Emily Schrader and Yoseph Haddad launched their own show, “Headlines with the Haddads.” Photo courtesy of Emily Schrader Building a business while building a marriage and family takes extraordinary devotion and teamwork, say Israeli entrepreneurs.
If you had to name an Israeli power couple, some glitzy pairs may come to mind: Gal Gadot and Yaron Varsano or Quentin Tarantino and Daniella Pick, perhaps.
You probably never heard of the couples below. Yet each one deserves the moniker “power couple.”
Not because they’re rich and famous but because they built businesses alongside building marriage and family.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, ISRAEL21c asked these entrepreneurial couples ,power couple about the pros and cons of working together and whether they draw a line between their personal and professional relationships (spoiler alert: they don’t).
GILAD HERTANU (cofounder and CEO) and LIAT MORDECHAY HERTANU (cofounder and CMO), 24me Liat and Gilad Hertanu say they learn from each other’s different perspectives. Photo courtesy of Liat and Gilad Hertanu Gilad and Liat, both air force veterans, were computer science students when they met on a blind date. They later worked for separate Tel Aviv startups, got married in 2004 and moved to St. Louis in 2007 to pursue master’s degrees in business administration at Washington University.
By the time they came back to Israel in 2011, they had two children and would soon have another.
“With three little kids, we felt overwhelmed with daily life management,” says Liat. So they made another “baby” together, founding 24me in 2012.
The startup’s flagship smart personal assistant app has been downloaded by millions of people in more than 30 languages. Their GroupCal app followed in 2020 and a new version for small and medium businesses will be released this month.
ISRAEL21c spoke with the couple over Zoom while Gilad was at the 24me office in Or Yehuda and Liat was in their home office in Ganei Tikva, the central Israeli city where they are raising four children, aged 14, 12, 10 and two and a half.
“We have no boundary between our personal and professional relationship,” says Gilad. “24me is part of our life all day and all night, but in a very natural way. We’re very devoted to what we do.”
Best aspects of working together Photo courtesy of Liat and Gilad Hertanu Gilad and Liat said their success as business partners is based on good communication and synchronicity and learning from one another’s very different ways of seeing things.
“We bring mutual forces to the table. We can openly talk about our differences and appreciate the other’s strengths and weaknesses,” says Gilad. “We can leverage our strengths and we don’t have to be defensive about our weaknesses.”
Liat says that working together toward the same goals “eliminates all the problems of ego. And as a mom, it’s easier for me to work with my husband than for somebody else. The overall experience is enjoyable because we really love each other and enjoy the time we spend together.”
Challenging aspects of working together
“Financially, when you work as a couple you are taking a big risk because you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. It’s not an easy decision but if it works well, it works well. If not, it can cause problems in the relationship itself,” says Liat.
“Anyone considering working as a couple needs to think about that and understand if they can manage financially for some time. In a startup, the chances of succeeding are not that high. You not only need to work without a salary at first, but you also need to invest your own money into the company.”
Tips
Liat: “You must define each one’s position and responsibilities. For us it is very clear — Gilad is the CEO and I’m the CMO.“And you must have the right network of support for your family. We had `huge support from our parents when our kids were young. If you don’t have that from your family, you need to hire help because you cannot do everything on your own.”Gilad: “If you have a good foundation as a couple, working together can add another brick to that strong wall and make you more resilient. But if the foundations are weak, the wall might fall.“If you have a relationship where you can communicate openly, working with your spouse can be a huge reinforcement and contribution to a business, better than any other partner you can have.” Reem and Imad Younis say their business is like another child. Photo courtesy of the Younis family Reem and Imad […]
source 5 power couples reveal how they mix love with business
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