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Key Takeaways
- The foundational fixed overhead required to sustain an investment platform in 2026 averages a substantial $147,333 per month before accounting for variable transaction fees.
- Payroll for the initial seven-person team, costing $78,333 monthly, represents the single largest fixed expense category driving the platform's overhead.
- The current financial projection indicates that the platform requires 18 months of operation before achieving the breakeven point, expected in June 2027.
- Founders must secure sufficient working capital to cover a peak minimum cash requirement of $4,227,000 while managing variable costs that total 180% of Year 1 revenue.
Running Cost 1 : Payroll (Wages)
Payroll Dominates
Your 2026 payroll commitment for 7 full-time employees (FTEs), covering the CEO, CTO, and engineers, hits $78,333 monthly. This figure is defintely your biggest fixed expense right now, so managing headcount growth is cruciall for maintaining margin.
Headcount Cost Structure
This $78,333 monthly payroll covers 7 FTEs projected for 2026. It includes salaries for leadership and engineers needed to build and run the investment platform. This is a hard fixed cost that must be covered before any variable expenses related to trading kick in.
- 7 FTEs total in 2026.
- Includes CEO, CTO, and engineers.
- Largest fixed outlay.
Managing Fixed Headcount
Controlling this large fixed cost depends entirely on hiring discipline. Avoid scaling roles prematurely; every new hire increases the baseline revenue required just to break even. You must link hiring directly to validated revenue milestones.
- Stagger hiring based on milestones.
- Use contractors initially for specialized tasks.
- Benchmark total compensation packages.
Break-Even Pressure
Because payroll is the single largest fixed cost at $78,333/month, it sets your floor. This expense must be covered by your commission and subscription revenue before you account for variable COGS like trade execution fees (45% of revenue).
Running Cost 2 : Cloud Hosting
Hosting Cost
Your platform needs solid infrastructure to handle trading volume. Cloud Hosting and Infrastructure is a fixed $25,000 monthly cost. This expense directly supports platform uptime and ensures you can scale when user adoption ramps up. Don't treat this as negotiable overhead.
Infrastructure Coverage
This $25,000 covers core services like compute power, data storage, and network egress necessary for real-time trading. It’s a fixed overhead, unlike variable Trade Execution Fees (45% of revenue). To budget this, you need quotes for expected peak load capacity, not just current usage.
- Covers compute, storage, and networking.
- Fixed cost, unlike COGS items.
- Budget based on peak load estimates.
Managing Cloud Spend
Since this is fixed, optimization focuses on efficiency, not direct reduction. A common mistake is over-provisioning for future scale too early. Review resource utilization monthly to right-size instances. If you scale too fast without optimizing, you’ll burn cash unecessarily.
- Review resource utilization monthly.
- Avoid early over-provisioning.
- Ensure auto-scaling is configured defintely.
Scalability Check
Given that Payroll is $78,333 and compliance is $10,000, this $25k hosting fee represents about 22% of your known fixed operating expenses before revenue starts flowing. This is the price of guaranteed service availability for your users.
Running Cost 3 : Trade Execution Fees
Execution Fee Impact
Trade execution and payment processing fees are your largest variable expense, pegged at 45% of revenue projected for 2026. This cost eats into your gross profit immediately upon every transaction, so understanding its drivers is key to profitability.
Cost Components
This variable cost of goods sold (COGS) covers two things: the actual cost to clear and settle trades, plus payment gateway charges for deposits and withdrawals. To model this, you need projected Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) and the blended rate you pay partners. If you hit $20 million in revenue in 2026, this single line item costs you $9 million.
- Input: Total trade volume.
- Input: Average transaction size.
- Input: Blended execution rate.
Managing Variable Costs
Because this cost scales directly with trading activity, you must pivot users toward fixed revenue streams fast. If you rely too much on commission fees, growth will only increase your cost base linearly. You need subscriptions to dilute this 45% drag.
- Push premium feature subscriptions hard.
- Negotiate volume tiers with custodians early.
- Audit payment processors for cheaper alternatives.
Margin Reality Check
Honestly, a 45% variable COGS means your gross margin is only 55% before accounting for data feeds or marketing spend. This structure defintely demands high average revenue per user (ARPU) or massive scale to cover the $128,333 monthly fixed overhead you have budgeted.
Running Cost 4 : Regulatory Compliance
Compliance Floor
Regulatory compliance is a non-negotiable $10,000 fixed monthly cost covering essential licensing. This expense underpins your ability to operate legally in the investment space, so treat it as foundational overhead.
Cost Structure
This fixed legal retainer ensures you maintain necessary operating licenses for the investment platform. It’s a core fixed overhead, separate from variable trade execution fees. Budgeting requires setting aside $10,000 monthly, regardless of volume. This covers ongoing regulatory consultation needs, defintely.
- Fixed monthly spend
- Covers licensing upkeep
- Essential for operation
Managing Retainers
You can’t cut this cost, but you can control scope creep. Avoid hourly billing traps by negotiating a strict Statement of Work (SOW) within the retainer agreement. If legal complexity spikes, consider a fractional General Counsel before defaulting to expensive ad-hoc firm time.
- Define retainer scope tightly
- Avoid scope creep costs
- Check fractional GC rates
Operational Risk
Missing this $10,000 payment halts operations instantly. Because this cost secures your license to trade assets, treat it like payroll; it's the first expense that must clear every month to keep the platform running.
Running Cost 5 : Market Data Feeds
Data Feed Cost
Market Data Feeds are a critical variable expense, hitting 35% of revenue by 2026, directly enabling the real-time trading feature your platform needs. This cost scales with volume, unlike fixed overhead like payroll. Honestly, you can't run a live trading system without it.
Feed Cost Inputs
This expense covers the real-time price quotes needed for trading functionality. To estimate this cost, you need projected 2026 revenue multiplied by the 35% rate. It sits alongside Trade Execution Fees (45% of revenue) as a major variable drain on your gross profit.
- Real-time price data access.
- Directly tied to revenue percentage.
- Required for live execution.
Controlling Data Spend
Since feeds are necessary for real-time functionality, cutting them entirely isn't an option. You can negotiate tiered access based on actual usage, not just projected volume. Avoid paying for premium data feeds if your base tier only needs Level 1 quotes.
- Negotiate usage tiers early.
- Audit unused premium data streams.
- Lock in multi-year pricing now.
Data Dependency Risk
If your vendors raise their fees next year, this 35% line item immediately squeezes your contribution margin. You must build contractual safeguards now, because market data dependency is a major operational risk for any trading system. That’s just defintely true.
Running Cost 6 : Core Software Licenses
Fixed License Overhead
Your core software licenses are a non-negotiable fixed overhead of $15,000 monthly. This covers the essential trading engine and the back-office systems needed to run the platform legally and functionally. Don't confuse this with variable costs of goods sold (COGS); this bill hits regardless of transaction volume.
Inputs for Budgeting
This $15,000 covers licenses for critical components like the real-time trading interface and necessary back-office accounting software. It’s a fixed overhead, meaning it sits alongside payroll ($78,333/month) and regulatory fees ($10,000/month). You need firm quotes for all essential systems before launch. Here’s the quick math on fixed costs: licenses are about 11% of your total fixed spend.
- Trading engine access
- Back-office tools
- Fixed monthly spend
Managing License Tiers
Managing this cost means rigorously auditing license tiers quarterly. Many platforms overpay for features unused by the current user base or development team. Check if you can downgrade from enterprise support to standard support for non-critical tools. We should defintely aim to hold this line tight, maybe finding 5% savings by year two through careful vendor management.
- Audit usage vs. features
- Negotiate annual renewals
- Avoid premium support creep
Vendor Lock-In Risk
If you switch trading vendors later, expect significant migration costs that aren't in this initial $15k budget line. This cost is sticky; treat vendor lock-in as a serious operational risk, not just an expense line item. Plan for data portability now.
Running Cost 7 : Digital Marketing
Marketing Burn Rate
Digital Marketing and Advertising is budgeted at 80% of revenue in 2026, directly funding buyer and seller acquisition efforts. This high variable spend means profitability hinges entirely on keeping your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) well below your projected Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
Cost Calculation Inputs
This 80% expense covers all paid efforts to bring new investors and expert sellers onto the platform. To model this accurately, you need to project 2026 revenue and calculate the spend based on target user volume. If projected revenue is $10 million, marketing spend is $8 million.
- Inputs: Projected 2026 Revenue.
- Calculation: Revenue 0.80.
- Impact: Largest expense by far.
Managing Variable Spend
You can’t sustain 80% marketing spend long-term; the goal is driving this down toward 20-30% as the platform matures. Focus on optimizing conversion rates (CVR) from free users to paid tiers, which lowers the effective CAC. A common mistake is overspending on top-of-funnel awareness campaigns early on, defintely.
- Tactic: Prioritize seller referral bonuses.
- Tactic: Improve onboarding flow CVR.
- Benchmark: Aim for CAC payback in under 12 months.
Unit Economics Check
Since marketing is 80% of revenue, every dollar spent must be tracked against the marginal revenue generated by the acquired user. If your average take-rate is low, you need high transaction volume fast. For example, if your blended take-rate is 1.5%, you need 53 transactions just to cover the marketing cost for that one user before covering payroll or data feeds.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The fixed operating cost base for 2026 is $147,333 per month, covering wages, compliance, and infrastructure, before accounting for variable transaction fees;