April’s Enterprise Partnership Framework: How They Landed Gusto, Acorns, and Beyond
Landing enterprise partnerships as a startup requires more than just a great product. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, April co-founder Ben Borodach revealed their systematic approach to securing partnerships with major fintech platforms.
Building the Foundation Through Strategic Investment
April’s partnership strategy began with their cap table. “We’ve surrounded ourselves with great cap table of investors from teammate and treasury and QED and Nica and others,” Ben explains. “And so we leveraged my network, the network that we put around the table, in order to build trust and relationships over time.”
This wasn’t just about funding – it was about creating warm introductions to potential partners. “Any of our customers were either people that I already knew, or that folks around the table already knew,” Ben notes.
The Value Proposition Framework
April positioned themselves as the independent infrastructure provider solving a critical problem for fintech platforms. As Ben explains: “It allows them to offer a service to their customers that they couldn’t previously offer… Because tax is the largest expense item that most american families have on par with housing.”
Their pitch centered on three key elements:
- Independence from competitive interests
- Deep tax expertise
- Enhanced customer value proposition
Vertical-Specific Integration Strategy
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, April developed specific value propositions for three strategic verticals:
“We’re seeing a wide array of adoption across different finance apps,” Ben shares. “I think the ones that we’re focused on heavily today are in the banking credit space… seeing a lot of traction in the investment category… and then third is going to be payroll.”
The Gusto Partnership Example
Their recent Gusto integration demonstrates their approach to structuring partnerships. “We’ve recently launched a very exciting product with Gusto that actually allows an employee on their platform to constantly track their tax situation in real time based on their Gusto payroll data,” Ben explains.
This highlights their focus on deep integration with partner workflows rather than superficial connections.
Differentiated Pricing Model
April’s partnership structure enables a fundamentally different pricing approach. “We believe having more of a flat fee model where what you see is what you pay is really the best thing for the consumer,” Ben notes. “And there’s not a reason why you also can’t have a great business in the process.”
This contrasts sharply with incumbent models: “Everyone knows the TurboTax model, where you’re going to get upsold to death until they extract every last penny from you.”
Maintaining Focus While Scaling
As partnerships grew, April maintained strict discipline in their approach. Ben emphasizes: “I think you’ve got to be willing to try lots of things, but on the same time, you’ve got to have real focus and discipline. What you end up with is if you try too many things in too many places, you find you get spread too thin.”
Results and Validation
The framework is working. April has secured “dozens of companies on the platform” with “hundreds of thousands of users.” Their NPS scores “in the high fifties and sixties” validate that the integration strategy delivers value to end users.
Key Lessons for Founders
April’s enterprise partnership framework offers several insights:
- Build your investor syndicate with strategic introductions in mind
- Develop vertical-specific value propositions
- Focus on deep integration rather than superficial connections
- Use partnerships to enable differentiated business models
- Maintain discipline in partner selection and scope
For founders pursuing enterprise partnerships, April’s journey shows the importance of systematic approach combining strategic network building with focused execution. The key insight? Sometimes the best path to enterprise deals isn’t through traditional sales tactics – it’s through strategically architecting your company from day one to enable warm introductions and compelling partner value propositions.