[thinkcomp]

It's especially difficult because investors aren't interested in funding long-term projects. I've put in that man-decade of labor (I've been working on my current project in various forms since 2001), but no one in the Valley's elite circles could care less. This is okay in that I own 100%, but it sure does make it difficult to get things done sometimes.

[neutronicus]

FaceCash looks pretty cool.

What were the barriers to entry? I imagine competing with the credit card oligopoly at point of sale is pretty tough.

[thinkcomp]

Barriers to entry include, but are not limited to:

1. Building a scalable accounting system that works for merchants and consumers

2. Keeping good enough records to get audited financial statements for as many years as it takes you to build (1)

3. Building mobile applications on 3 or more popular platforms with completely different SDKs

4. Applying for 43 state money transmitter licenses

5. Getting enough money to be able to afford (3) and (4)

6. Complying with the changing USA PATRIOT Act, Bank Secrecy Act, Federal Reserve Bank and U.S. Treasury / FinCEN directives on an ongoing basis while maintaining profitability

7. Convincing people and POS vendors to sign up and develop for a new system en masse...

8. ...without allowing malicious hackers to sign up en masse

9. Not moving so slowly that Apple, Google, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Intuit, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or any other startup trying to break into mobile payments can copy you

10. Not moving so quickly that everything breaks, because it can't

It's a hard problem.