Rich Nicholls

I%27m an operator who builds the operational and compliance backbone underneath fast-growing fintech companies. I%27ve sat on both sides of the table: running operations inside high-growth businesses, and building my own ventures, including an AI-driven tax optimization platform. I know what a board needs to see because I%27ve been the person producing the numbers for one.

I have real scale-up operations experience. I took a fintech fund administrator from $3B+ in assets under administration, consolidated systems and data in the process, and stepped into interim head of operations, finance, and technology roles more than once when growth outpaced the team%27s ability to hire fast enough.

I understand regulation across multiple jurisdictions because I%27ve had to. I built a compliance function from scratch across multiple jurisdictions, spanning the Middle East, and offshore fund centers. A lot of operators talk about going global. I%27ve built the licensing and SOPs to do it.

I%27ve helped design how businesses run, not just executed inside someone else%27s playbook. In senior operating roles I%27ve been part of the team shaping the process, not a hire dropped into an existing one.

I have founder empathy along with investor-grade rigor. Building my own venture, working through valuation, fundraising structure, go-to-market, and regulatory positioning, means I understand what founders are up against and what boards and LPs actually expect to see.

I communicate directly. I%27ve chaired change approval boards and run monthly KPI reporting to executive leadership. I%27m comfortable being the person who raises the uncomfortable point early, before it becomes a bigger problem.

Who benefits most from this

Series B to D fintech, regtech, or wealthtech companies where growth has outpaced operational infrastructure. Fragmented systems, no consolidated data model, finance or operations running on founder heroics instead of process.

Companies expanding cross border, especially into regulated markets, who need someone who has actually built licensing and compliance from zero rather than theorized about it.

VC-backed portfolio companies whose funds want an operating partner to work across operations, finance, or compliance gaps across the whole portfolio, not just one board seat.

Fund administrators, tokenization platforms, or asset managers working at the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets.

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