This is the fourth story within our Startup Power Couples series. We'll be highlighting couples who both have a heavy hand in our local tech and venture ecosystem. Here's the first, second and third.
Little do you know, but the next networking event could lead you to your future life partner. (No pressure). Jess and Chase Garbarino are living proof of that. They first met while volunteering their time with TUGG several years ago. Now, they're married.
Chase is the co-founder and CEO of VentureApp, which connects startups with business solution providers, such as legal professionals and sales consultants. Previously, he co-founded Streetwise Media, a company that produces a certain publication called BostInno. You may have heard of it before - wink, wink.
Meanwhile, Jess co-founded Brunswick Park, a clothing startup offering smart apparel made from merino wool meant for professionals juggling work and play. The venture raised $80,000 on its Kickstarter last year, surpassing its goal by $55,000. Next week, it'll be popping up on Newbury Street. Before that, she worked at fama PR, a Boston-based public relations shop focused on tech.
I caught up with the Garbarinos and learned more about what it's like to be married to a fellow early-stage startup founder.
Olivia Vanni: How did the two of you first meet?
Jess Garbarino: Chase and I met at TUGG’s Tech Gives Back event in June 2011 so we’ve been together almost 6 years now.
OV: How do you help with one another's professional development?
JG: We are each customers of each other’s businesses, which means we are constantly giving each other the product feedback friends are too polite to give you. Also, I’m a first-time entrepreneur and Chase has already done this once. His advice on pitching, fundraising, managing financials, managing people and pretty much every other aspect of running a startup is invaluable to me. He’s my competitive advantage. But he is no fashion expert, so I vet that advice pretty heavily.
Chase Garbarino: As a fashion icon, I feel Jess really benefits from my product advice… I lean on Jess a lot for feedback on UX, new hires and messaging. She’s really strong in those areas which are critical to any startup. We also generally support each other by sending one another the link to Ben Horowitz’s “The Struggle” any time the going gets tough. If you haven’t read his post on the difficulty of startups, do it now.
OV: What's the chore situation look like at the Garbarino residence?
JG: Let’s put it this way, we have some lights in our condo that have been out for months now. And mail, don’t get me started on the amount of unopened envelopes we have on our counter. Because we are never home, a lot of household chores get pushed to the bottom of our lists. I’m definitely the cook (which isn’t saying much) – if I’m traveling I almost always come home to take out boxes.
CG: I do some stuff! I take out the trash…I throw out the unopened mail…I carry heavy stuff…but mostly I just throw stuff out.
OV: Anything that can get annoying?
JG: Chase has a full-on addiction to working. Just the thought of disconnecting gives him serious anxiety. To the point where I truly think if we hadn’t met he’d never walk away from his computer screen. I thrive off of social interaction so I manage to pull him away. It’s a healthy balance.
CG: I can’t do two things at once, I’m not Batman. Jess always wants to chat while I’m “screening out” – I don’t hear anything she says.
OV: What do you respect most about the other person?
JG: I’ve never seen anybody work as hard as Chase does; it’s inspiring and admirable. Combine that with the fact that I truly think he’s the smartest person I’ve ever met and he’s a force.
CG: Jess is both the most determined person I know and the most personable. Business is all about people, and she’s the best I know at assessing people and developing a connection with them. She’s also just got style, that can’t be taught.
JG: We also make each other laugh, even on the shittiest of work days. We couldn’t do what we do without that.
