[runako]

There are many people who do not have ready access to a million dollars to purchase said Mac minis, much less the operating capital to rack & operate them.

Very smart play to build a platform, get scale, and prove out the software. Then either add a small network fee (this could be on money movement on/off platform), add a higher tier of service for money, and/or just use the proof points to go get access to capital and become an operator in your own pool.

[nxpnsv]

If those numbers are true, they could tart with one Mac and can double every few months. But, I guess there are also many people who do not have ready access to whatever a Mac mini costs either...

[runako]

You can run the simulation out, but if the idea works, you can get to scaled revenue much faster than organic growth keeping 100% of the margin.

This is essentially the same reason even the best money managers take outside money to start, even if they eventually kick out the investors.