Six Questions, One Startup is a short-form profile series from the Vancouver Tech Journal spotlighting the founders and startups shaping Vancouver's tech scene — in their own words and in under 50 words per answer.
Jointly is a Vancouver-based legal tech startup using technology to make prenuptial, cohabitation, and postnuptial agreements more accessible and affordable for Canadian couples — founded by two BC lawyers who saw firsthand how difficult it can be for ordinary people to access reliable legal services. The company recently won the People's Choice Award at the Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum's Women in Tech Pitch Showcase.
We spoke to co-founder Amanda Baron.
1. What problem were you personally obsessed with when you decided to start this company?
I am personally obsessed with changing the way Canadians access legal help. The traditional model is expensive and inaccessible, which leads to significant unmet needs - particularly in the area of family law. We want to remove the barriers that prevent people from accessing legal services, and hopefully contribute to fewer families ending up in costly and traumatic court proceedings if their relationships don’t work out as planned.
2. Why did you choose to build this company in Vancouver?
My co-founder and I both grew up in Saskatchewan, but we met in Vancouver when we started our legal careers at a large national law firm. I’ve built my entire legal career here and have deep roots in the community. I can’t imagine a better place to keep building.
3. Explain your product like you’re talking to a 10-year-old.
Jointly is an online platform where couples can draft legally compliant, personalized prenuptial and cohabitation agreements. It’s $429 to build an agreement on our platform. That's up to 90% savings compared to a lawyer. And critically — every clause was written by lawyers. Not AI. Not generic templates. Province-specific, plain language agreements that couples can actually understand.
4. How did you get your very first customer?
Jointly is Canada’s first digital family law platform - which means we had a lot of work to do on educating consumers when we started! We used a combination of marketing strategies - SEO, GoogleAds, PR and paid and organic social media - to build brand and product awareness. Our users come to us from all of these channels.
Jointly co-founders Aimee Schalles and Amanda Baron. Photo: Jointly
5. What was the scrappiest or most unconventional thing you did early on?
My co-founder Aimee and I are very scrappy in general. If I had to choose the scrappiest thing we did, it’s probably building our platform ourselves without hiring a developer. We’re both lawyers by trade, so it was a brand new experience for both of us. I have to give Aimee credit for her incredible skills on the tech side!
6. What’s one lesson you learned the hard way that you wish you’d known sooner?
This goes back to the scrappiness! Aimee and I both have a tendency to be very hands on in all aspects of the business. It’s incredible what you can accomplish with a small team with the advances in AI and the powerful tools that are available. That being said, moving faster still requires finding the right team and being able to delegate to them so that we can focus on driving strategy. We’re still working on that!