Travelling gives new vigour to the mind, Seneca argued. Travelers are ready to face new challenges, make new acquaintances, experience new cultures and see the world from multiple points of view. Those of his travels.
Luca Mastella is the proof. He has lived a relatively short life and has already lived in 4 different continents. Then he returned to ours and founded Learnn, an online platform that teaches growth in digital.
He comes in a call with a smile as big as his headphones. Like all startup founders, he has little time, little time to take away from his project.
Hi Luca, Learnn is a platform where anyone, through the videos that populate it, can learn something more about digital. Tell us how it’s born.
It was born in a short time. I wanted to do something of my own. For the first 6 months, though, I just thought about it.
Just before the pandemic broke out, I launched the beta version of the project to validate the idea. I started with 3 people: a video maker, user support and a developer. The launch lasted a week during which we acquired 4500 paying contacts.
It’s been three and a half years since then.
Is that your greatest satisfaction?
It is my greatest commitment. The satisfaction is to be able to work there.
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Tell us about the bad times in Learnn.
Each year has a different phase. The first year the focus was on idea validation, the second on product validation and the third, this, on team validation. Each of these moments is very complex to manage. Then we add the cyclical tech bugs that bring the site down. Those are times no...
I have now entered the darkest phase of my skills: managing an entire team.
How much is it worth today?
Last year we reached 1 million and 800 thousand euros in revenue.
Did stakeholders believe in the project from the beginning? And you?
We didn’t have to convince anyone. Nobody invested at my request in Learnn. I never needed to make a pitch deck.
Give us a point of view on innovative startups in Italy? Is it a country that encourages innovation?
Every context has pros and cons. Italy is a virgin market in some respects. Taxation is mind-boggling, but on the other hand, and I speak as an entrepreneur, the skills you find cost you extremely less. The most problematic aspect, however, is the great difficulty of change.
Can AI endanger the company?
Artificial intelligence scares me on a human level, not on a business level. In fact, we are integrating it at Learnn today.
How long does it take in a young company to say "I made it"?
Every time something works, it becomes obsolete and you have to change everything. I think I answered you no?
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What would you have done if you hadn’t founded Learnn?
I really like the role of advisor. Follow the history of other companies, analyze their problems and optimize their processes to push them to grow.
What did you do before?
I worked for 8 years abroad (Philippines, Romania, Australia). And first I did an intercontinental master’s degree that took me to Canada, France and South Korea.
Would the company work if you weren’t there?
Yes, things work even without me. If you take your focus off some project, someone else takes the scepter and takes care of it. The goal of my 2024 is to give more freedom to the team.
What are you gonna do in ten years?
I’ll still be working at Learnn. But I’ve learned that if I don’t change my mind, it means I haven’t learned enough.
Illustration by Gloria Dozio - Acrimònia Studios
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