Volodymyr I

Hey StartupBase 👋

I'm Volodymyr — solo dev in Spain building FileDue around a 9-5 staff engineering role.

The short version of why this exists:

A few years back I did freelance dev work. Apps, scripts, automation. And sometimes, after delivery, I'd end up sending the most annoying email: "Just wanted to follow up on the invoice."

Translation: "I already gave you the code, please pay me."

Then I moved into full-time and forgot about it — until I saw a Reddit thread where hundreds of freelancers described the same pattern across completely different industries.

Different work, same problem: the freelancer delivers first, then has to chase.

Everyone gives the same advice — take deposits, get paid upfront. All correct. But there's no tool that just enforces it mechanically. So I built one.

What's live right now:

• Payment-gated file delivery via Stripe Connect
• Direct payouts to the freelancer's own Stripe account
• Region-routed storage (EU buckets for EU sellers)
• Free for first three paid deliveries, then 2% per delivery

What I'd love feedback on:

• The Stripe Connect onboarding flow — it's the part that's been hardest to get right
• Whether the pricing model ("2% per paid delivery, no subscription") feels fair to freelancers vs. flat monthly fee
• File-type policy — currently open, considering allowlist for abuse prevention

Happy to answer questions about the build, the stack, or the weird parts of solo-shipping a payments product. The link is above. Thanks for taking a look.

Reddit and Quora research is actually a great addition to the core value.

If it highlights most valuable parts worth watching - it is a gem.

Transactional emails market long was missing something fresh and AI-forward, interesting to check.