Hank Seale had spent his career selling technology to small banks before he started Q2. He knew their problem. Big national banks spent fortunes on websites and phone apps, and the local bank down the street could not keep up. Q2 sold those small banks and credit unions a cloud-based digital branch. When the Austin company went public in March 2014, 334 institutions used it, and customers were starting to choose banks by their apps.

A Banker's Software Veteran

Seale co-founded Regency Voice Systems in 1991, which sold voice banking to community banks, and later founded Q-Up. He started Q2 in Austin in 2005. The bet was that regional and community banks would pay for one secure platform that ran online banking, mobile apps and more for them. Q2 hosted the software itself, so a small bank did not need a big tech team.

Thirteen Dollars on the Big Board

Q2 priced its shares at $13 in March 2014 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as QTWO. At the time it had 334 installed customers, up from 249 two years earlier. Over the next decade it kept adding products, including lending tools and software for banks' business customers. It also began selling to larger banks and to fintech companies. Q2 still trades on the New York Stock Exchange under QTWO.

Cover: Village Church and Street, Samuel Prout. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a village street (community banking).