We built INT in 1997 and stayed founder-led ever since, choosing our own way of operating instead of optimising for an investor-driven one.
Over time, independence became an operating principle.
→ We invest for the long term, on our own terms. → No client should have to stay because a contract or platform makes leaving difficult. → With INT OneSpace, clients can choose their own cloud, platform and LLM.
Saying no to the first investor who approached us felt reckless at the time.
Capital amplifies a business; it rarely fixes one, and not raising it forced discipline into every decision we make.
More importantly, it gave us the freedom to make long-term decisions without optimising for someone else's timeline.
Over time, I realised that if independence mattered so much to us, we should extend the same principle to our clients.
Long contracts can sometimes get mistaken for strong relationships.
I have always believed the stronger test is whether a client stays even when they are free to leave.
We help clients leave just as much as we help them arrive, because trust matters more than the paperwork holding someone in place.
Some of our client relationships have lasted decades, not because they had to stay, but because they could have left and chose not to.
This Independence Day, I find myself thinking about freedom not just as something a country earns, but as a principle businesses can choose to operate by.
For INT, that has meant protecting our own freedom to choose, and giving our clients the same freedom in return.
What does real independence look like for your business?