Italian software company Bending Spoons has been turning heads recently, especially with its acquisition of Eventbrite for $500 million. As an entrepreneur in the European tech space, I find their approach intriguing, not least because their strategy challenges many conventional practices in tech buyouts. For those who may not be familiar, let me guide you through what Bending Spoons is, why you should care, and what this means for the future of acquisitions.
Debugging the Bending Spoons Blueprint
Bending Spoons, headquartered in Milan, operates with a model that defies common expectations. They acquire established yet underperforming digital platforms and commit to long-term redevelopment rather than flipping them for profits. This approach has allowed them to grow their portfolio into a collection of recognizable brands, including Evernote, WeTransfer, Meetup, and StreamYard.
Founded in 2013, this privately held company boasts a firm grip on the tech industry, with over 400 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers across its products. If you search for “quiet dominance,” Bending Spoons would likely appear in the results. Unlike typical private equity firms, they’ve yet to sell anything they’ve acquired, a key differentiator in their business philosophy.
While the company often restructures its acquisitions (read: layoffs and monetization changes), it doesn’t shy away from criticism. Just look at the backlash over Evernote limiting free users to 50 notes. Yet, these moves underscore their reliance on creating businesses that sustain profitability over time. You can explore how Bending Spoons manages its growing portfolio through insights provided by Business Wire.
The Eventbrite Deal: Why Now?
Eventbrite, founded in 2006, was once the darling of event ticketing. But after its IPO in 2018 at a valuation of $1.8 billion, things went south fast. Enter Bending Spoons, acquiring the platform for $500 million in cash this year. For many insiders, this was a bargain buy, but for Bending Spoons, it’s another opportunity to shape the future.
Their track record suggests we can expect considerable changes, from tech overhauls to monetization strategies akin to their treatment of previous acquisitions. What’s compelling here is Bending Spoons’ intent to bring long-term growth to Eventbrite rather than merely optimizing its financial sheet.
CEO Luca Ferrari shared his optimism, stating their focus on unlocking Eventbrite’s latent potential through investments in artificial intelligence and secondary ticketing markets. Learn more about how Bending Spoons plans to steer Eventbrite’s transformation from software conglomerates like Morning Brew.
What Makes Bending Spoons Unique?
From an entrepreneurial lens, three aspects of Bending Spoons stand out:
-
Long-Haul Retention: Unlike many firms that flip their acquisitions, Bending Spoons views its purchased businesses as “forever keeps.” This approach fosters trust among users, albeit after restructuring that may temporarily challenge user loyalty.
-
Global Impact: The company serves more than 1 billion customers globally, combining technical novelties with simplistic user interfaces to enhance customer acquisition rates.
-
Celebrity Investors: With backing from Andre Agassi, Xavier Niel, and even The Weeknd, Bending Spoons isn’t just a company, it’s part of a cultural movement in Europe’s tech sector.
Explore Bending Spoons’ acquisition philosophy further through The Verge's discussion on their investor appeal.
How Founders Should Tackle Acquisitions
As someone heavily invested in startup growth, two lessons can be gleaned from Bending Spoons’ strategies:
-
Learn to Start Over Unapologetically: Many startups cling to preexisting models during tough times. Bending Spoons flips this sentiment, dissolving old models and rebuilding them entirely when they don’t work. If Evernote and Filmic can survive their treatment, startups can too.
-
Focus on Lifespan, Not Hype: The longevity model Bending Spoons builds upon ensures its acquisitions retain value long-term. Founders, take notes: sustainable customer growth wins over short-term gains. For more insights into creating sustainable user growth, visit EU Startups.
Avoid These Common Pitfalls in Acquisitions
When negotiating an acquisition, founders often forget the basics. Here are the frequent mistakes I’ve observed:
- Over-valuing Brand Nostalgia: The “everyone loves this app” sentiment rarely generates long-term profitability.
- Ignoring Restructuring Needs: Be realistic about how much technical and cultural restructuring will be required post-sale.
- Underestimating PR Damage: While selling to a big-name acquirer like Bending Spoons comes with prestige, don’t ignore potential backlash from employees, customers, or stakeholders.
Closing Thoughts
Bending Spoons is reshaping how we view acquisitions in tech, focusing on sustainable development rather than short-term restructuring. For founders, this should be an eye-opener. Acquisition isn't an endpoint, it’s a rebirth, an entirely new way of looking at the future of a product. Study how Bending Spoons transforms its purchases, and ask yourself: can I adopt aspects of this “forever strategy” in my own business?
For those contemplating acquisitions or partnerships, learning from their example could help recalibrate how you perceive growth and integration post-transaction.
FAQ
1. What is Bending Spoons?
Bending Spoons is an Italian-based software company known for acquiring underperforming digital platforms and investing in their long-term growth rather than flipping them for short-term profit. Its portfolio includes renowned brands like Evernote, WeTransfer, Meetup, and StreamYard. Explore what makes Bending Spoons unique
2. What is Bending Spoons’ business strategy?
Bending Spoons focuses on acquiring and transforming digital platforms, taking a "forever keep" approach. Their strategy includes significant restructuring, technology overhauls, and long-term investment in growth. They do not sell acquired companies, making their approach distinctive in the tech world. Learn more about their acquisition philosophy
3. How many people use Bending Spoons’ products?
Bending Spoons boasts over 1 billion users globally, with 400 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers across its portfolio of products. Read about their global reach
4. How much did Bending Spoons pay to acquire Eventbrite?
Bending Spoons acquired Eventbrite for $500 million in an all-cash deal, adding the global ticketing platform to their rapidly growing portfolio of digital brands. Learn more about the acquisition
5. How does Bending Spoons approach restructuring after acquisitions?
After acquiring a company, Bending Spoons typically invests in tech overhauls, streamlines operations, and implements monetization strategies. While layoffs and product changes are frequent, their focus remains on long-term user retention and profitability. Read about their restructuring model
6. What is the significance of Eventbrite’s acquisition?
Eventbrite, a once-prominent ticketing platform, struggled post-IPO and lost valuation. By acquiring it, Bending Spoons aims to reinvigorate the platform with advanced technologies, including AI, and unlock its latent potential. Explore the impact of the deal on Eventbrite
7. Who supports Bending Spoons financially?
Bending Spoons has backing from various celebrity investors, including Andre Agassi, Xavier Niel, The Weeknd, and more. This support highlights the trust placed in their sustainable approach to acquisitions.
8. How does Bending Spoons handle user criticism after restructuring?
The restructuring often results in decisions like limiting free offerings, which have drawn backlash from users, for example, Evernote limiting free users to 50 notes. Despite this, the company focuses on creating financially sustainable models. Read about Evernote’s changes
9. Why is Bending Spoons growing so rapidly?
Bending Spoons has outpaced conventional competitors by focusing on underperforming assets, transforming them with long-term strategies, and retaining them in their portfolio. Their targeted investments in technology and global scale have driven growth. Discover their competitive edge
10. What lessons can founders learn from Bending Spoons’ strategy?
Founders should focus on long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains, embrace bold restructuring, and be open to starting over with underperforming models. Bending Spoons’ approach to lifespan-driven growth serves as a great example. Learn from their entrepreneurial insights
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.