Founder Mode Episode 45 - Modernizing Prenups with Ronke Oyekunle

Welcome back to Founder Mode!

In this episode of Founder Mode, we talked about something most founders avoid.

Prenups.

Money.

Marriage.

Hard conversations.

Ronke Oyekunle is building Neptune, a company that modernizes prenups using AI and human lawyers. At first glance, it sounds cold. Legal. Transactional.

But the more we talked, the clearer it became.

This is not about divorce.

It is about alignment.

The Conversation Most Couples Avoid

Ronke said something that stuck with me:

“If you guys can have that conversation, if you can figure out, hey, if we do get separated, what does feel fair for me, for you? Because if you guys are on completely opposite sides of things, that is a signal.”

That line matters.

A prenup is not about planning to fail.

It is about stress testing the relationship before life stress tests it for you.

Money is one of the biggest drivers of divorce. Not always because of greed. Often, it is because of misalignment.

If you cannot talk about money calmly before marriage, it will be much harder after.

Why This Is Different Now

Couples today are not getting married at 22.

They are getting married in their 30s and 40s.

They have assets. Equity. Businesses. Crypto. Startup stock. Real estate.

They have different earning levels.

They have financial asymmetry.

They also watched their parents get divorced.

That changes how this generation thinks about marriage.

Ronke is not selling fear.

She is selling structure.

AI as the Guide, Humans as the Guardrails

What I appreciated most was the design.

This is not just a chatbot spitting out legal language.

Ronke combines AI with real lawyers.

The AI asks the hard questions. It educates. It prompts discussion. It surfaces blind spots.

Then a human expert steps in to apply nuance and judgment.

That combination is powerful.

We talk about AI a lot on this show. A lot of it is hype.

This felt real.

The Clause That Surprised Me

We talked about alimony and spousal support.

Most couples start with, “Let’s just waive it.”

Then they walk through real scenarios.

What if one spouse pauses their career for kids?

What if someone becomes disabled?

What if income stalls?

Suddenly, fairness becomes more complex.

And then there are pet clauses.

Yes, actual custody for the dog.

It sounds funny. Until you realize people fight over pets in divorce court.

If you can calmly decide who gets Frodo before marriage, that says something about your ability to communicate.

My Founder Take

Jason asked me what I learned from building companies with my wife and co-founders.

I said this:

“I definitely don't try to sugarcoat stuff. I’m pretty direct and just say what I’m thinking.”

That approach works in business.

It also works in relationships.

Hard conversations early are easier than hard conversations under pressure.

And this idea of having structure around those conversations makes sense.

Founders do scenario planning for their companies all the time.

Why not do it for your marriage?

5 Key Takeaways

Here are my Founder Mode five from this episode:

Couples are entering marriage later with assets and career imbalance. That changes the stakes.
Prenups create structured conversations about money before conflict happens.
General AI validates feelings. Vertical AI guides resolution.
AI prepares conversations. Human experts handle nuance and legal execution.
The hardest clauses often surface the deepest values and strengthen relationships.