"Most founders think the build-versus-buy decision when it comes to backend infrastructure is about engineering tradeoffs. I used to think that too. At UNest, I learned the hard way that it's actually about control. The moment that lesson landed, it permanently changed how I make decisions as a founder. This is the story of how that realization happened - and the five-question framework I now use to decide whether to build or buy, grounded in real decisions we made while scaling a regulated fintech company."
"At UNest, we set out to modernize how families save and invest for their kids. In the early days, we were focused on what most founders focus on: building features, refining onboarding and making a complex financial product feel intuitive. As we scaled, we crossed an invisible line. We weren't just building a product anymore - we were building on top of infrastructure that increasingly dictated what we could and couldn't do. Simple features required approval from external partners. Engineering timelines were shaped by third-party constraints. Compliance requirements forced us into workarounds that added fragility instead of resilience."
UNest began by modernizing how families save and invest for children, prioritizing features, onboarding and product intuitiveness. As the company scaled, infrastructure began to shape capabilities: external partner approvals, third-party constraints on engineering timelines and compliance-driven workarounds introduced fragility. The shift revealed that build-versus-buy choices are fundamentally about control over speed, risk and reliability rather than pure engineering tradeoffs. Loss of ownership over key systems limited strategic options and future direction. A practical five-question framework was developed to pressure-test assumptions and decide when to build or buy, emphasizing ownership, control and the avoidance of hidden risks.
Read at Entrepreneur
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