Founder of Ohpen.com
Chris Zadeh
Chris is an investor and he serves as an advisor for several companies and sits on boards of directors/supervisory boards, including asset manager ASN, insurance company Inshared, and tech company ParkBee. Chris is a sought-after speaker and advises, coaches, and mentors entrepreneurs and CEOs.
Languages:
Employability:
Keynote Speaker
Employability:
Keynote Speaker,
About Chris Zadeh
Chris Zadeh started working early and was instrumental in the success of BinckBank. As the right-hand man of Kalo Bagijn, founder of BinckBank, Chris was responsible for the technology. What began on a whiteboard with the idea of creating “the EasyJet of stockbroking” grew into a publicly listed fintech company valued at over 1 billion euros in just eight years.
He then founded the fintech company Ohpen.com and, after its successful sale, the investment company Whangai.nl.
But beneath this illustrious career lies a turbulent foundation. Chris grew up in a complex family without a father, and his mother had to work hard to make ends meet. As a teenager, he took on significant responsibilities and had to process the culture shock when he, his brother, and his mother moved to the Netherlands.
As a survivor of a challenging childhood, combined with dyslexia, ADHD, OCD, and other neurotic behavior, Chris made the decision not to let these define him. With a “give it all” mentality, Chris embarked on a personal and business journey that would exceed everyone’s expectations, including his own.
It is the fusion of his creativity and knowledge of technology and deal-making into one cohesive combination that helps his clients and partners achieve their ultimate business goals and lifelong dreams.
He lives in the mountains of Austria with three cats and two dogs, Myza and Yucca. When Chris isn’t helping others scale their businesses, he’s busy shark diving, practicing yoga, or Thai boxing.
In addition to being an investor, Chris serves as an advisor for several companies and sits on six different boards of directors/supervisory boards, including asset manager ASN, insurance company Inshared, and tech company ParkBee. Chris is a sought-after speaker at seminars and conferences and advises, coaches, and mentors entrepreneurs and CEOs.
On social media, he has more than 300,000 followers across Instagram and LinkedIn.
Specialist Subjects
Videos
Sam Knowles is one of the most interesting and engaging speakers I have ever seen
"Sam Knowles is one of the most interesting and engaging speakers I have ever seen – Full Stop. I first had the pleasure of witnessing the wonder of Sam at the 2018 Media Research Group Conference in 2018 in Bratislava, where Sam was the keynote speaker. Sam captivated the attention of the audience and presented new ways of thinking about data and insight in a way which demonstrated how the theories could be applied and more importantly how be turned into actionable results."
“Since then, I have been a great fan of Sam's work, and after reading his fantastic publications Narrative by Numbers and How To Be Insightful, I reached out to Sam to ask if he would be interested in presenting his work to the membership of the IPA. Sam kindly obliged and delivered an incredibly popular webinar which drew on his previous works and talked of how agencies and brands alike could apply the thinking to navigate the unprecedented times we are living in during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Needless to say, Sam's presentation was fantastic, evidenced by continued audience engagement throughout, so many audience requests and questions we couldn't answer them all due to time constraints and also the lowest audience drop off rate we have seen. The feedback from attendees was exceptional with one attendee stating that the webinar was 'mind altering' and 'completely changed the way they understood data and insight' and many others asking where they could see Sam present again as he was so good."
“The great thing about Sam is that he presents in such a great way that he makes what he presents so understandable and applicable for the audience he is presenting to. His speaking style is very engaging and his personality and enthusiasm make you feel like you are on a journey of discovery, while making sure you never feel lost or overwhelmed. As you can tell, we're huge fans of Sam and his work at the IPA and we very much hope to work with him again in the future. If you get the chance to see Sam speak, take it without hesitation – I can assure you, you won't be disappointed.”
References
His sharp and creative entrepreneurial thinking, combined with his witty personality, stand out.
"I have come to know Chris as a person who uses his energy and focus to believe, create, and grow. His sharp and creative entrepreneurial thinking, combined with his witty personality, stand out. He persists where others stop and doesn’t shy away from obstacles or hurdles; he prefers to overcome them."
Finding a combination of both in one person is rare. Except with Chris...
“Chris possesses a unique combination of skills: on one hand, he can think through technology down to the smallest detail. On the other hand, I have rarely met someone who can deliver such a compelling sales pitch. There are many good tech people and many good salespeople in this world. However, finding a combination of both in one person is rare. Except with Chris...”