The Startup Family Office: Agile Processes And Governance That Grows

Forbes

25-05-2025

Bringing together governance and processes is like weaving a masterpiece.
In the early days of a family office, few things matter more than alignment. This includes clarity around operations, decision-making, roles, and the long-term purpose of the office.
Governance plays a critical role here, not as a layer of bureaucracy, but as a flexible framework that evolves with the family. In startup terms, think of it as your early product spec. It should be just structured enough to reduce confusion, but open enough to adapt over time.
Before building anything, it helps to learn from others. Peer groups and informal networks can offer perspective and help validate your thinking. As David Werdiger, an Australian family enterprise advisor, puts it, 'Families tend to be open and generous with their time, and early conversations can help surface a broader set of options and validate your thinking through social proof.'
Startups grow by staying nimble. They rely on flat structures, fast learning, and clear expectations. Family offices can take a similar approach. Governance doesn't need to start with committees and policy manuals. It begins with shared understanding.
Christian Schiede, a German family business advisor and STEP practitioner, adds a word of caution. 'Scaling is rarely the objective when starting a family office,' he notes. 'So benchmarking without a clear vision can lead to copying a bootstrap setup that is not scalable.' Inspiration is helpful—but only if grounded in your family's own goals.
Before drafting formal structures, begin with a few key questions:
Lise Møller, a governance advisor to family businesses who has worked with FBN, IMD, INSEAD, and EY, also notes that answering these early helps reduce confusion during execution. Especially when hiring or onboarding external advisors.
It is tempting to assign titles early on. But in the early stages of a family office, clarity around what needs to be done is more important than job labels or hierarchy.
David Werdiger advises thinking of roles as functions. Begin by identifying the responsibilities that need to be fulfilled—whether that's overseeing investments, coordinating philanthropic activity, or managing operations. Then decide whether each function is best handled in-house, outsourced, or shared across structures like single-family or multi-family offices.
Once functions are defined, it becomes much easier to outline how decisions are made. A simple RACI model can help here. It clarifies who is responsible, who is accountable, who needs to be consulted, and who simply needs to be informed. This prevents confusion, avoids duplication, and brings structure without unnecessary complexity.
Speed matters in any entrepreneurial venture, but without structure, decisions often get stuck or second-guessed. Mapping out decision flows early—before your system is stress-tested—can prevent frustration later on. It can be as simple as answering a few key questions: Who approves investments? How are budgets allocated? When is consensus required, and when can someone act independently?
A one-page reference for how these decisions are handled will save time and reduce ambiguity. Schiede encourages families to take it one step further by embedding these flows into systems. Automating workflows from the outset not only builds consistency but also lays the groundwork for more agentic, AI-supported governance in the future.
Before building formal boards or committees, consider starting with an informal advisory group. This is a common early move for startups and works just as well in a family office context.
Form a small group that might include a trusted advisor, a next-generation family member, and someone with operational experience. Meet quarterly. Keep it informal. Their role is not to direct, but to reflect, challenge, and support. This lightweight structure fosters rhythm and accountability without bureaucracy. It also creates space for next-gen members to learn and contribute early.
Schiede continues on the topic of external advice, 'Move fast and break things may work in the startup world, but only if supported by short feedback loops and a strong learning culture.' This is often unfamiliar territory for professionals from traditional wealth backgrounds. Hiring with a different lens may be necessary.
Good governance is practical. You don't need a policy manual, but you do need written reference points to avoid confusion later. Start with simple documentation that covers:
This kind of alignment often takes the form of a short family charter. Increasingly, though, families are adopting what governance advisor Anne-Sofie van den Born Rehfeld, CEO at Harbour, calls an ownership strategy—a more human-centered approach to codifying shared values and expectations.
'Creating an ownership strategy doesn't just clarify business,' Rehfeld says. 'It brings clarity, direction, and often a surprisingly enormous sense of relief.'
The document itself is only half the story. 'It's not just the outcome. It's the process,' she adds. Co-creating these frameworks builds trust and sets a foundation for generational alignment.
Schiede reinforces this point: 'If alignment of values substitutes hierarchy and structures, the family charter is key. Its strength doesn't come from its length, but from the quality of its co-creation. Skip this step, and you risk the whole operation.'
Governance is not about control. It is about clarity. It gives your family office the structure to grow with purpose and adaptability.
Alex Kirby, founder of Total Family Management, puts it well in a recent article, 'The role of family offices is evolving beyond traditional estate, trust, and financial planning. Vision, encompassing purpose, values, and shared goals, is becoming a foundational practice.'
When families commit to this kind of proactive governance, they don't just build systems. They build culture. The result is less regret, stronger alignment, and more resilient legacies.
The most successful family offices don't wait until everything is perfect. They start early, learn fast, and refine along the way.