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After $18B IPO, Bending Spoons founder says success comes from minimizing luck
Italian tech company Bending Spoons went public on the Nasdaq today, opening at an $18 billion valuation and closing 40% higher. The Milan-based firm, founded 13 years ago, has quietly acquired beloved but struggling internet brands like Meetup, Eventbrite, Vimeo, and WeTransfer. Unlike typical private equity flip-and-sell strategies, Bending Spoons aims to transform these companies with technology and retain them long-term. “We want to place ourselves as an operator that takes beloved brands and makes them much better,” co-founder and chief product officer Matteo Danieli told TechCrunch. The approach has sparked controversy, particularly around layoffs, but has driven revenue growth, especially with AI. Danieli noted an “incredible acceleration” in shipping new features and creating user value over the past year and a half. The company’s F-1 filing includes a chapter titled “AI before it was cool,” referencing its roots in a failed startup called Evertale, which used machine learning to create an automated life diary. That failure taught the co-founders—Luca Ferrari, Francesco Patarnello, Luca Querella, and Danieli—that luck plays a big role in product-market fit, leading them to obsess over strategies to minimize luck’s impact through operational excellence. This philosophy manifests in data-driven pricing and product decisions. Danieli says the company sometimes offers more free features to drive word-of-mouth, but also raises prices, sparking complaints. Despite this, customer retention has remained “remarkably stable.” The Evernote acquisition drew the most scrutiny, but Danieli is proudest of its AI-heavy v11 update, which won over users including Evernote co-founder Phil Libin. Bending Spoons was valued at $11 billion in a pre-IPO private equity round, with VCs and VIPs from tech and entertainment on its cap table. Initially met with skepticism (“you’re crazy” reactions), the company focused on talent and culture, with Ferrari spending years refining hiring processes. Revenue per full-time employee rose from $1.12 million in 2023 to $2.57 million in 2025, aided by AI. To celebrate its listing, the company brought all employees to New York. Danieli said the IPO provides liquidity for its acquisitive strategy, and with slashed SaaS valuations, Bending Spoons sees a great opportunity to deploy capital.