I am 81 years old and my daughter is my boss. It’s wonderful.

This test as told is based on conversations With Liz MullerA 46 -year -old co -founder and CEO in Berkeley, California, and her father, Rich Muller, an inventor of 81 years and CTO. The father-daughter duo has launched many companies together.

The three prosperous companies they have created include: Berkeley Earth, a non -profit organization that provides critical data on climate science; Deep isolation, a nuclear waste disposal company; And Deep fissionA nuclear energy company buried small modular reactors a mile underground.

They shared their work experience and live together with the family. The following has been modified for duration and clarity.

Liz: Before working together, I had lived in France for about eight years, working as a director at the Organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD). Part of the reason for which I returned to the United States was the awareness that I was an entrepreneur and that I wanted to start my own business.

I couldn’t imagine a better person to start a business than my father, rich. He had spent years in energy and nuclear space and had all good expertise.

Rich:. She would be my boss and I would offer technical information.

Liz: We started a few first companies that have not taken off. Now we are both working at Deep Fission, our third prosperous company – it is the CTO and I am the CEO.

It is useful that we have different areas of interest

Liz: I have a commercial experience, and Rich is a fantastic inventor – he is one of his greatest strengths. Even better than that, it can invent on demand, which is a rare capacity.

Rich: It was wonderful work together. I felt blessed from the start. I praised everyone that my daughter was my boss. Here’s something you will rarely hear: she was my mentor, which was wonderful.

I am extremely impressed by his abilities. Once I asked: “Where did you learn all of this?” She said: “from you, dad”, a name she calls me at home, while we decide that she would call me by my first name during the work.

Working together as a father and daughter is not always easy, but it is significant

Liz: I am a co-inventor on several of our patents, but it is the technical engine. I really appreciate our strategy sessions. They are essentially a conversation in form free of everything and everything under the sun.

We found our best inventions in these sessions, but halfway, we could talk about what my children did the other day. It is not 100%business, making it richer and give exploration time to our brain, which opened us to ready -to -use ideas.

Sometimes we can disagree, but the family is the most important and he respects my judgment.

Rich: Work Your adult child is one of the greatest joys you can have as a parent.

My advice? Let them direct. Your child is no longer your student. They are your partner. This means respecting their judgment, abandoning the need to be right and to know when to take a step back so that they can shine.

Liz: People often ask what it is to build a business with my father. The truth is – it’s not always easy. The most difficult part is when you go through a difficult period or the company is taking significant milestones. But it is one of the most significant and gratifying parts of my career.

The best advice I can give is as follows: Be clear on the roles and head with respect. We stay in our ways, we question each other when it is important and we always ensure a good intention.

Living together as a father and daughter is practical

Rich: We all live together In this large, beautiful brown pebble house that was apartments. My wife and I originally moved as tenants and finally bought it.

It is four floors, and my wife is an architect, she therefore redesigned the soils three and four for Liz, her husband and our two grandchildren, who are 11 and 15 years old. We live in separate apartments, but I see them every day.

Interactions with Liz are very practical, and it works very well. During the covid, we were able to spend a lot of time killing our grandchildren, which was a blessing.

Liz: Rich makes me coffee every morning, which is charming. My children will always say hello leaving, and we dine together on Sunday.

Despite life in the same building, our biggest challenge is to find time to spend together. We are both occupied by work and other obligations that it is difficult to carve out Quality-to-face time.

Nevertheless, we prioritize it and try to do it at least once a week. I am sure that other household members can find boring how fast we can turn a family conversation to work, but we are trying to be aware of not doing it too often.

We have a complementary employment relationship, and we are proud of it

Liz: Our work dynamic triggered the idea of ​​a deep fission. Rich explored a question that a deep isolation client raised: what would happen if we put fresh fuel, instead of fuel spent, deep in a drilling? The analysis of this led to the invention of Rich of the deep drilling reactor.

Rich: But it was Liz who recognized the importance of the concept and has expanded many of the details. LIZ’s mastery of technology is very high. She recognized that we could potentially reduce the cost of nuclear energy by 80% by not needing the vast majority of construction.

It was an example of the importance of our complementary skills – I had the idea, but Liz’s business sense helped us recognize the value of the invention. It was an active back and forth, and we are co-inventing on the original patent.

Liz: We are both incredibly proud of the progress we have made with deep insulation and a deep fission. The industry’s response was incredible.

People light up when they realize what we build and the impact it could have on the future of nuclear. We are delighted with what awaits us and recognizing to build it together as a strong and complementary team.

Our secret of success is simple: we are equal

Liz: The secret of our success is that Rich and I have complementary skills rather than overlapping. Many parental-child companies have a mentor of mentor, where the parent teaches the child until the child is ready to take over the business, then the parent retires.

We have always worked together in equal, each of us bringing us different areas of expertise.

Rich does not intend to slow down. This work is the passion for his life, and he is energized by science. Of course, if things change, we will make thoughtful transitions. However, at the moment, it is as lively and committed as ever, and we are continuing to think about new inventions every week.

If you work in a company with a family member and you have a unique story that you want to share, please send an email to the publisher, Manseen Logan, to mlogan@businessinsider.com.