20VC: Inside Bending Spoons Acquisition Machine: Evernote, Eventbrite, Vimeo | How Evernote Evaluates Acquisitions and New Product Ideas | How Evernote Mastered Product Launches, User Retention and Monetisation with Federico Simionato

Federico explains how Bending Spoons operates as a horizontal platform that centralizes functions like recruiting, legal, and core technology, allowing them to run acquired companies with dramatically smaller teams. Evernote went from several hundred people to under 100 by leveraging shared infrastructure.

• •Bending Spoons reduced Evernote from 'a few hundred people' to less than 100 by centralizing non-product functions
• •The platform model includes shared monetization libraries, data pipelines, and deep tech teams that each product can plug into
• •Team allocation considers individual preferences - people perform better on products they're passionate about
• •Most acquired products are run with teams that are 80%+ smaller than as standalone companies

Federico breaks down Bending Spoons' two-pronged approach to idea validation: analyzing top-line impact (revenue, customer growth) and qualitative step-change potential. He shares specific examples like WeTransfer's expired file recovery feature, which had a clear business case, versus exploratory AI features on Evernote that required gut feeling.

• •Evaluate ideas on two axes: quantitative top-line impact and qualitative step-change potential
• •For WeTransfer's expired transfer recovery, they built detailed spreadsheet models based on page traffic to predict revenue impact
• •Greenfield projects rarely match their business case projections - be honest about uncertainty
• •On Evernote, they estimate feature value by analyzing how many people might need it, even when exact metrics are unavailable
• •Failed example: COVID-era fitness product with personal trainers in WhatsApp groups - good idea, poor execution

Subscriber retention is Evernote's north star metric, defined as 'the percentage of your life you choose to spend with a product.' Federico reveals the controversial 50-60% price increase in 2023 that actually grew revenue by focusing on power users who find the product indispensable, while accepting churn from marginal users.

• •Retention is measured as the percentage of someone's life spent subscribed - some Evernote users stay for decades
• •The 2023 price increase of 50-60% was the biggest churn driver, but financially successful
• •Pricing philosophy: if the product delivers more value than the price, it's a no-brainer for users to stay
• •They make unsubscribing easy to build long-term trust and brand reputation across all Bending Spoons products
• •Focus on making the product more useful daily, even when individual features can't be financially quantified

Federico explains why Evernote deliberately chose to build for advanced users rather than compete with free alternatives like Apple Notes and Google Keep. This strategic decision shapes every product choice and is why they can charge premium prices.

• •Casual users won't pay for note-taking when Apple Notes and Google Keep are free and pre-installed
• •Advanced users can't use simple tools - this is the arena where Evernote can win
• •Choose your competitive arena before you start building - don't try to serve everyone
• •An Evernote power user will remember their experience for life; an Apple Notes user won't care as much
• •This focus allows them to build deep, complex features that justify premium pricing

Federico shares tactical frameworks for getting honest customer feedback, including specific question techniques that reveal actual behavior versus aspirational statements. He emphasizes the importance of asking about past behavior rather than future intentions.

• •Never ask 'would you use this?' - people give aspirational answers, not truthful ones
• •Instead ask: 'What's a use case in the last month where this would have been useful?'
• •Example: Don't ask 'how often do you work out?' Ask 'how many times did you work out last week? The week before?'
• •Evernote maintains a panel of power users whose use cases they know deeply for testing advanced features
• •Show prototypes to customers and observe actual usage rather than relying on what they say they'd do

Federico reveals how Bending Spoons teams are using AI tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and Lovable to build functional prototypes instead of Figma mockups. He predicts designers will merge design and code work, skipping the traditional pixel-pushing phase entirely.

• •WeTransfer uses Lovable and Claude Code extensively; Evernote still uses Figma due to product complexity
• •Prototypes built with AI are 'probes' - cheap software designed to test one specific metric
• •The future: designers will work directly in code editors, tweaking actual products rather than creating abstractions
• •This allows teams to test 20-50 ideas instead of just 10 in the same timeframe
• •Claude Code won over Cursor for Federico's personal project because it improved broken features faster

Federico explains Evernote's dual launch strategy: weekly utility updates to build trust and demonstrate momentum, versus major announcements (like Evernote v11) for step-change features. He shares the origin story of monthly video updates and lessons from user feedback.

• •Weekly launches for utility features (collapsible sections, slash commands) build trust and show consistent progress
• •Big launches for step-change innovations (Evernote v11 with AI features) require noise and visibility
• •Monthly video updates started as damage control after acquisition, price increases, and tech foundation work
• •User feedback is brutally honest - early videos got comments like 'I'm pissed, you raised prices and built stuff I don't need'
• •Recent videos get positive feedback because they've learned what users actually need through this direct channel

Federico reveals how Evernote shifted from feature-based monetization (pay to unlock PDF annotation, business cards) to content-based limits. This change lets all users experience the full product power while aligning payment with actual usage intensity.

• •Old model: premium features like offline access and PDF annotation were paywalled
• •New model: all features are free, but you pay based on content volume (number of notes)
• •This aligns incentives: power users who create tons of notes pay more and are happy to do so
• •Casual users can try the full product without constraints, improving conversion quality
• •Paywall aggressiveness depends on product stage: growing products need less friction, mature products can monetize existing users more

Federico shares candid failures including PlayOnD (Apple Arcade competitor that lost $5-7M) and the COVID fitness product. Key lesson: games have much longer lifespans than movies, making subscription models less viable. He also discusses the intoxicating success of their HQ Trivia clone that went hyperviral in Italy.

• •PlayOnD (Netflix for games) failed because games have 15+ year lifespans vs. 2-hour movies - subscriptions don't make sense
• •Lost $5-7M on game licensing for PlayOnD before shutting it down
• •COVID fitness product with group personal trainers failed - people need direct 1-on-1 accountability
• •HQ Trivia clone hit 2M users in Italy (1 in 30 people) with zero marketing spend - pure virality
• •Be ruthless with yourself: define success metrics before launch to avoid lying to yourself about traction

Federico shares his unconventional path from failed dentist games startup to Bending Spoons, emphasizing the importance of being surprising in applications and having an entrepreneurial mindset. He brought liquor to his first interview and believes that creative touch helped him stand out.

• •Best PM backgrounds: entrepreneurs who think about what matters, or deep analysts (McKinsey, academic)
• •Don't try to look 'standard' in applications - show your rough edges and be surprising
• •Federico brought liquor to his first interview as a creative touch to stand out
• •The best PMs are entrepreneurs at heart: generate valuable ideas, implement well, focus on what matters
• •Be bolder and more autonomous - don't wait for permission to start things, especially at high-agency companies