Milan-based software group Bending Spoons (NASDAQ:BSP) has drawn attention for its extreme hiring selectivity and concentrated founder control, both of which are now central to the company's first test as a public entity. In 2025, the company accepted only 286 hires from roughly 800,000 applicants, an acceptance rate of 0.036%. Meanwhile, its four founders retained 82.71% of voting power after the IPO, underscoring a dual scarcity: access to the core team and to corporate control.
This dynamic matters as the stock experiences a volatile post-IPO period. Bending Spoons closed at $32.91 on Friday, down 9.3% from the Monday open and 18.7% below its $40.50 debut close, though still 13.5% above the $29 offer price. Two-thirds of the first-day premium has already been erased. The Nasdaq is now closed for the weekend, with trading set to resume Monday, July 13.
The Wall Street Journal reported that about 60,000 applicants cleared the initial screening and took tests, with roughly 3,300 reaching the interview stage. Candidates undergo reasoning tests, interviews, and algorithmic scoring that is later compared with their on-the-job performance. CEO Luca Ferrari remarked, "If people looked under the hood at how we do this, they would think we're crazy."
Talent scarcity is only part of the model. In 2025, 84% of eligible employees chose to exchange part of their cash salary for stock options, converting an average of 28% of salary. Average annual dilution from equity compensation was 1.5% from 2023 through the first quarter of 2026. The prospectus highlights the economic and voting split: revenue per core FTE “Spooner” reached $2.57 million, while founders’ post-IPO voting power stands at 82.71%.
An Il Foglio commentary used Bending Spoons to argue that widening ownership of newly created value may matter more than taxing existing wealth. A separate Italian essay cited the company in a call for more European deeptech capital. However, Bending Spoons is primarily an acquirer and operator of internet software, not a pure deeptech producer.
Productivity numbers are strong but the revenue mix requires scrutiny. First-quarter revenue surged 132% to $601.3 million, though organic growth—excluding acquisitions—was just 6%. The company also noted that artificial intelligence authored or co-authored more than 90% of its pull requests by the end of March, with about 70% authored by AI alone.
The denominator matters: Bending Spoons had 2,284 full-time-equivalent team members at the end of March, including contractors, of whom 1,830 arrived through the AOL, Eventbrite, and Vimeo acquisitions. Only a few hundred of those acquired workers are expected to remain once restructuring is complete later this year. Joe Hyrkin, former CEO of Issuu, told the Financial Times, "There were lay-offs, but everyone got a good severance, everyone was treated fairly."
Constellation Software (TSE:CSU) offers a contrast: it owns over 1,100 software businesses that generally retain operating autonomy. Bending Spoons relies more heavily on a central team, common technology, and rapid workforce changes, which could yield quicker margin gains but also concentrates integration risk.
The IPO itself qualifies the debate over Europe's capital shortage. Bending Spoons and its shareholders sold 57.97 million shares at $29, raising $1.68 billion, with the company receiving $953.9 million before fees and selling shareholders taking $653.7 million. The listing provides publicly traded currency for more deals. Ferrari told Reuters, "We're not in a position to announce anything, but we're very active."
However, the downside case is substantial. Bending Spoons entered the market with nearly $4.4 billion of debt, and first-quarter interest expense jumped 382% to $93.2 million. Slower acquisitions, integration delays, or customer losses could weaken cash generation, and the founders' voting control leaves public investors with few tools to force a strategy change. With no published analyst price target yet, the immediate test is whether shares can hold above $29 as early enthusiasm fades. Investors will watch for acquisition disclosures, evidence that acquired products are growing, and signs that the core team can absorb further integrations without diluting productivity.
