How much capital is required to launch fund in US?

Depends so heavily on the strat. If you're doing something like fundamental long term analysis that just requires a laptop and meeting regulatory requirements, likely a couple million, somewhere in the 5-10 range. That quickly goes up depending on the level of infrastructure required, up to something like a fully systematic fund where raising anything below like, 100M wouldn't even be worth it. 

For a "legit" fund, I don't think anyone really goes to funds below 100M. You'll still see micro funds executing niche strategies killing it, but they're not ever going to grow their base too much because their strategies don't scale well. 

this is nuts

I think you should ask yourself how bad do you want it? I'm a firm believer in if you want it bad enough, you can do anything.

Now if you tried your very hardest, and I mean hardest (ie. you're in a strong community and you know nobody that has worked harder than you), there's no reason why you still can't land elite. I got a feeling there was a moment where you settled, and that's why you didn't but that's neither here nor there if you don't think you can.

What you're describing is literally a dream come true for some people, but you should only do it if you want it bad. You'll be thinking about it 24/7 for as long as the "fund" exists. How will you dissolve the fund if you get tired of it? Will you ever hire others to help out? When you start something like this and you don't know exactly what you're getting yourself into, its dangerous, and especially dangerous if you don't want it bad enough.

I think coming to a forum of employees (basically) and asking if you should start something up because you didn't get into something everyone else on the forum got, somethings gonna be skewed. This is more of a WM question.

My recommendation would be get going in the WM space first rather than straight to HF. I agree with others, HF is totally different, and this sounds like you'd be managing your families book.

I think its important to remember that literally anyone who has shown promise managing money has thought about "could I run my own shop" 

When the most talented PMs from podshops and other senior investors with decades of experience + pedigree + connections have struggled to start their own standalone funds that could actually last (and not even to mention would make them richer than if they chose other opportunities), that should give you pause

Your question today shouldn't be what is the minimum for a legit fund. People start all sorts of funds with limited capital in the hopes they can bootstrap + compound, if they lacked the seed capital / blessing to be a "legit" start. 

I'd focus on accruing as much value as possible. That means mentorship and experience. It also means network. It also means pedigree. 

All of those will help you for once you reach the break point decision of "should I try something entreprenurial in fund management vs. staying/joining something else" 

A few years of good returns =/= a justification for starting a fund or any type of money management business. And unfortunately this is not the wild west days anymore. The entire industry has been institutionalized. There is a small section that is more wild westy, but they don't gather the checks you are thinking about. 

If you aren't sure why the landscape has changed, there is lots of reading to find on this. Not being a dick here, but just trying to explain the realities of things. 

On the other hand that german 23yr old has $1.5bn, no experience, and his port looks like an intern asked twitter for AI winners, so idk anything can happen.