Remove the incompetents responsible for the current sign-up process and replace them with someone who can write code that will:
1) actually send out the confirmation email promptly rather than delaying 5-10 minutes before sending out the confirmation email; and,
2) actually include a working hyperlink in the confirmation email so that users can 'click' on the link rather than having to copy the link and paste it into their browser.
Both the above improvements have been accomplished by thousands of other websites, nearly all of which have far less funding behind them.