Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter & Chris Donnelly

How I Failed: Pasta Evangelists Founder - previous luxury smartphone company was just too big a mountain to climb

Mar 9, 2023

Alessandro Savelli, Co-Founder of Pasta Evangelists, talks about his failed luxury smartphone brand and the challenges of starting a business in a recession. He reflects on the emotional toll of liquidating a business and shares lessons learned for starting anew.

11:33

Episode guests

Alessandro Savelli

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Building a luxury smartphone brand involves challenges like raising capital, product development delays, and distribution issues.

Failure in a previous venture taught the importance of flawless execution, better decision-making, and focusing on revenue traction in a new venture.

Deep dives

The Challenges of Job Searching

Finding the right job can be a broken and frustrating process. Job seekers often encounter irrelevant job ads, uncertain salary information, and lack of response after applying. Similarly, managers struggle with sifting through irrelevant applications and sending countless LinkedIn messages with no response. However, Otter, a matching platform, aims to address these challenges by connecting the right candidates with the right jobs, making the job search less soul-crushing. Otter utilizes smart matching algorithms to present job seekers with only relevant opportunities, resulting in more qualified applicants for companies.

Introduction

3min

Challenges and Rollercoaster Journey in the Smartphone Market

3min

Challenges, Failures, and Mistakes in a Previous Business Venture

3min

Lessons from a Failed Startup and Starting Anew

3min

Alessandro, or 'Alex' Savelli, is the Co-Founder of Pasta Evangelists - a brand you’ve probably come across. Their pasta is delicious and everywhere.

But, before he was getting his hands in the proverbial pasta dough, he tried to climb a much tougher mountain - building a luxury smartphone brand. We’re talking hardware and software to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung but bedecked in precious metals and jewels.

They had some big wins, but it didn’t work out - and we’re here to find out why.

If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better?