Simone Martinelli’s Journey: Innovation, Community, and Growth
In this interview, we dive into the journey of Simone Martinelli, Managing Director of Hi!Founders, one of the largest startup communities in Southern Europe.
Simone shares the story behind his late co-founding of the company, his passion for transforming Italy into a thriving startup hub, and the lessons he’s learned from years of international experience.
Simone, tell us a bit about your startup. What inspired you to start HiFounders, and what problem are you solving?
Hi!Founders is one of the largest startup communities in South Europe, and it is free for founders and startups. We operate with integrity and uphold ethical standards. We do not accept sales percentages or shares; we only promote programs and companies we trust.
Hi!Founders is a unique company.
We are not the classic investor-friendly startup, showing 4x/5x, but we are growing steadily, working with over 50+ clients throughout Italy.
Our path is clear – to grow, we just need to be patient and keep up our good work. Every year, we pilot 3 new products. Our product and client portfolio is getting more and more interesting while our presence on social media keeps growing, thanks to the great work of my partner Nicola as well.
Hi!Founders wants to support founders to grow and be the best founders out there, working with as many players as possible to have a more cohesive ecosystem capable of supporting real growth and innovation nationally and internationally.
Briefly how it works:
- Startups and Founders receive free services to grow their businesses, network, and visibility.
- Through the proper form (Giulietta, Hi!Founders Co-Founder, is a lawyer), their data gets collected with their consent.
- Our clients are interested in such data and engage Hi!Founders for market research, events, communication, video content, tailor-made projects or scouting services.
- Our services at the moment are Community as a Service and Startup Scouting.
Problem we are solving:
- It has to be easier to scale and access global talents, funds, knowledge, and networks.
- Innovation is our only hope of survival. It has always been the case.
- Globally, there is no interconnected innovation ecosystem that works.
Mission impossible? We like it.
What inspired me to start it?
Funny story – I did not start Hi!Founders. I’m a late Co-Founder, meaning I acquired shares later on, after the startup was founded.
Why have I done that?
Hi!Founders is the project I have always dreamed of working on, reinforced by a career of almost 10 years that led me to possess the necessary skills to grow it.
Having lived abroad for so many years, I have been confronted so many times for being Italian by many nationalities: pizza, pasta, mandolino, drama women and mama’s boys, etc.. sadly this is what most foreigners think of us.
I have always been a rebel on Italian culture, lovely, yes, but boring and old. While la Bella Vita is lovely, it’s time to return to work and make Italy great again!
I’m not sure I’ll do it with Hi!Founders or other activities, but I’d love to help Italy invest in innovation and provide a prosperous and exciting life for the next generations.
Indeed, the ultimate goal with Hi!Founders is to go international and create a worldwide community and innovation framework. Still, I’d also be pleased to set Italy as a Startup Nation while advocating and obtaining better conditions for startups and entrepreneurs.
What is next for HiFounders and the community you are building?
Thanks to B4i – Bocconi for Innovation, who trusted us with Co-Founders Matching Day, Hi!Founders has found a Web Developer and a Product Manager. We are finally starting to work on some platforms that might or might not work. I remain optimistic but prefer not to reveal too much at this stage.
Not as big:
- Growing our Ambassadors’ lineup to set up as many Hi!Founders Startup Meetup as possible throughout Italy (we already cover 13 out of 20 regions of our country).
- Working on large projects with some important international funds that might involve several universities
What would it be if you could share one message about startups with a billion people?
Everything is a startup.
Life is a startup. A kid is a startup, a couple is a startup, and a family is a startup.
Although problems are behind every corner, the beauty of the ride is unmatchable!
What is one thing you wish people could understand about entrepreneurship?
It is not for everyone and is not a joke; it can ruin your life or change it for the better.
If you could change one thing about the startup ecosystem, what would it be?
I cannot answer this question very well as I have not been in the local ecosystem for that long, but having opened and operated a Startup abroad, Italy remains way behind on bureaucracy, investments/risk aversion, access to talents, ease of doing business and all that, which unfortunately we know very well.
While typing, if I could change something, it would be the Minister of Tech Innovation and Digital Transformation, replacing him with a team of young experts with a lot of power and budget (and why not myself!).
In an interview, I often want to understand why you chose a certain project or problem and why you are so interested in this topic. Going a long way around, this brings me to the following questions: What kind of child were you? And, did you have someone who influenced you when growing up?
Well, this is a great question, Sasha, and I guess it will help you and the readers understand my previous and following answers, which might seem a little extreme to some.
Just picture this:
In elementary school, I was probably 8 years old; in Italian class, a teacher asked us to write an essay on what we would like to do growing up.
My answer was that I would be president of the world, and if that were not possible, I would be president of Italy.
Why the president?
Growing up, I spent lots of time with my grandfather, who loved Berlusconi as he was the President of his (and my) favourite football team – AC Milan.
I’m not here to talk politics, but I guess, Pier Silvio influenced Simone as a kid whose eyes saw a man sharing love and smiles wherever he went.
That resonates with who I am today; I love spreading positive energy.
My father provided me with this vision and approach as a company owner.
We weren’t rich, but we lived a comfortable life, and I felt I could do everything I wanted to. At kindergarten, I convinced the schoolmaster to have me as Belle’s father’s donkey during the school play just cause Belle’s father was my best friend then, and I wanted a scene with him.
I had my grandmother craft the donkey’s tail and ears, and I got the part 😉
Spoiled? I wouldn’t say that tho.
While 99% of my friends enjoyed their summer vacation, my father had me working 2 months each summer since I was 12 and always helping my mother at home with cooking and cleaning while looking after my little brother.
While I don’t support having kids working, I’m thankful because it has given me an early understanding of responsibility and work ethic.
At my university, our director was a corporate guy with extensive experience who was heavily involved with large industry associations. He told us to “keep a knife between your teeth” with clients and to fill our “toolbox” with as many skills as possible.
At my first job, I felt like the luckiest guy ever as I had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 great great mentors who taught so much and who I still have a strong relationship with. In Asia alone, at 21, I guess I saw them as father figures, too.
In conclusion, I had many mentors and people to look up to growing up while being already very outgoing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Be thoughtful to yourself and do what you enjoy doing.
What’s one thing you’ve learned recently that surprised you?
Generally speaking, I love to spend time with other nationalities to learn more about their culture, which is always surprising. I recently had the pleasure of meeting a few people from Argentina and have learned so much from them.
I also get negatively surprised meeting people who have no clue of what’s going on in the world on political and socio-economic topics.
What’s something you’ve done that you’re proud of but don’t talk about often?
The first one that comes to mind is that I do a lot of voluntary work for the less fortunate. I have been doing it for several years after living in a third-world country and experiencing absolute poverty and distress daily.
Currently, I support Anffas – Italy National PWD Association.
Failures – what are your relationships with it?
I failed big time with so many things that it doesn’t matter to me anymore, I’m strong enough to jump back in it and move forward.
I also grew up professionally with many Americans with a completely different vision of failure than Italy and other countries.
I still believe Italy is changing its attitude towards failure, and I’m pleased about it.
I’d love to arrange some “Fuck up Nights” with B4i 🙂
Simone, what life events have shaped you the most?
I turn 30 this February, although I feel like I’m at least 40 or have lived as much as 40 years.
Why? I moved a lot, worked in many cities, and met many people and cultures.
From Lucca, 2 years in Florence, 2 months in London, 3 years in the Philippines, 6 months in Australia, 3 years in Vietnam, back to Lucca, now I’m based in Turin.
Buckle up:
Not even 21 years old, I signed a six-month contract to move alone to the Philippines for a multinational company, earning $600 monthly.
I lived in a tiny 28 sqm flat that I was sharing with 2 other people: my flatmate’s girlfriend worked nightshift and slept there during the day.
By 23, I had closed our company’s largest deal in Southeast Asia, made a lot of money and gave me the confidence to take bigger risks—like opening a Family Mart franchise – a 24/7 mini shop – in Vietnam at 24yo.
However, when COVID hit, I had to close shop, seeing all my hard work crashing down. Spending over a year in Vietnam under strict lockdowns, with military tanks on the streets and barbed wire in the neighbourhoods, was one of the most difficult times of my life.
Relocating back to Italy wasn’t easy either, and countercultural shock was real!
Yet, those experiences and some time in therapy to beat depression were pivotal in shaping who I am today.
In your past or current role, which decision was difficult and turned out to be right?
So far, I’m very happy where I am. Hi!Founders is going, and I believe most of our decisions, even though difficult, have been the right ones.
In particular, keeping the community free for startups and founders is what I’m probably most proud of.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your work?
I can’t think of 1 specific as there are many, but at the top of my mind I’d say to talk to the right person at the right moment and not get snubbed by potential clients and collaborators.
Keeping everyone motivated and aligned is challenging at times.
Can you recommend some books?
Honestly, I’m sick of the classic business motivational books, even though I read and liked them then.
While relocating to Italy, I spent 6 months travelling Europe, working on myself and reading many literature masterpieces.
My favorites are: Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Cohelo and Herman Hesse.
On the other hand, I did not enjoy Calvino and Hemingway.
What purchase of €100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?
A flight ticket to rest and chill (sorry, I can’t think of anything else!)
If you had a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions — what would it say and why?
I’m not sure yet what I would write, but it would be something along the lines of “make love not war” or “believe (in yourself) you can make the difference”.
What did you learn from being a founder?
I haven’t learned much that I did not expect to be honest. Long hours, problems everywhere, annoying situations, the market is king.
My number one lesson, however, is the one thing I would recommend to each founder – aside from all the other necessary tips:
Should you have Co-Founders, you need to know them and trust them 100%. Things have to be clear mid- and long-term with them, including their skills, values, needs, and finances.
Another thing I recently learned is not to give up so easily, be resilient, and find ways to unwind because tomorrow can change your life.
Rapid-fire questions:
- Coffee or tea? – Coffee
- Dogs or cats? – Dogs
- Summer or winter? – Winter
- Sweet or savoury? – Savoury
- Fiction or non-fiction? – Non-fiction
- City life or countryside? – City
- Comedy or drama? – Comedy
- What’s your favourite book that has influenced your entrepreneurial journey? – “The One Thing” by Gary Keller gave me a method; Jeff Bezos’s story inspired me, and “No Rules Rules” motivated me.
- What app do you use the most? – sadly Gmail
- What’s your go-to productivity hack? Eisenhower Matrix
- What would you like to wish the readers? Believe that you can always make a difference, always.
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