4 days ago
The Shift: Emeraude is the successful startup's startup
A group of NWA partners launched Emeraude, a sort of "family office for hire" to solve the puzzle for entrepreneurs who need one, but don't (yet) require full-time staff.
Why it matters: Baby boomers are projected to pass down between $84–$124 trillion by 2048 in the Great Wealth Transfer, so many entrepreneurs are seeing a need for family office services to help transition their assets to the next generation.
Between the lines: A family office is a structured business outside of a corporation that deals specifically with the owner's wealth and affairs, and frequently manages its philanthropy and estate planning.
State of play: They're the sort of headaches most startups covered in The Shift hope to one day have — how to grow the business, transfer it to the kids or organize governance around philanthropy.
Emeraude (the French word for emerald, but the Arkie pronunciation sounds like Emma-road) of Rogers can help do those things, aligning a family's values with its growth and legacy planning.
It isn't a wealth management or investment company, managing partner Graham Cobb told me. Emeraude will help "oversee wealth."
Case in point: Graham gave an example of a business owner wanting to build a mixed-use commercial property, but no one in the company has any particular expertise in the work involved.
"'We don't want to put it out to bid, because we're going to get gouged,'" he said of a scenario conversation. "'And we don't want to start a construction firm, and we don't want to start a property development firm.' So those are all things that family offices can do for the individual" that Emeraude can now handle.
Behind the scenes: The new company stands alone, but is chaired by Jim Smith and vice-chaired by Rebecca Hurst, who together run the Smith-Hurst law firm of Rogers.
Kristin Baldwin, chief operating officer at Smith-Hurst, also is a managing partner.
What they're saying:"We can provide accounting and financial services, personnel and office management for [an entrepreneur's] businesses, as well as their day-to-day life," he said.
"Managing some of that lifestyle concierge," like bespoke travel, Cobb said.
"Even help you understand and access emerging health services and information. These are all things that successful individuals think about and want in their lives."
