Ferrari: Founders complaining about investor exit pressure are naive or dishonest
Luca Ferrari · The Playbook on Buying and Running Companies Forever · Invest Like The Best · Nov 4, 2025 · at 55:55
Luca Ferrari, CEO of Bending Spoons, shares his perspective on the relationship between founders and institutional investors seeking returns.
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“I think a lot of entrepreneurs take money from investors and have a level of Entitlement that they should never be asked to provide a return. It's like, oh, but why do you ask me to sell now? It's only been four years, five years. I think that's either naive or intellectually dishonest. Regardless of the particular bylaws that investor is subjected to, where maybe they could stay forever, ultimately, an investor is trying to achieve some form of IRR with some time frame. So, you should remain very respectful of the fact that when you take, anybody's money, if you ask me, but certainly institutional money, you can't find it shocking or disappointing or then bitch about it in the intrapreneur circles that they're asking, putting some level pressure with you to sell.”
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