What if you don't like any of the starting planets on offer? Well, no problem, as you don't start the game with the starting planet already settled. Everything you own is loaded onto your two ships, and you can fly them elsewhere. Obviously you don't have the materials to settle on planets with harsher conditions, like low/high temperature or pressure. But that leaves over a hundred possible planets you can start on, and only 19 of those are official "starting planets" you can select from the company creation menu.

Of course all those other possible planets aren't next to a commodity exchange, but neither are all of the official starting planets. I would consider up to 6 jumps away from a commodity exchange to be still manageable, you just need to plan your trips a bit more carefully. With my second "test stuff for blogging" account, I am currently trying this strategy to start on a planet with higher silicon oxide concentration than any starting planet, just 3 jumps away from Moria Station. Planets with good resource extraction make for a good start, and the higher the concentration, the bigger the profits.

There is an even more extreme alternative: How about playing Prosperous Universe with no planetary base at all? The building materials for your starting base can be sold instead of building that base. And that would give you a nice chunk of cash to start a career as a space trader. Buy low, ship the goods elsewhere, sell high. You can always build a base later if you change your mind, as long as you haven't lost your money.

It has to be said, however, that as a space trading game, Prosperous Universe is quite risky. If it takes a day or two to fly to the commodity exchange where you want to sell, the high price for your cargo there might have dropped before you arrive. Other players see the same opportunities as you do. And trading goods between commodity exchanges not only costs time, but also fuel, so you need to make a certain minimum profit with your cargo to just break even. Also, each good has a volume and a weight. For example iron oxide weights 5.9 tons per unit, so you can only fit 84 into your hold, which is limited to 500 tons or 500 cubic meters, whichever is smallest. With iron ore also being rather cheap, it is pretty much impossible to make more money than the fuel cost by hauling it from one exchange to another.