Rain poured down on Milan, drenching the stone facades of the old buildings as if the sky was just a bit too cold to care. The clouds were a deep, gloomy gray, echoing the somber mood of the small group at San Cristoforo cemetery. Amidst a sea of black umbrellas stood Leonardo Venturi, twenty-four years old, looking a bit awkward in a suit that didn't quite fit him.
His father's casket was being lowered into the ground—taking with it the last tie Leonardo had to any semblance of normalcy.
Giovanni Venturi was a complicated man: a dreamer, a risk-taker, and, let's be honest, not the best at managing money. In his later years, he was buried under debt and health issues, leaving behind nothing but a messy garage and a measly €134.67 in a shared bank account.
"Are you coming back to the house?" his aunt asked, her voice barely audible over the rain.
"No. I've got something to take care of," Leonardo replied, his words sharp but not unfriendly.
She gave him a tired look before turning away. Not that she ever really got him anyway.
As the crowd thinned out, Leonardo found himself alone, the rain seeping through his suit. His jaw tightened, caught somewhere between sorrow and determination. Pulling out his phone, he glanced at the screen. There it was—a draft email, unfinished, much like his own life at that moment.
To: Lorenzo Vitale
Subject: I Have a Business Idea That Will Make You a Billionaire
Body: I know you don't know me, but I graduated top of my class at Bocconi, and I have something that could—
He paused, uncertainty creeping in.
Lorenzo Vitale wasn't just any name. He was one of Italy's youngest startup legends, the mastermind behind Mediport, a digital health logistics company that shot to €2.3 billion during the COVID boom in just five years.
And here was Leonardo—just another grad with student loans, a deceased father, and aspirations that felt like they were too grand for his current situation.
He pressed "Send."
And the rain just kept coming down.
Twelve Hours Later
Ping.
Leonardo blinked at the email notification, his heart racing.
From: Lorenzo Vitale
"Meet me tomorrow at 11:00 AM. Piazza Gae Aulenti, Tower C. Bring numbers."
No small talk. Just straight to the point.
Leonardo's brain was buzzing.
What "numbers"? Revenue forecasts? Market analysis? Customer acquisition costs? Lifetime value? Churn rates? He didn't even have a company yet—just a dream that he believed in.
He opened up a new Google Sheet.
The Next Morning
Tower C stood tall, a glass giant overlooking Milan's financial district. Leonardo walked in, still in that same borrowed suit, now pressed and dry. The receptionist pointed him to the 27th floor. The elevator ride was quiet, but his heart? A totally different story.
When the doors opened, he stepped into a sleek, modern office—definitely more Silicon Valley than traditional Italian style. There were exposed concrete walls, green accents, and standing desks everywhere. In the corner, sipping an espresso and tapping away on a MacBook, was Lorenzo Vitale.
He didn't even look up. "Leonardo Venturi, right? Pitch. Five minutes."
No niceties.
Just business.
Leonardo took a breath and stepped forward, his palms slightly sweaty.
"I want to create a B2B procurement platform for Italy's scattered manufacturing SMEs. It's all about cutting out the inefficiencies in sourcing industrial components using AI-matching and bulk order aggregation."
Lorenzo paused for a second.
"Go on."
"There are over 70,000 SMEs in Italian manufacturing—most are family-run, not very tech-savvy, and stuck with old-school supply chains. It's chaotic, you know? Mostly Excel sheets, phone calls, and overpriced distributors. My platform—tentatively named CompoNet—would establish a real-time procurement marketplace. Think of it like Amazon for machine parts—but smarter."
"How's it going to make money?"
"Commission on each transaction. Plus a freemium model for advanced analytics. And we'd negotiate bulk discounts, taking a percentage."
"And how do you plan to get suppliers on board?"
"I mapped out supplier networks in northern Italy for my thesis. I've already identified 180 potential partners. My first target? A CNC parts wholesaler in Modena that really needs to go digital."
"Who's going to build the product?"
"I will. Full-stack. I'm skilled in Python, Django, PostgreSQL. Just need a designer and some cloud credits to get started."
Lorenzo leaned back, sizing him up.
"And your ultimate goal?"
Leonardo spoke with a calm confidence. "We're going to transform Italian manufacturing into a digital powerhouse—and hey, we're aiming for billionaire status while we're at it."
That was the moment Lorenzo finally cracked a smile.
"Alright, here's the deal. Come back in a month. Bring me a prototype and at least ten suppliers on board. If you nail that, I'll hand over your first check."
With that, he shifted his focus back to his laptop.
And just like that, the meeting wrapped up.