The first two years of marriage are most likely to fail," media executive Fu'ad Lawal says

Precious Omolu 15:04 - 08 July 2026

Add Pulse as a preferred source on Google

Lawal posits that just as early-stage tech ventures face high operational failure rates due to unyielding strategies, marriages risk collapsing when individuals refuse to alter their rigid personal roadmaps

Media executive Fu'ad Lawal says the first two years of marriage are the toughest, comparing them to a startup with a high chance of failure if couples refuse to compromise. Here's what he said.

Fu'ad Lawal compared the first two years of marriage to the early stage of a startup.
He said many marriages struggle because both partners refuse to compromise.
According to him, relationships go through stages similar to how teams develop.
He added that marriage has greatly improved his communication skills.

Media executive Fu'ad Lawal has shared his thoughts on why many marriages face serious challenges in their first two years, comparing that period to the early days of building a startup.

Speaking during a conversation, Lawal said the beginning of marriage is usually filled with clashes as two different people try to build a life together. According to him, the biggest problem is when both partners refuse to compromise.

"I think that the first two years of marriage, it's like the first two years of a startup, right? It's like all things being equal, if everyone enters that marriage with some real leverage as individuals, there's a high chance it will fail."

Explaining further, he said people often enter marriage with a long list of rules and expectations for their partners instead of learning how to adjust.

True compatibility testing often begins when the initial excitement fades and partners must navigate the uncomfortable friction of differing everyday realities and expectations.

"Everybody enters marriage and says, 'Oh, my wife cannot do this, my husband must not do this.'"

Lawal said he has watched several people around him struggle in the first two years of marriage, and one thing stood out in many of those relationships.

"Every single marriage I know that ended in the first two years was everybody, nobody wanted to fold. Like you must fold. Like someone must... someone is always folding."

Drawing from management theory, he explained that teams usually pass through different stages before they become effective, and he believes marriage follows a similar pattern.

According to him, relationships begin with a forming stage where everything looks exciting, before moving into a storming stage where personalities and opinions begin to clash. If couples learn to compromise, they move into the norming stage, then eventually the performing stage.

"All teams go through the same stages of evolution... the first stage is forming... the next stage is always storming because those ideas start to collide."

For Lawal, learning to communicate better has been one of the biggest lessons marriage has taught him.

"The biggest thing that marriage did to me was actually improving my communication style across board."

His comments have sparked conversations online, with many agreeing that the early years of marriage often test patience, communication and the willingness of both partners to meet each other halfway. Others, however, argued that every marriage is different and that there's no fixed timeline for relationship challenges.