My mentor in Waterloo said skip the bank partnership and go direct to credit unions. He was right.
When we launched our expense tool for small businesses 8 months ago, my old boss from a Kitchener payments company pulled me aside and told me to forget the Big Five banks and pitch credit unions instead. I thought he was nuts since everyone chases the big logos, but we tried one in Hamilton and they signed in 11 days. That one deal got us 340 users and our first $4,200 in monthly revenue. Now we have 3 more credit unions on the hook and I keep wondering what else I brushed off too fast, has anyone else found smaller partners beat the marquee names?