How boutique investment firms will gain from Wall Street reform.

Even though the project failed in its current state, the research team is still trying to get it off the ground. Like the failed Social Bomb app, the best solution is to find one client that, in this case, would help foot the bill for research and development. "It's a better model than putting together a business plan and hitting up every single fund there is," he said.

Boutiques that grow, however, either increase their balance sheets and outgrow their boutique status, or go public or get bought by a bigger institution. They can't tread water. Or can they? Conventional wisdom says that you can't be a global bank, operate with about 300 people, and only a handful of offices abroad. But with so much in flux in this economy, what's around the corner is anyone's guess.