Luca Ferrari says Bending Spoons compounds capital by running digital businesses better than almost anyone, then holding them forever rather than selling.
Bending Spoons received 800,000 applications last year and hired fewer than 300, with Ferrari arguing Harvard and Stanford graduates perform only a little better than others.
Ferrari says experienced hires often struggle to adapt to Bending Spoons' culture, so the company puts young leaders, sometimes 25-year-olds, in charge of acquired businesses.
Bending Spoons Compounds Capital by Out-Operating Everyone It Acquires
Bending Spoons is a technology platform that buys digital businesses and runs them better than their sellers could. Luca Ferrari credits that edge to rigorous, data-driven hiring of high-ownership people, a flat and candid culture, and a bias toward simplicity. He places little weight on pedigree, experience or formal management technique.
Takeaways
Bending Spoons wins through operating, not deal selection. It buys digital businesses off its own balance sheet, moves them onto one technology platform, shares R&D and marketing teams, and holds forever. Luca says deep integration separates it from serial acquirers. The transformation is slow but usually yields very high returns.
Hiring is treated like quantitative trading. The company got 800,000 applications last year and hired fewer than 300. It tests hundreds of signals against later performance. Luca says unstructured interviews predict worst, and Harvard or Stanford graduates do only slightly better than others.
Experience is valued far less than ownership. Luca says the world changes fast and experienced hires usually struggle with the culture. Young leaders, sometimes 25-year-old engineers, run acquired businesses. The company looks for extreme ownership and tests people first in smaller roles.
Management style matters less than strategy, talent and culture. Brian argues CEOs share no common thread, from Kalshi's flat structure to Databricks' structured cadence. Luca disagrees that formal management matters much, putting its effect at roughly plus or minus 10 percent of outcomes.
Candid feedback and flat structure drive improvement. Bending Spoons practices radical candor, immediate feedback and yearly assessments by six to ten colleagues. It dropped its executive team years ago, pulls in whoever is needed on a topic, and runs a matrix of functional and team leads.
Simplicity and first principles beat copying others. Luca says copying guarantees mediocrity. The company pushes radical simplification, and whoever proposes added complexity carries the burden of proof. The complexity must be clearly proven or easy to revert.
Integrity builds trust, and Milan widened the talent pool. Luca promised himself never to lie or omit important information, even at his own cost. He built in Milan because Italy offered strong education and talent near family. The company now hires more outside Italy than inside.
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