We’re really enjoying this feature-length piece in the Financial Times on how Goldman Sachs is pushing into consumer and small-business banking. It’s a great read, it’s about Goldman, and it underscores the challenges any of us face when we look to expand into nearby verticals that we mistakenly think are closely related to our own.

Excerpt: “For almost 150 years, [Goldman Sachs] had prospered by getting close to people of power and influence: wealthy institutions, multinationals, rich families. Now it was trying to appeal to hoi polloi, offering online savings accounts that can be opened with a deposit of just USD 1, with interest rates about 100 times better than those at big US retail banks like Wells Fargo or Bank of America.” The problems with the April roll-out were legion, and as one client put it: “Because it was Goldman everyone expected the white glove service. It was not the white glove service.”

The piece looks at the industry forces that prompted Goldman’s decision to love the consumer and concludes that “Recasting Goldman as the friend of the consumer and small business will not be easy.” Read: “Goldman Sachs, a play for the 99%”