The trend is clear, and the Q2 newsletters are buzzing with it. Dental practices are firing their monolithic banks. Not in a dramatic, table-flipping way, but quietly, one app at a time. They’re hiring specialized tools for specific jobs because the one-size-fits-all bank account just doesn’t cut it anymore.
This is the great unbundling of small business banking. It’s not a new idea, but it’s happening faster than ever. For years, a practice was stuck with one bank for everything: checking, payments, cards, loans. It was a pre-built Lego castle—functional, but clunky and impossible to customize. Today, they’re being handed a box of specialized Lego bricks—Stripe for payments, Ramp for expenses, Gusto for payroll—and being told to build the castle that works for them.
This is the entire opportunity. And it’s where we’re placing our bets.
The Vertical SaaS Playbook
This isn’t just random chaos; there’s a playbook for this moment. The team at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has a thesis on Vertical SaaS that I’ve been obsessed with. They argue that vertical-specific software companies are uniquely positioned to win by embedding financial services.
They outline three waves:
- Wave 1: Cloud. Bring the industry’s core software online (e.g., practice management software).
- Wave 2: Cloud + Fintech. Embed payments, lending, and cards to increase revenue.
- Wave 3: Cloud + Fintech + AI. Use AI to automate complex tasks, transforming the software from a tool into an agent.
This is the playbook. It’s why Toast can dominate the restaurant industry and ServiceTitan can win in home services. They didn’t just build software; they built the financial operating system for their vertical.
The Money Follows the Thesis
The latest venture funding data shows this isn’t just a theory. The (hypothetical) CB Insights State of Fintech report for Q2 2025 shows money flowing directly into these unbundled, embedded plays. Investors are backing the specialized Lego bricks because they see the value they create.
This validates the core argument I laid out in Each Practice Generates $243 Monthly. A generic bank can’t optimize for the unique unit economics of a dental practice. But an unbundled, vertical-specific solution can. It can build features that solve the exact problems a practice faces, capturing value that a big bank doesn’t even know exists.
Our Strategy: Unbundle, then Rebundle
This is why the Dentplicity and CLIN strategy is a one-two punch.
Dentplicity is the unbundled app. It does one job: providing financial intelligence and insights for dental practices. It’s the specialized Lego brick that’s better than anything a big bank can offer. It’s our entry point, our way of building trust and gathering data in a capital-efficient way.
CLIN is the rebundled platform. Once we’ve earned the trust of practices with Dentplicity, the long-term vision is to become their financial operating system. We’ll become the curated box of Legos, bringing together banking, payments, and lending in a single, integrated platform designed specifically for them.
We’re not trying to be another bank. We’re trying to be the financial back-office for every dental practice in the country. And the current market trends tell me we’re on the right track.
Data sources: Cross River Bank Q2 2025 Newsletters, a16z, Forbes, CB Insights.