David Senra(@davidsenra):“If you want to try to be the best of the best, you need to take some risks and rethink things.” "If you copy what most people are doing you're guaranteed to be mediocre.” Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari says being geographically isolated from most startup hubs, helped them to think differently: “We figured, let's try to experiment, invent, and think from first principles. We will make more mistakes. It will take longer than if we copied some of the tried and tested approaches, but we should be able to find at least a few insights, a few new ways that will set us apart.” “Being more isolated geographically has probably played to our advantage in that regard. We weren't under the influence of the mantras that everybody in the big startup hubs over time were preaching."

2026.09.13 16:01

“If you want to try to be the best of the best, you need to take some risks and rethink things.” "If you copy what most people are doing you're guaranteed to be mediocre.” Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari says being geographically isolated from most startup hubs, helped them to think differently: “We figured, let's try to experiment, invent, and think from first principles. We will make more mistakes. It will take longer than if we copied some of the tried and tested approaches, but we should be able to find at least a few insights, a few new ways that will set us apart.” “Being more isolated geographically has probably played to our advantage in that regard. We weren't under the influence of the mantras that everybody in the big startup hubs over time were preaching."

David Senra@davidsenra

2026.09.13 14:00

My conversation with Luca Ferrari, co-founder of Bending Spoons. 0:00 Fanatical founders building enduring companies 1:23 Luca on building the best company there ever was 4:22 The origins of Bending Spoons 5:47 Talent and why experience is overrated 15:05 Turning hiring into a science 23:30 Why Bending Spoons doesn't use bonuses 29:26 Why everyone in the company has the same job 42:41 On finding great potential and saturating their capacity 49:50 Insisting on a culture of extreme ownership 59:28 Luca's principle of relentless simplification 1:05:15 Why Bending Spoons doesn't use job titles 1:10:27 The proprietary operating system behind Bending Spoons 1:17:07 Why Bending Spoons isn't private equity 1:19:32 How Bending Spoons acquired & transformed Evernote 1:28:01 How Bending Spoons uses AI 1:40:42 How Bending Spoons thinks about capital allocation 1:43:50 Why procrastination without laziness is good 1:46:46 Operational excellence is not optional 1:49:07 How Bending Spoons negotiates acquisitions 1:54:47 Logic over numbers Includes paid partnerships.