When those assumptions break, they break fast. And unlike business risks, which can often be hedged through diversification and insurance, personal infrastructure failures tend to be binary. You can either get on the plane or you cannot. Your bank account either works or it does not.
This article examines the five categories of personal infrastructure risk that founders most often underestimate, and the practical steps for building redundancy into each.
Table of Contents
1. Banking Redundancy
The single point of failure that catches founders most often is banking. A frozen account, a compliance review, or a change in a bank’s risk appetite for your industry or nationality can halt operations overnight.
The solution is straightforward in principle but requires deliberate action: maintain operational banking relationships in at least two jurisdictions. This does not mean offshore accounts for tax purposes (which create their own compliance headaches). It means having a legitimate, declared business account in a second banking jurisdiction that can receive and send payments if your primary account becomes temporarily unavailable.
Singapore, the UAE, and the UK are popular choices for founders based in emerging markets. Each has its own onboarding requirements, but establishing the relationship proactively – before you need it – is significantly easier than trying to open an account during a crisis.
2. Mobility Redundancy
For founders whose businesses require international travel – investor meetings, client visits, conferences, team management across geographies – visa restrictions represent a direct operational risk.
The risk is not theoretical. Visa processing delays, sudden policy changes, and diplomatic shifts between countries can ground a founder at the worst possible moment. A Series A closing in London does not wait for a four-week visa appointment.
Solutions range from simple (maintaining valid visas for your most frequent destinations well before they expire) to structural (establishing residency or nationality in a jurisdiction with broader visa-free access). The comparison below outlines common approaches:
| Approach | Cost | Timeline | Coverage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple active visas | Low | Weeks | Limited to specific countries | Consulate applications |
| EU residency (e.g. Portugal, Malta) | EUR 500K+ | 3-12 months | Schengen zone (27 countries) | National programmes |
| Caribbean nationality | USD 100-250K | 2-6 months | 140-157 countries visa-free | Programme comparison |
| UAE residency | Variable | 2-4 weeks | UAE + improved access to some markets | Emirates investment visa |
| Frequent traveller programmes | Low-Medium | Varies | Expedited processing, not visa-free | APEC, Global Entry, etc. |
The right approach depends on which markets matter to your business and your existing nationality’s visa reach.
3. Legal Jurisdiction Redundancy
Where your company is incorporated, where you are personally tax resident, and where your intellectual property is held are three separate decisions that too many founders conflate.
A single-jurisdiction structure works until it does not. Regulatory changes, tax policy shifts, or political instability in your home jurisdiction can create exposure that a multi-jurisdictional structure would mitigate.
This does not mean creating complex offshore structures. It means understanding which elements of your business benefit from jurisdictional diversification and which do not. IP holding structures, for example, may benefit from being domiciled in a jurisdiction with strong IP protection and favourable tax treatment of royalties. Operating entities typically need to be where your customers and employees are.
Professional advice here is not optional. The intersection of corporate law, tax law, and immigration law across multiple jurisdictions is too complex for DIY approaches.
4. Data and Communications Redundancy
Founders store an extraordinary amount of critical information in systems that depend on specific jurisdictions and providers. Email accounts, cloud storage, messaging platforms, and financial tools are all subject to the terms of service of their providers and the legal frameworks of the countries where they operate.
Practical redundancy means maintaining encrypted backups of critical data outside your primary provider, using communication tools that offer end-to-end encryption, and ensuring that your access to critical systems does not depend on a single phone number or device that could be lost, confiscated, or compromised during travel.
Hardware security keys (YubiKey or similar) for critical accounts, a travel-specific device profile that limits exposure, and a documented recovery plan for worst-case scenarios are baseline measures that too few founders implement.
5. Health and Insurance Redundancy
International founders often fall between healthcare systems. They may not qualify for public healthcare in their country of residence (if they are there on a business visa rather than as a citizen), and their home country’s system may not cover them abroad.
Global health insurance from providers like Cigna Global, Allianz Care, or Aetna International fills this gap. The cost is meaningful (USD 3,000-10,000 per year depending on coverage and age) but the alternative – being uninsured during a medical emergency in a foreign country – is a risk that no rational business operator should accept.
Building the System
The common thread across all five categories is proactivity. Every one of these risks is manageable when addressed before a crisis. Every one becomes exponentially harder to solve during one.
The practical step is an annual personal infrastructure audit – a review of your banking relationships, visa status, corporate structure, data security, and insurance coverage, conducted with the same rigour you would apply to a quarterly business review.
Most founders will not need most of these redundancies most of the time. But the ones who have them when they matter are the ones whose businesses survive the moments that would otherwise end them.
