r/FintechStartups

Long post, but worth reading if you're a developer or coder sitting on a great product that just isn't growing.

Quick background on me: I've been running a marketing agency for 14 years. We have a team of 35 and have worked with 300+ brands across industries. But beyond the agency — I've also built 2 startups from scratch and taken exits from both. I've been on the founder side, I've raised funding, and I have genuine connections with investors who are actively looking for good opportunities.

I know this world from multiple angles. And that's exactly why I can see the gap so clearly.

Here's the problem I keep noticing: there are insanely talented developers building solid products, but they stall out because they have zero marketing infrastructure. Growth stagnates. Users don't come. The product dies quietly. Not because it was bad — because nobody knew it existed.

So here's what I'm proposing:

I'm looking for 1–2 tech startups where the founder is strong on product but weak on marketing and distribution. I'll bring my full agency team to support your growth — strategy, content, paid, organic, the works — at absolutely no cost to you.

In return, I take an equity stake in the company.

That's it. No cash required from your side.

A few things to be clear about:

• I'm purely focused on marketing and distribution — I won't interfere with your product decisions, your roadmap, or how you build. That's your domain.
• If you need funding down the line, I can make introductions to investors in my network. I'm not promising a cheque from my side, but I can open doors.
• I'm looking for founders who are serious, not just exploring ideas.

This works best if you:

• Have a working product (or close to it)
• Are a developer/coder who knows the tech but struggles with growth and distribution
• Are ready to scale and want a marketing partner who's been in the trenches as both an agency owner and a founder

I'm not here to take over your vision. I just know what it takes to get a product in front of the right people, and I'd rather put that skill to work in something I believe in than watch good products fail for the wrong reasons.

Comment below or DM me if this sounds like your situation. Happy to have a no-pressure conversation and see if we're a genuine fit.

Have a 30 min interview tomorrow with the founder of a BLR based fintech startup for a Product Designer role.

Background: Currently working on consumer products and trying to switch into fintech.

In the first round, they gave me an assignment on their product and asked:

• Which user journey felt confusing?

• Which flow did you like the most?

• What features/fixes would you prioritise in the next 2 months?

I submitted it, and now the founder scheduled a short call.

The startup raised pre-seed funding last year. They already have a founding designer

Wanted to ask people who have interviewed with early-stage fintech startups/founders: What kind of questions should I expect in this round?

Would really appreciate any advice ,product thinking, fintech-specific questions, or what they usually evaluate in 30 mins.

We’re launching embedded loans for contractors inside a field service app. Banking partner requires us to verify every loan officer has an active NMLS license before we can fund. We’ve got 200 LOs across 30 states. Manual NMLS lookups are taking 10+ days and deals are dying. Regulators won’t sign off until we prove ongoing monitoring, not point-in-time checks. How are other fintechs handling this without a compliance army?