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6 Comments

Ask IH: do you know any open startups/bootstrapped fintech?

Hello hackers!

Do you know any open startups/bootstrapped fintech?

  • how to build an API aggregator?
  • how to come up with the proper business model (to cover the costs and get profitable fast)?
  • is it possible to bootstrap in this market?

All I can find are superficial blog posts from agencies developing fintech apps...

Ship well 🚀

  1. 4

    I've been spending a considerable amount of time looking at this issue for my product, which isn't necessarily an aggregator but includes some aggregation as a part of its services. I haven't seen many bootstrapped or early-stage fintech companies mostly because a) there's only so much you can aggregate, and most of it's been done by titans like Bloomberg, atom finance, and yahoo finance. And b) adding to Lawrence's comment, it's pricey to pay for granularity which means that you'll probably need a comfortable cushion to fall back on until you are profitable.

    regarding your questions:

    1. I think this problem is a bit too general, you'll need to split it up into a sequence of action points. For example, one way I would take my first step is identifying the sources that I will be pulling from. It'll most probably be a collection of background process that will be pulling all this data, but if you can find a collection of open-access DBs, consider something like airbnb's omniduct, which takes care of the aggregation for you: https://airbnb.io/projects/omniduct/

    2. before writing a single line of code, find a group of people (the larger the better) whose problems are so bad that they are willing to pay for your solution, that's all you need for now, you'll form a business model around your (hopefully) successful product. it's always good to matter a lot to a few people than matter a little to a lot of people!

    3. absolutely! I've found multiple open-source DBs and libraries that provide just the right amount to get started. unfortunately, one of my core APIs are getting shut down soon, so I'm back on the road looking for replacements. You should definitely find something for free or super cheap though, so bootstrapping is a possibility here.

    happy hacking, and let me know if you need any help in this field!

    1. 1

      Thanks for the insights!

      We already have an idea (somewhat) validated that involves P2P transactions. The point I wanted to make with the business model question is that we want to make transactions free for users but it won't be for us (commissions etc). We have some ideas to make money elsewhere, but examples and data to back our decisions would be helpful.

      1. 3

        oh I see, thanks for the clarification.

        that's definitely an interesting problem to be caught in, my best guess would be to look for vase studies of the model working if it has been done to some extent in the past. Otherwise, maybe a scenario to justify the decision would work?

  2. 2

    Hi, I'm the co-founder of a fintech startup cashcoach.io. I managed to bootstrap until launch, then crowdfunded. Unless you're building a crypto wallet, Fintech is a regulated industry where your company will be subject to capital requirement to obtain regulatory authorisation.

    And it will take a while before breaking even!

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