When entrepreneurs sell a company or experience a major liquidity event, they often assume the hardest part is behind them. But as many discover, managing wealth can be just as complex—and in some ways more challenging—than creating it. And that’s where understanding how a family office works can come in handy.
To understand what separates families who sustain wealth from those who lose it, I spoke with Kirby Rosplock, PhD, CEO of Tamarind Partners and Founder of Tamarind Learning, a platform focused on wealth education and next-generation preparedness. Having been born into a complex enterprising family herself, Rosplock has spent her career researching and advising family offices around the world. Her insights reveal that the most successful families don’t treat wealth as a static achievement—they treat it like a living, breathing enterprise.
Beyond the Liquidity Event: Redefining the “Why” of Wealth
According to Rosplock, entrepreneurs often make the mistake of assuming that managing wealth is simply an extension of running their business. “Right after a liquidity event, the first thing entrepreneurs want to do is immediately deploy and redeploy their assets,” she explains. “They tend to focus on the business of the wealth, sometimes leaving their families’ interest behind. There is often a disconnect between managing the wealth and thinking about the why of the wealth, and who it’s really meant to benefit.”
In her experience, family offices excel because they approach wealth as a long-term system designed to endure across generations. “The most successful family offices understand that wealth isn’t just about the money,” Rosplock says. “They focus on thinking through the why of the wealth, who it’s meant to benefit, and how to plan for long-term growth and preservation.”
That focus on the “why” is what distinguishes family offices from entrepreneurs still in “builder mode.” The mindset shifts from risk-taking and growth-at-all-costs to stewardship, governance, and resilience.
Turning Wealth into an Operating Enterprise
Rosplock describes the best-run family offices as organizations that “treat wealth like an operating business, not a vault.”
“Most families don’t just put their wealth in a vault and walk away,” she says. “They think about how to generate income and grow it. That turns the family office into an operating entity, a way to fund new ventures and explore opportunities that they might not have considered previously.”
That operational mindset extends into governance. Family offices often have formal boards or owners’ councils that oversee investment strategy, trust and estate management, and policies for family employment and involvement. “Day-to-day, there are tactical tasks like reconciling accounts, paying taxes, or coordinating overseas operations,” Rosplock notes. “These tasks are essential to making the family office function smoothly.”
For entrepreneurs, this structure may feel foreign, but it’s a powerful lesson: wealth management isn’t passive. It demands cadence, oversight, and purpose—the same disciplines that made their companies successful in the first place.
Balancing Control and Empowerment
One of the hardest transitions for wealth creators is letting go. Rosplock sees many founders struggle with what she calls “control-freak energy,” born from a fear that the next generation isn’t ready. “Families that invest in preparing and educating their future owners tend to give them more space and trust,” she says. “The ones that let the next generation make mistakes and learn from them usually have the healthiest dynamics later on.”
At the same time, families must guard against the opposite problem—what she calls “trust fund burnout,” where inheritors feel constrained or disengaged. “Family members often wear a lot of hats – they might be an owner, a beneficiary, a trustee, or an operator,” Rosplock explains. “The key is knowing which hat you’re wearing and when.”
Transparency, communication, and clearly defined roles help keep everyone aligned. “When people are equipped and trusted to make decisions, you get adults with real agency, and founders who don’t feel they have to control everything,” she says.
Rethinking Legacy and Investment
While financial returns are always important, Rosplock says families increasingly prioritize resilience and purpose. “Every family wants returns, but there is also a growing focus on resilience,” she says. “Legacy is often misunderstood. The word comes from the Latin legare, which means passing forward ideas. The true meaning of legacy is about what continues—the communication, the intention, and the ideas that move forward.”
In other words, sustainable wealth isn’t just about compounding capital—it’s about compounding meaning.
The Family Office Mindset for Entrepreneurs
If entrepreneurs applied the same frameworks that family offices use, they might make different decisions about their time, investments, and relationships. “Entrepreneurs are used to doing everything, moving fast, and wearing a lot of hats,” Rosplock observes. “What family offices do really well is deploy patient capital; they’re thinking in terms of generations, not quarters.”
Her advice to entrepreneurs is simple but profound: start by clarifying your purpose. “The first move would be to get clear on the why,” she says. “It’s about stepping back from quick wins and short-term growth to focus on building something durable—something relevant and enduring for generations to come.”
In other words, whether you’re running a business or managing a fortune, the same truth applies: strategy, structure, and stewardship are what make success last.
