Hiring a divorce attorney before getting married? That just felt so pessimistic for Suffolk Law School alumna and CEO of Hello Prenup Julia Rodgers.
As a former divorce attorney, Rodgers frequently helped clients with prenups and wanted to create a better way for happy couples to protect themselves before tying the knot. That is when she founded Hello Prenup, the first online platform to create and purchase a prenuptial agreement without an attorney.
Hello Prenup landed a deal on Shark Tank, an ABC reality show in which entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to a panel of industry giants. The company’s revenue doubled in 2023 and is projected to triple in 2024, Jaffe told Shark Tank Recap.
Rodgers was working at a small family law firm in Downtown Boston when the idea came to her.
“Prenups exist in the world already, so that’s great, but how are we utilizing or leveraging technology to make them more accessible to people that otherwise may just not get them?” Rodgers said.
Rodgers soft-launched Hello Prenup in March 2020. The company’s now co-founder and CTO Sarabeth Jaffe reached out to her and the pair decided to start working together.
“She had actually found me because she got engaged and she was a software engineer and she found Hello Prenup and she said, ‘wow, this is exactly what I need,’” said Rodgers.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were forced to work on the company over Zoom for four months before Shark Tank reached out and asked if they’d be interested in applying to appear on the show. They did not meet in person until the night before their slot to film their pitch.
“Shark Tank definitely wanted us to share that story because it is a true pandemic entrepreneurial journey,” said Rodgers.
When creating their pitch, Rodgers and Jaffe wanted to figure out a way to make the seemingly mundane topics of prenups and law sound fun and exciting. They did so by making the topics a little more relatable.
“Most of us have divorced parents at this point, so we’ve all experienced divorce in some way. We all know someone who’s gone through it and had a really bad experience. And what we’re doing is connecting the mission of the company with the audience’s understanding of that need,” said Rodgers.
Rodgers went into the Tank thinking although there was a good chance for them, they probably were not going to get a deal. She felt as if they had already made it with their television appearance.
“I mean once you get to the point you’re on Shark Tank, you’re like ‘whether I get a deal or not, I’ve made it because I’ve had the opportunity to tell the world about my product,’” said Rodgers.
Rodgers started working on Hello Prenup full-time in early 2022, after their Shark Tank episode aired in November 2021.
The most surprising aspect of the filming process was the silence — the iconic Shark Tank music that plays when the entrepreneurs walk out is edited during episode production.
“When you’re walking down the hallway. There is no music. It’s dead silent,” said Rodgers.
The entire filming process took about 90 minutes, but it is edited down to a six minute segment of the show. A few of Rodgers’ favorite conversations didn’t make the final cut.
Mark Cuban talked about customer acquisition and Lori Greiner talked to them about how innovative their company is and how much prenups can protect women.
“You start talking to them and you’re like, they’re just normal people,” said Rodgers.
Rodgers and Jaffe scored a deal with the Guest Shark of the night, founder of Nextdoor Nirav Tolia, and with Canadian business mogul Kevin O’Leary.
“They’ve been really incredible advisors all the way through. They’re available when I need them, they are very respectful of how we run our company and that they’re not trying to take over and tell us what to do. They are just really wonderful business partners,” said Rodgers.
Hello Prenup’s television appearances did not stop there. In January, Rodgers, Jaffe and the Shark Tank crew came to Suffolk to film a follow-up episode on the company’s success. They also filmed a wedding ceremony at Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street with Suffolk undergraduate students as the guests.
Rodgers advice to young entrepreneurs is to be passionate and excited about their projects.
“Even if it’s something really small, like you’re innovating on the nail file, be really passionate about your reason behind doing that. Then find people to work with who are just as passionate as you are and you will have an unstoppable team,” said Rodgers.
