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Aftermath
Concept: Aftermath ( www.mattersofdivorce.com) is a “one-stop-shop,” handling post-divorce administrative matters through a combination of its own services and referrals to trusted and vetted service providers such as attorneys and financial professionals. For an average fee of less than $1,000, and through one point of contact, Aftermath takes care of changing names on driver’s licenses, passports, social security cards and car titles, as well as handling more complicated transactions like dividing marital assets, splitting up retirement accounts and reviewing wills, trusts and estates.
Story: Aftermath was founded by Carlos Blanco, whose 24-year marriage came to an end in 2008 when his former wife filed for divorce. At that time, Blanco said he experienced first-hand a radical life transition and was overwhelmed by the amount of time and effort required to handle all the administrative matters. He turned to his divorce attorney for a referral to a company that could help manage or coordinate the transition and discovered that no one focused on post-divorce administration. He felt that he had stumbled upon a unique business opportunity.
Launched: July 2011
Management: Carlos Blanco, managing director. Blanco was most recently founder and managing director of the information technology sales and marketing firm, Next Level, which he sold two years ago. Board members are Philip J. Shechter; Robert Cabal; Nicholas Emanuel and Roberto Torok.
Financing: More than $500,000 in private equity raised via a private placement.
Recent milestone: Having Shechter join the board. “Phil is a well respected authority in this field, and he validated the business model and the need for the service,” said Blanco.
Biggest startup challenge: “Creating a service which never existed and getting the word out,” Blanco said.
Next step: To expand the business nationwide. To broaden its base of family law attorneys it works with and gets referrals from, Aftermath launched the Family Law Attorney Program, which offers attorneys website listings, a speaker’s bureau, press announcements, bylined articles and advertising promotions.
Strategy for next step: “We want to give the business a stress test of sorts by greatly ramping up the volume and working out the final kinks,” said board member Emanuel.
Ina Paiva Cordle
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