Ever feel torn between the safety of a paycheck and the pull to build something of your own? We sit down with Shawn, a software engineer well-versed in bank operations, to chart a practical path from employee to entrepreneur without betting the farm on an unproven product. The heart of the conversation: sell outcomes first. Then let the software follow.

We unpack the invisible world of the bank back office—compliance letters, Reg E disputes, garnishments, reclamations—and how manual patchwork and missing evidence trails keep teams stuck and auditors grumpy. Instead of pushing a platform into an IT queue, we design a consulting-first offer any operations leader can say yes to: a fixed-scope audit that maps failure points, quantifies manual rework, and identifies fee leakage. From there, we outline quick implementation sprints and a clean, low-risk proposal that shows value in days, not quarters.

Positioning matters. Mid-market banks and credit unions feel the most pain, and mergers create a perfect window: duplicate processes collide, templates diverge, and compliance proof goes missing. We walk through a simple outreach plan—LinkedIn content that teaches one problem and one fix each week, a free questionnaire to prequalify interest, and a compelling audit invite that gets you in the room. Along the way, we tackle the choice every builder faces: product-first with fundraising and long sales cycles, or services-first with immediate cash flow and credibility. Our take is clear—use consulting to earn trust, deliver results, and only then introduce lightweight software to lock in the gains and create recurring revenue.

If you’re an aspiring fintech founder, operations leader, or bank technologist, you’ll get a concrete playbook: define the audit, narrow your niche, sharpen your value proposition, and build one case study fast. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s evaluating a product vs. services path, and leave a review telling us the one back-office headache you’d audit first.