zigcBenx

HN, I’m struggling with Stripe’s fees for my vendor payout platform. Beyond 2.9% + $0.30/transaction, Stripe Connect charges 0.25% per payout and $2/month per active account. With many vendors, this eats lots of revenue, especially on small transactions.

Alternatives like Wise, Trustap, and Lemonway don’t support multi-party payouts well.

I need a provider for collecting customer payments and distributing to vendors, ideally with an escrow model for secure, milestone-based payouts.

Any suggestions for developer-friendly, low-fee options? (This week I have meet with escrow.com, will let you know how that goes)

Thanks!

I’ve talked to dozens of developers who can build incredible things, but few know how to market, sell, or validate an idea.

Why is that? And what are the most helpful resources or habits that helped you make the jump from code to business?

I recently put together a site on this topic: https://fromcodetobusiness.benxlabs.com – it’s a lead magnet + waitlist for a deeper guide. But first, I want to learn more from the community.

What advice would you give your past self before launching your first product?

I am a full stack developer and founder and as you may expect I found myself lacking lots of business knowledge when I first started with my startup.

So far this are the most valuable books that I read:

1. Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares 2. Hooked by Nir Eyal 3. Traffic Secrets by Russel Brunson 4. Contagious by Jonah Berger 5. How to win friends and Influence people by Dale Carnegie

One thing I've learned is that depending on where you are in your journey—whether in life or business—all of these books are worth revisiting.

What about you guys? What do Hacker News people read?

I'm building a platform for open source donations where contributors get paid for resolving issues (https://openpledge.io?source=hn5) I’m looking for the best service to handle fund distribution (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Payoneer, Mangopay, etc.).

Basic concept: Multiple pledgers (donors) pledge (donate) to one open source issue, and when there’s enough funding to attract a developer’s attention, they solve the issue and receive the reward.

I’ve integrated Stripe Connect, but I find its developer onboarding process quite complex, especially for those receiving payments.

I’d like to offer developers multiple withdrawal options.

I’m aware of crypto/blockchain as an option, but I’m not familiar enough with it yet to fully explore that route.

What would you recommend for this type of model in terms of low fees, global reach, and ease of integration?

I’d appreciate any experiences or suggestions!