2 Million Canadians…An $800M Valuation: Here’s What It Took

Dan Eberhard didn’t set out to build a fintech company, he set out to fix a system that wasn’t working for people like the family he grew up in.

Raised by a single mother in British Columbia, Dan saw early how traditional financial institutions often fail the very people who rely on them most. After a mix of wins and hard lessons in prior ventures, he went on to found KOHO, one of Canada’s most successful challenger banks, scaling from zero revenue in 2017 to hundreds of millions of dollars today.

In this conversation, we unpack what it really takes to build a company by solving the right problems, not the easy ones, and what Canada needs more of if it wants to produce the next generation of enduring businesses.

Dan is the Founder and CEO of KOHO, a Canadian fintech company redefining how people manage their money.

He discusses:

• Growing up with a single mom in BC, and how that shaped his view of money, systems, and opportunity

• Why traditional banks no longer work for modern Canadians

• The biggest structural challenges in how our government is set up

• Scaling KOHO from zero revenue in 2017 to an $800M valuation

• Why experience is overrated, and what he actually looks for when hiring and supporting A players

• Reflections on leadership, conflict, and fatherhood while building a high-growth company

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Chapters

• 00:00:00 Growing Up with Agency: Early Life and Entrepreneurial Roots
• 00:02:09 First Venture: Wind Energy and Learning to Sell
• 00:06:20 Why Hard Problems Attract the Best Talent
• 00:08:29 Canada's Go-for-Bronze Culture and the GDP Problem
• 00:12:41 Government Bloat and the Cost of Bureaucracy
• 00:19:46 Starting KOHO
• 00:23:17 Experience is Overrated: Hiring for Horsepower, Warmth, and Humility
• 00:25:04 The KOHO 50: Managing Top Performers and Building Culture
• 00:39:05 Secondaries, 10-Year Options, and Treating Employees Right
• 00:45:10 Fatherhood, Identity, and Learning Self-Compassion
• 00:49:57 Money, Agency, and Building for Impact
• 00:53:15 Rapid Fire and Final Advice

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Between Two Brunettes

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Samantha Miller

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Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

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Germana Kazazi

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Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

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Daniel Eberhard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieleberhard/

X: https://x.com/DanEbs

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Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.