How do families beat the third-generation curse?

The third-generation curse — the tendency for family wealth to dissipate by the third generation — is beaten by families that deliberately nurture the entrepreneurial spirit across generations rather than treating wealth as a given. The families that succeed create structures that give each generation meaningful responsibility, genuine stakes, and the freedom to take entrepreneurial risks within a defined framework. A family project committee is one such structure.

What is a family project committee?

A family project committee is a governance structure that gives members of the family — typically the second and third generation — responsibility for specific initiatives: new investments, family philanthropy, operational improvements in a family business, or other projects with a defined scope and budget. It serves two purposes: it produces real outcomes for the family, and it develops the judgment and accountability of the participants.

Insight · 15 April 2026

How to keep a family entrepreneurial across generations

A great lesson from a large European family that keeps the entrepreneurial spirit alive across 200 cousins through an investment committee with an unusual rule: the conversation does not start with money.

Great wealth almost always begins with an entrepreneurial act. Very few families manage to preserve that entrepreneurial spirit across generations. One that succeeded is a large European family, now two hundred cousins deep across multiple generations, that has found a way to make it work.

The family runs an investment committee dedicated entirely to projects proposed by family members. When a cousin brings an idea to the committee, the discussion does not begin with financials. It begins with three other questions:

Do we, as a family, believe in this project?
Is it aligned with what our family stands for?
Are we ready to stand behind this cousin in this particular venture?

If the answer to all three is yes, the committee does not merely write a cheque. The family rallies around the project: coaching, funding, introductions, sometimes real estate — whatever the group can bring to bear. The project becomes a collective endeavour, and its success becomes a shared expression of the family's identity.

This is a quiet but powerful design choice. It prevents the family's capital from becoming purely financial. It gives each generation a structured way to prove itself. And it keeps the entrepreneurial muscle exercised — the single most reliable way to keep an entrepreneurial family entrepreneurial across generations. Westwick helps families design mechanisms of this kind, adapted to their size, their culture, and the specific asset they are trying to protect.

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