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BRitterbeck

17 karma · joined January 31, 2015

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BRitterbeck··on Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea
There's plenty to be done in the bank risk management space. I was part of a group a few years ago that tried to approach this space; however, family issues forced me to leave software and go back to banking.

There's a piece of software, produced by a company called QRM, used within the treasury group of a lot of large banks. This piece of software is both slow (one run at a decent-sized bank can take several hours even spread over hundreds of CPUs) and incredibly user unfriendly (you cannot do any analysis within the software itself; everything must be dumped to Excel first).

Everyone I have talked with in the industry says this software must be replaced; however, it will take quite a long runway to get things up and going.

While I doubt that this piece of software could be implemented as SaaS for bigger banks, I definitely think if you pitched a solution to smaller banks and built up a group able to conduct the type of analysis you would do with this software, you would have a winner. Also, if your CMU guy is looking to come back to Pittsburgh, I might be able to get one or two other people together for an in-person conversation.

If you are interested in learning more, please provide an email address, and I will reach out to you.

BRitterbeck··on In Defense of the Midwest
I moved from Cleveland to the Bay Area two and a half years ago. It was probably the best decision I have ever made. While working down in Mountain View, I learned there is absolutely nothing special about Silicon Valley. What is being done here in the Bay Area can be replicated anywhere. Had I not moved here, I would still have this vision of Silicon Valley being a special place.

I would even go so far as to say you're better off starting a company in the Midwest. It's a hell of a lot cheaper, and you can still find good talent. Sure, it will be harder to raise money; however, money will find the truly good ideas.

BRitterbeck··on Excoin exchange's Bitcoins stolen, will be shutting down
The last set of addresses under the DDoS part of the page resolves to Google's crawlers.
BRitterbeck··on Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?
I was asking because I used to work in a bank, participated in two fintech startups, and have returned to banking due to circumstances with my family. I was going to target my advice based on the answer; however, after thinking this over some more, my advice would be the same for either answer. Stay in banking. There are a lot of problems in banking that need to be solved, and I think being on the inside of the bank gives one the best chance at solving those problems.
BRitterbeck··on Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?
Is your background more tech or more finance?