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The Platform, Which the Company Calls Its MoatThin moat

Bending Spoons (BSP) — moat facet

The company says the Platform is its primary source of competitive advantage, and also says its products are cheap to copy and its customers do not stay because the alternatives are worse.

Bending Spoons names its own moat and it is not a product. Its people, proprietary technologies and proprietary data constitute the Platform that supports its acquisitions, transformations and ongoing optimisations; it has been building this Platform since its founding in 2013 and considers it its primary source of competitive advantage, one it believes will continue to strengthen as it grows1. From the outset it decided to treat the operating machine itself as its most important product2.

Revenue per full-time-equivalent Spooner ($M)1.1220231.6420242.572025Bending Spoons Form 424B4; 621 full-time equivalent Spooners at the end of Q1 2026
More than twice the output per Spooner in two years.

Measured by output, the machine is impressive. Revenue per full-time-equivalent Spooner was $1.12 million in 2023, $1.64 million in 2024 and $2.57 million in 20253. The data layer processed more than 3.8 billion data points per day on average in the first quarter of 2026 and the experimentation toolkit ran more than 3,000 experiments in 20254. More than 90% of pull requests were authored or coauthored by artificial intelligence by the end of the first quarter of 2026, from less than 10% a year earlier5.

Measured as a barrier, it is weaker, and the filing says so twice. It concedes modest reliance on technical barriers to entry6 and that for most of its businesses retention is not primarily driven by a scarcity of technically viable and lower-priced alternatives7. Its one use of the word moat is about know-how: the moat lies not in the development cost8.

The constraint is also human. Spooner capacity is described as a scarce resource, and the company says it has occasionally passed on acquisition opportunities due to insufficient Spooner capacity9. That is a wall that stops the owner rather than the competitor.

The culture is written down and deliberately uncomfortable. The named principles are truth-seeking, extreme ownership, relentless simplification, selfless team-play and radical candor10, and the prospectus states that egocentric behavior is not welcome at Bending Spoons11. Every job offer is accompanied by a document setting out some of these controversial principles12, which is a filter applied before anyone joins rather than a poster hung after they do.

That is why this facet is rated thin while the others are not. An operating capability held by 621 people, published in a prospectus and admitted to rest on judgment rather than barriers is a competitive advantage that has to be renewed continuously. Revenue per Spooner is the right meter: $2.57 million in 2025 is a remarkable figure, and holding it while the portfolio doubles would be the proof.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Revenue per Spooner up from $1.12m to $2.57m; AI writing most of the code.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Revenue per full-time-equivalent Spooner, full year
$2.57 million in 2025, from $1.12 million in 2023

The output of the scarce input; holding it while the portfolio doubles would prove the Platform scales.

Source: Bending Spoons Form 424B4 prospectus ↗
Aspects of the moat
DIG DEEPER 01
Six Hundred Twenty-One Spooners
Everything Bending Spoons can do rests on 621 people, and the company admits it has turned down acquisitions because it did not have enough of them.
DIG DEEPER 02
Equity Acquired, Not Granted
Bending Spoons employees buy their options by giving up cash salary, which is why stock pay has diluted shareholders by about one and a half percent a…
DIG DEEPER 03
The Technologies With Names
Bending Spoons has built seven named internal systems and says itself that the advantage is not in the code but in knowing what to build, which is…
DIG DEEPER 04
Fifty Acquisitions of Benchmarks
Fifty transformations have given Bending Spoons a file of what a neglected software business can be made to earn, which makes it a better bidder…
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Eighty-Three Percent of the Votes
Four men hold under half the equity and 82.71% of the votes, and one of them has about a fifth of the votes with no board seat and no stated job.
⚠ THREAT 02
Material Weaknesses in Every Component
Bending Spoons reports material weaknesses in all five components of its control framework, including controls over integrating the acquisitions that…
References
  1. ReportedIts people, proprietary technologies and proprietary data constitute the Platform that supports its acquisitions, transformations and ongoing optimisations; it has been building this Platform since its founding in 2013 and considers it its primary source of competitive advantage, one it believes will continue to strengthen as it grows.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedFrom the outset it decided to treat the operating machine itself as its most important product.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedRevenue per full-time-equivalent Spooner was $1.12 million in 2023, $1.64 million in 2024 and $2.57 million in 2025.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe data layer processed more than 3.8 billion data points per day on average in the first quarter of 2026 and the experimentation toolkit ran more than 3,000 experiments in 2025.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedMore than 90% of pull requests were authored or coauthored by artificial intelligence by the end of the first quarter of 2026, from less than 10% a year earlier.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedIt concedes modest reliance on technical barriers to entry and that for most of its businesses retention is not primarily driven by a scarcity of technically viable and lower-priced alternatives.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedIt concedes modest reliance on technical barriers to entry and that for most of its businesses retention is not primarily driven by a scarcity of technically viable and lower-priced alternatives.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedIts one use of the word moat is about know-how: the moat lies not in the development cost.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the audited consolidated financial statements, the Q1 2026 interim and the MD&A on results of operations and tax. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedSpooner capacity is described as a scarce resource, and the company says it has occasionally passed on acquisition opportunities due to insufficient Spooner capacity.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedThe named principles are truth-seeking, extreme ownership, relentless simplification, selfless team-play and radical candor, and the prospectus states that egocentric behavior is not welcome at Bending Spoons.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  11. ReportedThe named principles are truth-seeking, extreme ownership, relentless simplification, selfless team-play and radical candor, and the prospectus states that egocentric behavior is not welcome at Bending Spoons.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  12. ReportedEvery job offer is accompanied by a document setting out some of these controversial principles, which is a filter applied before anyone joins rather than a poster hung after they do.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated October 20, 2026