Comment by wheelerwj | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wheelerwj | Hacker News Reader

I’ve worked in the fintech space for 6 years this month. I’ve been a ceo/founder, vp of product, and managing partner. there’s no way to shortcut this, you’re going to need a chief compliance officer and to adhere to the right financial regulations, likely money transmission but possibly others as well. you need to contact a lawyer and get started BEFORE you process your first payment.

i will warn you, starting down this path can be lucrative in extreme cases, but in all situations will lead to massive frustration, headache, and stress coupled with minimum 5 year reporting and record keeping requirements.

this is a hard life for a solo entrepreneur and i do not recommend it wothout having raised a minimum of $2-5 million usd and 5-10 years of experience in regulated industries. this is not the industry where you get to move fast and break things. if you want more information or help hashing things out, you’re welcome to reach out directly. i think my email is in my profile or its my username.

[The "email" in the profile is secret and only the mods can see it. If you want to make it public, you should put it in the "about" field.]

> if you want more information or help hashing things out, you’re welcome to reach out directly. i think my email is in my profile or its my username.

Can you email me on my username at gmail dot com or update your profile? I would really like to reach out and get your thoughts on some topics/issues. Thanks.

> this is a hard life for a solo entrepreneur and i do not recommend it wothout having raised a minimum of $2-5 million usd

Let's not get everyone in the mindset that venture capitalism in the US is a good thing. Many startups and entrepreneurs in Europe and other continents have found success without raising any capital.

VC funding is so overvalued, esp considering you don't need a money transmitter license to become a subscription service.

Literally just use Stripe or something.

I read this comment as "You can't do this as a scrappy one-person startup," not "You must raise VC." Bootstrapping by using $2-5MM you / your cofounders have (from previous ventures, happening to be rich, etc.) would work fine.

Many startups and entrepreneurs can work great with minimal capital, both in Europe and outside Europe. The claim of this comment was this is the wrong business to be in if that's your goal (and I think that claim is intended to apply equally well in Europe).

thanks for helping me get the point across, that's exactly what i meant.

So have many people in the US. However, I also don't think people should act like VC is a four letter word.

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