🚀 3.2.1. From Italy with Love ::: Atomic Scaling

Over the past 26 years as a “digital nomad,” one of the greatest joys has been the friends I’ve made across the globe, including in Italy. I quickly realised, “Italy is a land of saints, poets, navigators, artists, and inventors.”

From Saint Augustine and Dante Alighieri to Christopher Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italy has long been home to visionaries who shaped the world. That legacy continues today in tech, with Italians leading in AI, gaming, and crypto: Mira Murati (former CTO & CEO of OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, the world’s #1 generative AI model, with OpenAi valuation surpassing $300 billion), Riccardo Zacconi (Co-founder & CEO of King, creator of Candy Crush, the world’s #1 mobile game by revenue, surpassing $20 billion in revenue), and Paolo Ardoino (CTO & CEO of Tether, creator of USDT, the world’s #1 stablecoin, with a circulating supply of 144 billion tokens / dollars) are modern Italian innovators shaping the future.

3 IDEAS to Scale Like an Italian Polymath

1. The Saint – Vision is Sacred: Saints lived with a mission beyond themselves. When starting up, your vision isn’t just a slogan—it’s your guiding compass. Scalable businesses have a purpose beyond profit. Ask yourself: What sacred cause does your business serve? In Atomic Scaling, this is your Why.

2. The Artist-Inventor – Beauty Solves Problems: Leonardo da Vinci fused aesthetics with function. Great startup do the same—they are not only useful, but beautiful. From UX to branding to culture, design is leverage. If you can’t explain your idea with a simple sketch, it’s not ready to scale. In Atomic Scaling, we call this your Vehicle.

3. The Navigator – Uncertainty is the Map Italian explorers ventured into the unknown with imperfect tools but unstoppable drive. Scaling today is no different: chaotic markets, fast-moving tech, and uncertain funding (Tariff!). Founders who scale well treat ambiguity as a compass, not an obstacle. In Atomic Scaling, we call this PvP (Prediction vs Prophecy).

2 QUOTES to Think Like a Renaissance Operator

“You cannot describe passion. You can only live it.” – Enzo Ferrari

“Art is the queen of all sciences, communicating knowledge to all generations of the world.” – Leonardo da Vinci

1 ACTION – Made in Italy, Built to Scale

In one minute: Write your Why, sketch your Vehicle, and picture yourself landing in the new world you’re striving to discover / build.

Chi non risica, non rosica.

Ludovic Bodin

3x Entrepreneur, 2x Unicorn Investor, 1x IPO, Author of Atomic Scaling

P.S. What do gaming, crypto trading, and startup scaling have in common? In this podcast, I sat down and chat with the MC2 Finance team about: how gaming improved my trading, my new company in decentralised wealth management, the heroes, lessons on mistakes, mindset, and more. [Watch here]​

What they’re saying: “Atomic Scaling is a must for anyone interested in how the new economy is built.” – Marine Popoff, Italian Entrepreneur & Investor, Co-founder of MC2 Finance