A hybrid 'tech conglomerate' model that owns companies permanently is superior to both single-product tech companies and traditional private equity firms.
Deep, radical operational intervention post-acquisition is essential to unlock the true potential of undervalued or mismanaged technology assets.
Identifying and rapidly developing elite, inexperienced talent is a core, scalable competitive advantage that fuels growth and innovation.
AI will be a primary driver of future business success, widening the performance gap between firms at the cutting edge, like Bending Spoons, and those that fail to adapt.
Europe is capable of producing a globally dominant, trillion-dollar technology company, and Bending Spoons is being built with the ambition to become that institution.
2010
Co-founded his first startup, Evertail, an AI-powered diary that ultimately failed because the underlying machine learning technology was not yet advanced enough.
2013
Co-founded Bending Spoons using the remaining €40,000 in seed capital from the failed Evertail venture.
2019
Bending Spoons attempted to acquire the dating app Grindr after it was put up for sale by its Chinese owner under pressure from CFIUS.
2020-2024
Claims Bending Spoons' per-share revenue and EBITDA grew at a compound annual rate of approximately 75%.
Post-2022 Acquisition
Oversaw the turnaround of Evernote, claiming to have increased user retention to an all-time high, reduced sync times by over 90%, and increased the rate of product improvements by 3-5x.
2024
Projects Bending Spoons will achieve approximately $1.3 billion in revenue and receive 800,000 unique job applications for 250 positions.
▶The 'Forever' Conglomerate ModelApr–Jul 2026
Ferrari positions Bending Spoons as a modern Berkshire Hathaway for tech, a conglomerate that acquires companies to own and operate permanently. This model allows for fluid resource allocation across its portfolio and contrasts sharply with the typical private equity strategy of buying to sell within a few years.
This long-term ownership model suggests a focus on sustainable operational improvements and compounding value, rather than financial engineering for a quick exit, which may appeal to founders of acquired companies who are concerned about legacy.
▶Radical Post-Acquisition Intervention
Ferrari's playbook involves deep, transformative changes to acquired assets. This includes rewriting software from the ground up, re-architecting cloud infrastructure, and replacing entire management teams to align the company with Bending Spoons' vision and operational tempo.
This high-intensity, operationally-heavy approach is a significant departure from typical acquirers and represents both a major value-add proposition and a substantial integration risk that requires a highly skilled, centralized platform team.
▶Elite Talent Cultivation
A cornerstone of the Bending Spoons strategy is its system for identifying and developing top-tier, inexperienced talent. The company employs an extremely selective hiring process (1 in 3,200 applicants), uses AI to predict candidate performance, and trusts young managers (27-28 years old) to run large business units.
This focus on raw talent over experience creates a unique, potentially homogenous culture and relies heavily on the firm's internal systems to accelerate professional growth, making the scalability of its training and mentorship programs critical to its success.
▶Building a European Tech Behemoth
Ferrari expresses a clear ambition to build a defining company of his generation, noting the scarcity of trillion-dollar tech companies in Europe compared to the U.S. and China. This ambition is backed by claims of rapid growth (75% CAGR) and a belief that Bending Spoons' operational moat is difficult to replicate.
Ferrari's narrative frames Bending Spoons not just as a successful company, but as a potential answer to Europe's relative underperformance in creating globally dominant tech giants, a position that could attract both talent and capital eager to back a European champion.