Workflow Wedge to Financials
Matt Brown, Co-Founder of Bonsai, on the rise of vertical ERPs
The real wedge is the first system of record, because the product that owns the daily workflow or the transaction already has permission to add payments, credit, and banking later. A SaaS product starts by helping one user run work, like proposals, invoicing, or scheduling. A marketplace starts by helping supply and demand meet. In both cases, once money is already moving through the product, financial services become an expansion, not a cold start.
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Marketplace first can produce higher take rates because it solves lead generation, but it also means serving two sides at once. That creates harder product tradeoffs, because changes that help buyers can hurt sellers, and vice versa. A SaaS first model is simpler because one paying persona stays at the center.
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The financial layer works best when it sits right next to a painful money workflow. In restaurants that can mean tips and payout routing. In travel it can mean installment payments, holding funds, and paying hotels or drivers across borders. The software wedge matters because it captures the context needed to price and automate those flows.
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This is the pattern behind newer vertical ERP expansions. HoneyBook started with client management for independent service providers, then added checking, debit, and money tools. Contractor platforms like Deel and Wingspan bundled payouts with compliance and workflow first, then monetized faster transfers, FX, interchange, and other financial products on top.
The next wave of vertical ERP companies will keep entering through a narrow workflow or transaction wedge, then broaden into the wallet. The winners will be the ones that first become the place a business already uses to do the work, then become the place where that business gets paid, pays others, and buys financial products.