Banking the Cloud

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.

The Great Wide Open Part One: Preparation Where It All Began Our First Unicorn Experience Giving Away a Piece of the Pie Part Two: No Coming Up for Air Building the Core Team and Getting Started Building a Bank from Scratch Part Three: The Bends(2009-2012) It Just Takes One One Thousand Rejections Part Four: In the Deep (2013-2014) Migrating the First Client The Sharks Circle Ensuring Security Part Five: Scaling (2014-2019) Casting the Net Going Global-The First UK Client Opening Barcelona: Building the Future of Cloud Banking Four Banks in Four Years Part Six: Ripping Currents (2018-2019) From Valhalla to Hell and Back Work Hard, Play Hard-Rewarding the Team Spreading the Message and Circumnavigating the Globe The Future Is Wide Ohpen Ohpen's Next Steps APPENDICES Dear Banker: Here Are Twenty Things Ohpen Wants You to Know Glossary of Key Terms Used by Ohpen List and Bios of Key Ohpen Players Mentioned Overview and Timeline of Ohpen Acknowledgments About the Authors Endnotes