Independent research

Canadian Small-Business Banking

Independent research on the Canadian small-business banking opportunity — the market a digital challenger would enter, who to segment and win first, and what to build. Built from public sources; every recommendation a hypothesis to test in-market.

Client segmentation · ~20 pages
Bank the licensed practitioner first
A behavioural segmentation of the businesses Canada forms each year: four segments, a three-year CLV model, a GE-McKinsey nine-box, and a read on whether “modern entrepreneur” is the right first target — with five week-one tests before scope freezes.
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Competitive briefing · 10 sections
Competitive Briefing
Market, Canadian competitive set, benchmark SME banks, segmentation, platform (Engine by Starling), product, proposition & pricing, economics and organisation — read on the page.
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What the briefing covers

01Executive SummaryA digital challenger can win the one-person businesses Canada forms each year by removing their paperwork02The MarketFormation, not switching, is where the pool is contestable: at least 96,000 employer starts a year03Canadian Competitive SetNo Canadian provider sells a free same-day account with tax and bookkeeping built in04Benchmark Sme BanksEvery benchmark SME bank monetises the workflow, not the account05SegmentationNewly formed one-person businesses are the first-year target; practitioners and micro-employers are year two06PlatformEngine gives the challenger Starling’s core but has never shipped a business-entity model07ProductFour capabilities sit outside Engine and decide whether October launches at parity08Proposition And PricingSame-day account opening is the claim the Big Five cannot match09EconomicsAcquisition cost decides whether the unit economics close, because year-one revenue is near zero10OrganisationA six-squad unit with financial crime embedded matches how Qonto and Starling staff the same job
Independent research by Ivan Antonov on the Canadian small-business banking opportunity.
Working draft · every fact from public sources · every recommendation a hypothesis to test in week one.