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I believe in value-driven companies. At our core, we have always been an engineering company. We are good engineers, and that is reflected in our product. But that is not enough. You have to be passionate about customers. you have to fall in love with your customers’ problems and solve them. 

«You also have to ignore the naysayers»

There is no one silver bullet. You need strong teamwork. No one can deliver such complex products alone – we’re talking about 25 million lines of code – so it’s about people. 

My principles of success are first, having a purpose, and I think for me that is also having a purpose in life. Next, think big, so don't put limitations in your own head and strive for the most you can achieve. You also have to ignore the naysayers – if you have a big purpose, you will have lots of people telling you otherwise.

«I’m engaged in agritech in India, which allows me to build a business but also do good»

Just go your way, and execute your strategies and vision. Finally, I believe in hard work. You must work your ass off. If you don’t do this, somebody else will.

If you would start Avaloq again, would you do anything differently?

Technology transforms over time, so you have to transform your product over time to take advantage of this. You need to reengineer products constantly if you want to prolong product lifecycles. But for everything else, I would have done it the same way.

As an entrepreneur, what opportunities do you see in the current business environment? 

There is an unlimited number of feasible ideas. Human beings are creative and there are opportunities everywhere. Right now, I’m engaged in agritech in India, which allows me to build a business but also do good.

«We forget that most of us fail, at least once»

It makes me very happy if I can make other people happy. I’m in e-sports, which is another booming industry, and I’m also in reinventing how real estate is being dealt with, and fintech. 

What is your most important advice to young startups/founders?

You have to listen to yourself and find out if you’re really an entrepreneur or not. Many people think they are, but choosing this path is not the easy way.

«I think building successful companies is the greatest thing you can do in business life»

We tend to talk about the successful entrepreneurs, but we forget that most of us fail, at least once. Listen to yourself and if you really want to take the risk of being an entrepreneur. If you’re convinced, then you should live your dream, not dream your life.

After experiencing so much success, what keeps your entrepreneurial spirit going today?

I think building successful companies is the greatest thing you can do in business life. It’s probably part of my engineering DNA that I love to build up complex things. You can engineer a company as your engineer a product, and it's an intellectual challenge at the same time, which I love.

Francisco Fernandez founded Avaloq group in 1985 and serves as its Chairman. He was its chief executive officer from January 2000 to December 2017. He is an entrepreneur who has committed himself to IT solutions in the finance sector. Beyond that, he aims at redesigning the dialogue and interaction between financial institutions and their customers. He holds a master's degree in informatics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich as well as a certificate in business administration from the Centre for Industrial Management (BWI) of the ETH.