make things easier. Founders Julia Rodgers and Sarabeth Jaffe took it to Shark Tank and scored a deal with Nirav Tolia and Kevin O’Leary. After the show, Hello Prenup is worth $22 million.
The Founders
Julia Rodgers is the CEO and comes from a family of lawyers in Boston, Massachusetts. Rodgers earned a law degree from Suffolk University Law School and took entrepreneurial classes at Simmons University.
Sarabeth Jaffe takes care of the technical aspect of the business.. Jaffe is a software engineer from Seattle, Washington, and has a computer science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Jaffe has worked for companies like Microsoft, Unloop, and Karat. Rodgers worked as a paralegal while in college. After graduating, she worked as a divorce attorney at Mavrides Law Boston.
Establishing Hello Prenup
Over the years Julia has talked to thousands of clients about what they wanted from a prenup, their worries, and concerns. The insights gained inspired her to start an affordable and quick online platform.
She teamed up with Sarabeth and launched Hello Prenup in 2021 with plans to disrupt a $550 million market. According to Business Insider, a typical prenuptial agreement can cost $2,500 to $10,000. With Hello Prenup, customers only need to pay $599 and get a prenuptial agreement in hours instead of months.
Unfortunately, the startup struggled with software issues in the early days. Because of this, they only managed to write over 25 prenups and made $20,000 in lifetime sales. It’s clear the founders needed help.
Shark Tank Appearance
In late 2021, Julia and Sarabeth entered the Tank during season 13. The female entrepreneurs arrived wearing wedding dresses and asked for $150,000 in exchange for 10% equity. The duo predicted the company would make $4.1 million in revenue in 2021 despite not being profitable.
The Sharks couldn’t help but laugh as the business was still in the early stages. This caused Kevin O’Leary to back out early and others followed suit.
Guest investor Nirav Tolia was the only one left. He proposed $150,000 for 30%, but the founders thought the equity was too high. So, they asked if someone else was willing to split the deal. Mr. Wonderful stepped back in, and $150,000 for 30% was split between the two Sharks.
After Shark Tank
Since appearing on Shark Tank, Hello Prenup’s sales increased by over 14000%, and they’ve become the top source online for prenup information. The startup has also featured in publications such as CNN and Forbes, and are slowly expanding into more states.
HelloPrenup is available in 32 states, created 2,000+ prenups and has saved couples $2,140,000 (and counting). They started publishing updates on HelloPrenup.com, which features a podcast for relationship and life advice. In addition to the Sharks, the founder of LegalZoom, Brian Liu is an investor.
As of March 2024, lifetime sales have surpassed $3 million and the company is worth $22 million. Although millennials will inherit millions from their parents, some might prefer to pay more for a lawyer to ensure the prenup is 100% ironclad.
