My wife Erin came to work for Matasano a couple years ago, and while she might express some reservations, I'd say it's been an unalloyed positive in our relationship and for the business.

For the relationship, working with Erin has I think made long hours and at-times-fanatical devotion to the company more bearable. For instance, she is "by default" included in the happenings of the company and in the work (Erin develops and consults with us); before she joined up, it was too easy to clam up about what I was working on, because who wants to explain the details of a long, tedious, crappy day?

For the company, the win is that we get a strong technical resource with huge flexibility in compensation and scheduling. We take a tax-advantaged joint income from the company. And we can switch-hit taking care of the kids; since we're both working on the same thing, there's less tension working out who's staying home when one of them gets sick or when they have a day off from school.

Apparently this is a well-known minefield, and so I'm hesitant to write all this stuff up knowing that it could all blow up in our faces down the road. But it's been a couple years now, and while I can't say they've been drama-free, I'm think the decision has vindicated itself.