I had the pleasure to discuss the history and potential of Gruppo Mutui Online with one of the founders of the company, Marco Pescarmona.
Here are the topics we have discussed:
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Disclaimer
01:10 The challenging first years
05:26 Doing business in Italy
10:02 Starting new business angles
19:55 The divisions within Gruppo Mutui
25:47 The founders
29:45 Time management
31:45 Would he sell his share in the company?
33:03 Going public
35:05 Dividends or buybacks?
38:36 Using debt
41:22 Expansion strategies
43:47 Synergies
45:51 Gruppo Mutui’s clients
54:30 Maintaining high quality
56:52 Thought experiment: Reducing to 3 promising businesses
59:12 Risk and reward
01:01:20 Challenges in broking
01:03:58 Effects of regulation
01:05:45 Future plans
01:09:33 Dealing with competition
01:12:33 Dealing with big players like Google
01:14:23 Characteristics of the Italian market
01:18:20 The Impact of Covid
01:21:30 Pressure after the good performance in 2020?
01:22:43 The outlook
01:24:39 Maintaining a feeling of familiarity in a growing company
01:25:52 Goodbye
