Every founder dreams of discovering an untapped market, a blue ocean with little competition and unlimited opportunity.
The reality is that most enduring companies are built somewhere very different.
They are built in crowded, heavily regulated industries where customers already have dozens of options and every mistake carries real consequences.
Financial services is one of those industries.
Whether you’re building in lending, payments, insurance, merchant cash advance, banking, or private credit, you’re entering an ecosystem where regulation is constantly evolving, margins are tight, and trust is earned over years, not marketing campaigns.
Many entrepreneurs see those challenges as reasons not to enter.
Jay Avigdor sees them differently. He said those challenges create competitive advantages for companies willing to embrace them. That philosophy is also the foundation of his recently released book, Need It, Don’t Want It, which explores the realities of entrepreneurship beyond the success stories and highlights the resilience required to build companies that last.
Regulation Is Not the Enemy
One of the biggest misconceptions among founders is that regulation slows innovation.
Avigdor said regulation often accelerates better innovation.
When the rules are clear, companies are forced to build stronger systems, invest in better technology, improve transparency, and create better customer experiences. According to Avigdor, the businesses that embrace compliance from day one tend to build infrastructure that is much harder for competitors to replicate later.
Too many startups view compliance as a cost center.
Avigdor said the best companies view it as intellectual property.
The processes, controls, monitoring, documentation, and governance a company builds become part of its competitive moat.
Technology Doesn’t Replace Experience
Artificial intelligence has become the buzzword of nearly every startup pitch.
Avigdor said AI doesn’t replace decades of operational experience.
It amplifies it.
According to Avigdor, the best technology in financial services isn’t designed to remove human judgment. It’s designed to help people make better decisions faster and more consistently.
That’s especially true in regulated industries where risk management matters as much as growth.
Technology should improve underwriting, identify patterns, automate repetitive work, reduce operational risk, and give customers greater transparency. Avigdor said it should never become a substitute for sound business fundamentals.
Crowded Markets Create Better Businesses
Founders often worry about competition.
Avigdor said he is more concerned about markets that have no competition.
Competition validates demand.
If dozens of companies are serving a market, it usually means customers have a real problem worth solving.
The question isn’t whether competitors exist.
It’s whether a company understands customers better than everyone else.
According to Avigdor, the companies that win aren’t always the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones that solve friction that everyone else has accepted as simply part of the industry.
Relationships Compound Faster Than Capital
Founders spend enormous amounts of time thinking about fundraising.
According to Avigdor, far fewer invest the same energy into building long-term relationships.
In financial services, relationships often become a company’s greatest asset.
Institutional investors, banking partners, regulators, technology providers, referral partners, and customers all contribute to building a durable business.
Those relationships compound over years.
Avigdor said many of the most valuable opportunities throughout his career didn’t come from cold emails or conference meetings. They came from consistently delivering on promises and building trust over time.
Trust compounds just like capital.
Reputation Is Your Greatest Asset
In finance, every decision affects someone else’s money.
That creates an entirely different level of responsibility.
Shortcuts may improve quarterly results, but they rarely build enduring companies.
Markets remember.
Investors remember.
Customers remember.
Avigdor said founders should evaluate every business decision through a simple lens: whether they would still be proud of that decision ten years from now.
According to Avigdor, that mindset shapes culture, attracts stronger partners, and builds organizations that last far beyond a single economic cycle.
Those same conversations have become the focus of Chewing Glass, Avigdor’s podcast for entrepreneurs. Inspired by his book, the show explores the setbacks, failed deals, difficult partnerships, lawsuits, payroll pressure, and hard-earned lessons that founders rarely discuss publicly. Through candid conversations with fellow entrepreneurs, Avigdor examines what it actually takes to build and sustain a successful business when the path is anything but easy.
Build for the Long Game
Economic cycles come and go.
Interest rates change.
Capital markets tighten and reopen.
Regulations evolve.
Avigdor said the companies that survive aren’t necessarily the fastest-growing. They’re the most adaptable.
Building in a regulated industry requires patience, discipline, and an appreciation for long-term thinking.
According to Avigdor, success doesn’t come from avoiding complexity. It comes from learning how to navigate it better than everyone else.
He believes the founders who embrace that challenge won’t just build successful startups.
They’ll help shape the future of entire industries.
