Falling in love and getting married is a wonderful journey, but there’s a troublesome part in between all of 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. As of 2023, Hello Prenup is worth $1.5 million.
About the Founders
Julia Rodgers is the legal head of the company. She comes from a family of lawyers in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned a law degree from Suffolk University Law School and took entrepreneurial classes at Simmons University.
The one who takes care of the technical aspect of the business is Sarabeth Jaffe. She 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 at established firms while in college. After graduating, she was hired as a divorce attorney at Mavrides Law Boston.
Establishing the Company
Over the years Julia has talked to thousands of clients about what they wanted from a prenup, their worries, and their concerns. The insights she received inspired her to start an affordable and quick online platform.
She teamed up with Sarabeth to start working on the business. They launched Hello Prenup in 2021 with ambitious plans of disrupting 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 stake 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 featuring on Shark Tank, Hello Prenup’s sales increased by 600%, and are the number one source online for prenup information. They have also been 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 their own updates on HelloPrenup.com, which features The HelloPrenup podcast for relationship and life advice. In addition to the Sharks, the founder of LegalZoom, Brian Liu is also an investor.
Julia and Sarabeth haven’t shared any revenue figures but their company is worth an estimated $1.5 million. It’s still too early to tell whether the company will be a success. Although millennials will inherit millions from their parents, some might prefer to pay more for a lawyer to ensure the prenup is 100% ironclad.
