Matt Lauzon, a well-known entrepreneur in Boston’s tech community, has moved back to his home state of Maine and taken a job as Head of Product for X2X, a startup in Yarmouth working to disrupt the $50 billion divorce industry.

mattlauzon
Matt Lauzon

Lauzon, 31, recently moved back to his hometown of Biddeford after winding down a Boston-based startup he founded in 2013 called Dunwello. Before that he was founding CEO of Gemvara, a Boston-based online custom jewelry business he founded while still a student at Babson College in 2006. He raised $51 million in venture capital for Gemvara before stepping down as CEO in 2012. His past experiences landed him on Inc. Magazine’s 2011 “30 Under 30″ list and Business Week’s “Top Entrepreneurs Under the Age of 25″ and made him a well-known player in Boston’s tech scene.

X2X, which CEO Mark MacMahon has referred to it as the TurboTax for divorce, has flown under the radar until only recently. The divorce industry in the United States is worth roughly $50 billion, and X2X is developing a suite of online tools aimed at helping to simplify the process for divorcing couples. The company currently has four full-time employees, and two part-timers, according to MacMahon. Maine Startups Insider reported last week that X2X is getting ready to close a $1 million seed round.

“We are excited to have Matt on board given his passion, drive and integrity and see the huge value he brings to X2X as we tackle the challenging divorce legal tech market,” MacMahon told Maine Startups Insider.

The news is a surprise — even to Lauzon — because his stated intention was not to jump into another full-time role, but instead consult for a select few Maine startups.

“If you were to ask me three months ago — or even a month ago — if I would join something full time I think I would have said with 100 percent certainty that I wouldn’t,” Lauzon said on Thursday.

So, what changed his mind? Lauzon said it was a combination of being impressed with the X2X team — “they are truly world class” — and the opportunity to work on a project that has real impact in peoples’ lives.

Lauzon is bullish on the company’s prospects.

“I believe there is a real opportunity to build a multi-billion-dollar tech company here in Maine, and I believe that opportunity is X2X,” Lauzon said.

MacMahon sought out Lauzon when he learned he was moving back to Maine. It resulted in one of about 50 meetings Lauzon had over the past several months with potential clients or collaborators in Maine. Lauzon narrowed it down to three companies he was interested in working for, including X2X. So he started working as a part-time consultant with the company.

“After a few weeks of working a couple days a week I found myself thinking more and more that I could picture myself doing this full time,” Lauzon said. “Turns out they were thinking the same thing and so we decided to make it work.”

As Head of Product, Lauzon sees his responsibilities include some mix of marketing, product management, and user experience.

“For me, I feel like it’s really important the product is simple to use and is something that resonates with all the stakeholders involved in the process. You’re not talking about one or even two users. In many cases, you have a couple divorcing, children are involved, mediators, lawyers, financial planners, therapists and all those people have different lenses into how they see the world,” Lauzon said. “I see my job as answering the question: How do we simplify everything so we’re adding value for everyone involved?”

Besides joining Maine’s startup community, Lauzon is also hoping to get into politics. He is running for Maine House District 12 seat as an unenrolled candidate.