Banking The Cloud: The Comprehensive History Of Cloud Banking And Those Who Started It

by Chris Zadeh, Matthijs Aler, Mary Curran-Hackett

Overview

DIVE INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN Young. Hungry. Visionary. Chris Zadeh saw a future few could ever imagine possible. When he presented his idea—coding a new core banking engine in the cloud—bankers laughed. They scoffed. Then they rejected his revolutionary idea outright. They said, “The cloud’s not safe.” “Who do you think you are—telling us how to run our banks?” “And who the hell is ever going to put a bank on the cloud?” Chris Zadeh and his team of underdogs knew the answer: everyone. They also knew the cloud wasn’t just safe, it was the future of banking. And more than anything, he knew exactly who he and his team were: they were Ohpen, the first software company in the world to put a bank on the cloud. Together, this band of brothers harnessed their give-it-all mentality, fighting spirit, and bold vision to change how the world banks. In this surprising, unfiltered, outstandingly told story, Banking the Cloud takes the reader on an epic journey—from thrill of discovery, to the devastation of defeat, and to an exhilarating and last-minute rally that changed everything. This is a remarkable tale of what it takes to innovate, survive, and ultimately win no matter what the obstacle. You’ll find it impossible to put this book down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781946633729
Publisher:	Advantage Media Group, Inc.
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

CHRIS ZADEH is the founder of Ohpen. Inspired to disrupt the way banks work Chris pulled a team of underdogs together to do what others thought was impossible—create the first cloud-based core banking company in the world. After leading the company as CEO for ten years, Chris now lives in Ibiza with his wife, their three cats, and two dogs, Myza and Yucca. When Chris isn’t sharkdiving, he is practicing yoga and martial arts. He has been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, and Wired, which named Ohpen “Europe’s Hottest FinTech.” He is also the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Monkey Money Mind: How to Stop Monkeying Around with Your Money.

MATTHIJS ALER is CEO of Ohpen, where he leads to achieve its mission of developing the best core banking engine in the world. Before Ohpen, Matthijs was responsible for the launch of binck.fr and the rise of BinckBank in the ranks of the French online banking landscape.

MARY CURRAN-HACKETT is a versatile and prolific author, editor, and ghostwriter. An avid business and leadership ghostwriter with Kevin Anderson & Associates, she is best known as the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling novels, Proof of Heaven and Proof of Angels (William Morrow/HarperCollins). Mary’s personal essays have been anthologized and published nationally. In addition to her own writing, Mary has edited hundreds of books and ghostwritten over twenty published books for executives, entrepreneurs, doctors, artists, celebrities, and religious leaders. When not traveling, she calls Cincinnati home and enjoys her time there with her husband and two children.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Great Wide Open 1

Part 1 Preparation

Chapter 1 Where It All Began 19

Chapter 2 Our First Unicorn Experience 31

Chapter 3 Giving Away a Piece of the Pie 65

Part 2 No Coming Up for Air (2009-2012)

Chapter 4 Building the Core Team and Getting Started 81

Chapter 5 Building a Bank from Scratch 101

Part 3 The Bends (2009-2012)

Chapter 6 It Just Takes One 117

Chapter 7 One Thousand Rejections 135

Part 4 In the Deep (2013-2014)

Chapter 8 Migrating the First Client 157

Chapter 9 The Sharks Circle 169

Chapter 10 Ensuring Security 183

Part 5 Scaling (2014-2019)

Chapter 11 Casting the Net 207

Chapter 12 Going Global-The First UK Client 221

Chapter 13 Opening Barcelona: Building the Future of Cloud Banking 233

Chapter 14 Four Banks in Four Years 251

Part 6 Ripping Currents (2018-2019)

Chapter 15 From Valhalla to Hell and Back 269

Chapter 16 Work Hard, Play Hard-Rewarding the Team 277

Chapter 17 Spreading the Message and Circumnavigating the Globe 295

Chapter 18 The Future Is Wide Ohpen 311

Afterword Ohpen's Next Steps 321

Appendices 333

Dear Banker: Here Are Twenty Things Ohpen Wants You to Know 335

Glossary of Key Terms Used by Ohpen 343

List and Bios of Key Ohpen Players Mentioned 347

Overview and Timeline of Ohpen 355

Acknowledgments 359

About the Authors 363

Endnotes 365

Editorial Reviews

A story for the ages that reminds dreamers, innovators, and entrepreneurs the world over what it really takes to do the impossible. Chris Zadeh didn’t have it easy. From the outset he was an outsider, a renegade, a rebel. He wasn’t your typical banker’s banker. In early 2008, he and his friends at the international bank where they worked had a crazy idea. What if they stopped fixing problems to core banking engines and built a totally new one? And not just any core banking engine—the best one in the world? And even crazier still, what if they put this core banking engine on the cloud? Defying all the odds that were stacked against them—the countless rejections, the naysayers, and the nonbelievers—Zadeh, his best friend, Matthijs Aler, and their genius team of tech whizzes and cofounders, set out to do what had never been done before. And in the process, they exceeded everyone’s expectations, including their own. Be prepared to dive into the depths of the unknown and make extraordinary discoveries along with Zadeh and Aler as they tell their exceptional story of how they changed the banking world forever in Banking the Cloud.

From the Publisher