Bricknode takes a bet on the open platform

March 14, 2017. Stefan Willebrand.

Apple and Google are two examples of how immense growth and success can be achieved in the technology area by utilizing different methodologies. Apple is innovating in a more closed and direct manner which was a success factor from the days of Steve Jobs. Google on the other hand is a more open company where employees for a long time adhered to the 20-percent policy where they spent one day a week developing their own ideas.

In a recent article in Veckans Affärer (www.va.se), Geoffrey Parker, who wrote the book “Platform Revolution”, witnessed with regards to the different environment that exists at the campuses of these two companies.

Open systems where users get to innovate within and around that system has a clear tendency to grow quicker than closed ones even though in some cases the end user experience sometimes can suffer because of beta versions being released for use.

Ever since we founded Bricknode I have been saying that I would be the happiest when I see people using our platform in ways that we did not think of ourselves. One of the negatives with an open platform is that it can take longer time for users to catch on and really start to see what they could be using it for.

At Bricknode we have two legs to stand on, one is the platform leg where we have an open API and we want as many users as possible to build their own stuff on top of our core. Being a financial platform this is a perfect choice for any FinTech company looking to build a new product.

The other leg is what we call Verticals, this is where we build more closed applications that are directed towards defined user groups like Bricknode Broker. At the bottom of our platform we have numerous integrations with banks, brokers, marketplaces, data services etc. Both our vertical users and platform users can reach these integrations and include them in their own products.

For 7 years, we have developed the core of the horizontal platform and we have just recently opened it up for global adoption by users. The platform is multi-everything so it can be used in any country for financial purposes and we just started our physical presence in London by establishing partnerships and showing what we have for potential users.

By establishing an ecosystem like we have in Bricknode we have acquired a lot of stakeholders like financial institutions, FinTech innovators, expert consultants, developers and consumers who interacts on a daily basis with our platform.

Since December 2016 it is now possible to get a complete brokerage system set up within 5 minutes as a cloud based service and pay by credit card only for what is used, no 24 month contracts or a year of configuration needed. All prices are published directly online.

For FinTech startups we are offering a sponsorship program with free access to the complete platform.

/Stefan Willebrand, CEO & Founder @ Bricknode