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
Peter Hatzigeorgiou, VP External
"On January 22nd, we had the immense pleasure and honour to re-invite Mr. Guy Cabana for the third year in a row to talk at our «Lead to Succeed» annual event. This year he was asked not only to deliver 1 topic but to deliver 3 conferences which were as follows:
- Building bridges. The art of successful negotiations
- Lifting mountains. The art of doing the impossible
- Talking without words
This event was a huge success and his presence made this day memorable for all attendees. Mr. Cabana was very motivating, captivating and inspiring. During his presentations, he encouraged all students to take a new perspective on life by asking themselves profound questions and encouraged us to take action. To our enjoyment, he was available and invited the attendees to partake in interactive conferences and he never hesitated to accept questions. He truly demonstrated his expertise as a powerful communicator.
Mr. Cabana shows such attention and openness and has such a way to implicate everyone during his speech by maintaining eye contact, that we have the impression that he his talking directly to each individual. Even if he gave 3 very distinct topics, each one was as captivating as the other. He enunciated his ideas efficiently and had many of us taking notes and making sure that we take immediate action. His message is practical, concrete and direct. The most intriguing part is that we realized that we all can implement his teachings immediately after the event both in our personal and professional lives.
Mr. Cabana was eloquent and created a very heart warming and enthusiastic atmosphere amongst all the students. He is a very charismatic speaker and left the audience with a powerful message. He is humorous, dynamic, and extremely energetic, and we were very fortunate to have him spend the day with us. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to learn, grow or gain knowledge. I can promise you will have a truly amazing time with this extremely knowledgeable man. Looking forward to have you again next year!"
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...”