Good morning! Gender plays a major role in presidential elections, the American Stroke Association addresses risks for women, and Millennials and Generation Z are getting prenups. Have a great Thursday.
– I do. Over the past few years, Libby Leffler has noticed a range of trends. Women were superior to men Obtaining university degrees; Single women I owned more homes than single men did; Women were poised to benefit from the next great $80 trillion wealth transfer.
Taken together, these trends boil down to a realization: that women – including young women – have assets to protect. Loeffler — who was Sheryl Sandberg’s first chief of staff at Facebook, where she worked from 2008 to 2015 — decided to launch a startup that would make it easier for women to determine their financial future when they get married.
Her company is called First, and it currently allows couples in California to complete prenuptial agreements online. Pre-marriage is becoming less stigmatized, and more common outside of the ultra-affluent demographic that has always relied on it. Leffler sees pre-wedding parties becoming part of an “essential personal package,” like getting a mammogram or getting a joint membership at Costco.
The company raised $4 million in a seed round, luck He is the first to report. The round was led by Expa and Springbank, with participation from Sarah Kunst’s Clio Capital and Karman Ventures. Kunst, who says she used the platform herself after it launched over the summer, says she invested because the startup fit its thesis of supporting “complicated consumer investments — things that are expensive, uninteresting, and difficult to deal with.” “Everyone has a pre-marriage phase,” adds Kunst. “Either the government writes it or the government does it.”
Millennials and Gen Z are more open to prenups because “they know how painful divorce is,” Leffler says. Forty-seven percent of millennials were engaged or married He said They have a prenup, according to a 2023 Harris Poll. “If your parents are divorced, you increasingly view the prenup as basic hygiene,” she says. They see prenuptial contracts as relevant regardless of the size of their assets — or even as a tool to prevent one partner from becoming responsible for taking on the other’s student loan debt. “They’re really about more than money,” Leffler says. “It’s about the things that matter to you, like your baseball card collection, your video game console. It could be about your grandmother’s jewelry. It could be about your dog.” Leffler herself obtained a prenuptial agreement before getting married in 2016.
First is part of a new generation of startups that are tackling the changing relationship expectations of millennial and Gen Z couples. Many are, for example, creating a new app for couples who are combining finances. First is not the only platform for filing legal claims online. Leffler says her startup stands out because its agreements are not “plug and play,” but are customized and designed to execute; The platform connects couples with lawyers. The cost of a couple’s first pre-marriage through the platform is $2,650, with additional fees for add-ons.
Leffler chose the name “first” because a prenuptial agreement is likely the first legal agreement many couples enter into together. She sees potential for the platform to expand first into other states and then into other categories — online divorce is a growing business, too — but she won’t specify which yet.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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Also in the headlines
– Gender gap. Data shows the gender gap in voting has widened, with men increasingly supporting Donald Trump while women remain Democrats. The preferences of younger voters had an impact on the divide – with 69% of women between the ages of 18 and 29 preferring Vice President Kamala Harris for president compared to 45% of young men who did. New York Times
– Take a position. Giselle Bellico stood during her husband’s trial in France, where he is being tried To drug and rape her and invite dozens of other men to do so. Pellicott requested an open trial and video footage of the alleged rapes be shown. Waiving anonymity, she told the court: “I want all women who have been raped to say: ‘Madame Bellicot did it, and I can do it too.’ “I don’t want them to feel ashamed anymore.” BBC
– Risk factors. For the first time, the American Stroke Association guidelines include risk factors specific to women, including early menopause, combined hormonal contraceptives, and endometriosis. Before adding this section, stroke prevention guidelines had not been updated in a decade. The hill
– Showing her scars. Kim Kardashian’s company Skims has launched a campaign during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with 10% of bra sales from October 23 to October 31 supporting the breast cancer organization. Actress Olivia Munn, who underwent a mastectomy while battling breast cancer, modeled for the campaign and showed off her scars. “The way my body looks is just a representation of how hard I fight,” she says. USA Today
Movers and shakers
NEXT Life Sciences, developer of male contraceptives, has been appointed Darlene Wally as CEO of Plan A. Most recently, she was Chief Business Development Officer at Pebble Life Sciences.
AKAM, a property management company, named after Daniela Lucetto Senior Vice President. She most recently served as Senior Vice President at Fetner Properties.
Redwood Capital Bank named Stephanie Bye Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer. Most recently, Pai served as Senior Vice President of Financial Crimes at Quontic Bank.
Named BlockFills, a company specializing in digital asset technology and trading Amy Shelley CFO. She was previously the CFO at an options clearing company.
Fusion92 has been appointed to market Daniel Aldrich As chief customer officer. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Business Development at Organic, part of Omnicom.
Food and Drug Administration His name Michelle Tarver Director of the Medical Devices Department; She has served as acting director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) since July. Previously, Tarver was the lead turnaround officer at CDRH.
On my radar
How did Florence Welch turn anger into strength? New York Times
The CVS website shows that women are being hired to do impossible jobs Bloomberg
Work wives are on the verge of extinction Marie Claire
Parting words
“As a woman, I oscillate between two things: that it costs nothing to be nice, and that women don’t owe you kindness. Both of these things are true.“
— Bridgerton actor Nicola Coughlan