Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. It takes guts.

In compliance, where cautiousness reigns supreme by principle, a sense of risk aversion permeates the profession—at least reputationally. Entrepreneurship in the compliance space, then, almost seems like a nonstarter, too incompatible to work in tandem.

Aly McDevitt is Data & Research Journalist at Compliance Week. She has a background in education and college consulting. Prior to teaching, she was an editor/author at Thomson Reuters, where she reported...