When startups become a family business

This season in Build Mode, we dive into what it takes to build a world-class founding team. This week we explore different types of co-founder dynamics and what it takes to build a startup with your family. Building with a family member or spouse comes with big benefits like built-in trust and an “always on” mentality, but it can also create challenges when all of the startup risks come from one family.

Build Mode’s Isabel Johansen sat down with Hala Jalwan and Alessio Trisanti, married couple and co-founders of Rivio, an AI-powered procurement startup. Galwan and Trisanti both believe in implementing their ideas and love building things together, from community events to cross-country road trips. They found that they naturally took simple ideas and exploded them to their fullest potential. So when they came up with the idea for Rivio, they were confident they would be able and willing to commit fully.

As Rivio grows, it has two main takeaways: First, its co-founders must have clearly defined paths. Second, it’s a good idea to appoint a third co-founder to act as a tie-breaker.

Rivio’s third co-founder and CTO is Leo Larrere. “It’s great because honestly he fits right into this relationship,” Trisanti said of Larrier. “It’s clearly a relationship between three founders. He’s also the one who brings reason to the conversation and can draw the line sometimes.”

In the second half of the episode, Johansson speaks with Anna Sun, co-founder of Nowadays, an AI co-pilot for corporate event planning that she launched with her sister Amy shortly after graduating from MIT. Sun talked about how the two built their team from friends and former co-workers, creating a community-based culture. There is an inherent trust, not only between the sisters-turned-co-founders, but also throughout the team as a whole.

“Because we are sisters, we trust each other so much that I remember before, when I would initiate ideas with friends, I would always feel, ‘Oh, I don’t want to step on the other person’s toes,’ or ‘I don’t know if those comments are too direct,'” Sun said. “But because we grew up in the same house, we have a lot of the same values, and we’re very direct with each other. We don’t want to waste time.”

These conversations highlight how founders can build a truly effective and happy team as long as there is a foundation of trust, clearly defined ownership, and a desire to handle conflict with respect.

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Isabel Johansson is our host. Build mode Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development is led by Morgan Little. And special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.