Ask HN: I'm a programmer with fintech experience. What business can I start?

#1

Post by skipthemeat » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 9:46 PM UTC

I've spent my career at major banks doing things like pricing and low-latency trading. I'd like to now start a software business but I'm having a hard time with ideas. The ideas I tend to come up with...I have no domain knowledge in.

So now I'm wondering how to leverage my fintech experience to build something that can give me independence from a job. Payments? Financial analysis tools?

Re: Ask HN: I'm a programmer with fintech experience. What business can I start?

#2

Post by cdnsteve » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 9:49 PM UTC

What problems did you see in your domain that you wished there was a solution for? Look within your domain for inspiration as a good starting point that you would think others would have the same problem and would want to use a service or product to help them.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a programmer with fintech experience. What business can I start?

#3

Post by dvtrn » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 10:02 PM UTC

If you can put together a good AML (Anti-Money Laundering) tool, especially one that will automate all of the required paperwork for Federal filing compliance, you'll never go broke again.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a programmer with fintech experience. What business can I start?

#4

Post by bohdank » Thu, Nov 29, 2018, 11:58 AM UTC

Think about the things that were too difficult for everyone to do in your job. Deliberate on how you can make them easier. This is a good strategy that potentially will help you come up with some sort of disruptive product. Recall the guys from Robinhood app. They were selling trading software and then realized how they can make investing millenial-friendly.

My team also comes from a fintech background. So, we decided to build a user-friendly trading platform for crypto markets applying our existing finance knowledge. You can check it out here: http://kattana.trade

Re: Ask HN: I'm a programmer with fintech experience. What business can I start?

#5

Post by rajacombinator » Thu, Nov 29, 2018, 5:46 PM UTC

If you can’t think of something, you’re really not cut out for it.