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The Transformation, and Its BillNarrow moat

Bending Spoons (BSP) — moat facet

Bending Spoons can take four fifths of the people out of a software business and make the product better, and it pays for that capability again with every purchase.

The second part of the Playbook is the part that produces both the results and the headlines. Bending Spoons says the transformation is often deep, with some interventions potentially appearing drastic or involving controversial steps, such as workforce reductions1, and that to date it has typically completed its transformations within the first year following closing2.

Reorganization-related expense ($M)13.5202351.8202478.6202575.8Q1 2026 aloneBending Spoons Form 424B4, non-GAAP reconciliation; excluded from Adjusted Operating Income
One quarter of 2026 nearly matched all of 2025.

The measurable version is specific per business. Evernote went from 341 dedicated full-time equivalents to 60, a reduction of 82%, with management layers cut from four to two3. StreamYard went from 154 to 44, a reduction of 71%, in under a year4. Remini, bought as an asset deal with no team, reached more than nine times its pre-acquisition revenue by 20255. Across AOL, Eventbrite and Vimeo the company added 1,830 people and expects only a few hundred to remain6.

The product side is not an afterthought. Evernote shipped over 150 updates in 20257; StreamYard's incident rate fell about 75% and its infrastructure cost as a share of revenue 65%8; in the second quarter of 2026 Vimeo recorded more than 30 product improvements, system stability incidents around 90% below pre-acquisition levels and uploads and search at least 30% faster9.

The bill arrives every year. Reorganization-related expense was $13.514 million in 2023, $51.792 million in 2024 and $78.607 million in 202510, with $75.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone11 and about $50 million more in the second12. All of it is excluded from the profit measure the company guides on.

The pattern has a reputational cost the company accepts in writing. It says some interventions may appear drastic or involve controversial steps, such as workforce reductions13, and the WeTransfer case shows the scale: Bending Spoons confirmed it had laid off 75% of WeTransfer's staff14, at least 260 people, months after buying a business that had taken a $155 million investment earlier the same year15. Luca Ferrari said that when it comes to unpopular decisions, we're prepared to do so16.

This facet is the real operating capability in the business, and its limit is arithmetic. A transformation is finished within a year, and after that the business has to grow on its own. Reorganisation expense is the honest meter: the larger it runs, the more of the portfolio is still being rebuilt rather than compounding.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Method repeatable and documented; its cost rises with every deal.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Reorganization-related expense, full year
$78.6M in 2025, from $13.5M in 2023

What the method costs; rising faster than revenue means more of the portfolio is being rebuilt than compounding.

Source: Bending Spoons Form 424B4 prospectus ↗
Aspects of the moat
DIG DEEPER 01
Evernote: Three Hundred Forty-One People to Sixty
Evernote is the proof the method works on an abandoned product: 82% fewer people, a product that shipped more often, and registrations that turned…
DIG DEEPER 02
Remini: Nine Times the Revenue, Then a Decline
Remini earned nine times the revenue under Bending Spoons and is now shrinking, which is what a consumer app does when the engineering is finished and…
DIG DEEPER 03
StreamYard: One Hundred Fifty-Four to Forty-Four
StreamYard lost 71% of its people and got faster, cheaper and better at converting users, which is the clearest evidence that the method is a process…
DIG DEEPER 04
Four Add-Backs, All of Them Recurring
The four costs Bending Spoons excludes from its headline profit measure are the four costs its strategy creates, and all of them grow with it.
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Harvest and the Fifteen Hundred Percent
One Harvest customer's bill was reported to be going from about $211 to more than $2,500, and nothing Bending Spoons publishes would show whether such…
⚠ THREAT 02
What Happens After the First Year
Reported revenue grew 126% in the second quarter of 2026 and the businesses Bending Spoons already owned grew 3%.
References
  1. ReportedBending Spoons says the transformation is often deep, with some interventions potentially appearing drastic or involving controversial steps, such as workforce reductions, and that to date it has typically completed its transformations within the first year following closing.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedBending Spoons says the transformation is often deep, with some interventions potentially appearing drastic or involving controversial steps, such as workforce reductions, and that to date it has typically completed its transformations within the first year following closing.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedEvernote went from 341 dedicated full-time equivalents to 60, a reduction of 82%, with management layers cut from four to two.
    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. ReportedStreamYard went from 154 to 44, a reduction of 71%, in under a year.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedRemini, bought as an asset deal with no team, reached more than nine times its pre-acquisition revenue by 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 - Note 5 business combinations, the acquisition history and the pro-forma financial information. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedAcross AOL, Eventbrite and Vimeo the company added 1,830 people and expects only a few hundred to remain.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedEvernote shipped over 150 updates in 2025; StreamYard's incident rate fell about 75% and its infrastructure cost as a share of revenue 65%; in the second quarter of 2026 Vimeo recorded more than 30 product improvements, system stability incidents around 90% below pre-acquisition levels and uploads and search at least 30% faster.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedEvernote shipped over 150 updates in 2025; StreamYard's incident rate fell about 75% and its infrastructure cost as a share of revenue 65%; in the second quarter of 2026 Vimeo recorded more than 30 product improvements, system stability incidents around 90% below pre-acquisition levels and uploads and search at least 30% faster.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedEvernote shipped over 150 updates in 2025; StreamYard's incident rate fell about 75% and its infrastructure cost as a share of revenue 65%; in the second quarter of 2026 Vimeo recorded more than 30 product improvements, system stability incidents around 90% below pre-acquisition levels and uploads and search at least 30% faster.
    Bending Spoons second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 6-K exhibit 99.1 - organic revenue growth, non-GAAP measures, net debt and leverage, the business transformations and guidance for the third quarter and the full year. — Q2 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedReorganization-related expense was $13.514 million in 2023, $51.792 million in 2024 and $78.607 million in 2025, with $75.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone and about $50 million more in the second.
    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 non-GAAP reconciliation of Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted Net Income. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  11. ReportedReorganization-related expense was $13.514 million in 2023, $51.792 million in 2024 and $78.607 million in 2025, with $75.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone and about $50 million more in the second.
    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 non-GAAP reconciliation of Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted Net Income. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  12. ReportedReorganization-related expense was $13.514 million in 2023, $51.792 million in 2024 and $78.607 million in 2025, with $75.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone and about $50 million more in the second.
    Bending Spoons second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 6-K exhibit 99.1 - organic revenue growth, non-GAAP measures, net debt and leverage, the business transformations and guidance for the third quarter and the full year. — Q2 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  13. ReportedIt says some interventions may appear drastic or involve controversial steps, such as workforce reductions, and the WeTransfer case shows the scale: Bending Spoons confirmed it had laid off 75% of WeTransfer's staff, at least 260 people, months after buying a business that had taken a $155 million investment earlier the same year.
    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 transformation of individual acquired businesses. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  14. Third-party estimateIt says some interventions may appear drastic or involve controversial steps, such as workforce reductions, and the WeTransfer case shows the scale: Bending Spoons confirmed it had laid off 75% of WeTransfer's staff, at least 260 people, months after buying a business that had taken a $155 million investment earlier the same year.
    PetaPixel, Bending Spoons to fire 75% of WeTransfer staff after July acquisition - the company's confirmation of the layoffs and Luca Ferrari's comments. — September 2024 · publ. 9 September 2024 · source ↗
  15. Third-party estimateIt says some interventions may appear drastic or involve controversial steps, such as workforce reductions, and the WeTransfer case shows the scale: Bending Spoons confirmed it had laid off 75% of WeTransfer's staff, at least 260 people, months after buying a business that had taken a $155 million investment earlier the same year.
    PetaPixel, Bending Spoons to fire 75% of WeTransfer staff after July acquisition - the company's confirmation of the layoffs and Luca Ferrari's comments. — September 2024 · publ. 9 September 2024 · source ↗
  16. Third-party estimateLuca Ferrari said that when it comes to unpopular decisions, we're prepared to do so.
    PetaPixel, Bending Spoons to fire 75% of WeTransfer staff after July acquisition - the company's confirmation of the layoffs and Luca Ferrari's comments. — September 2024 · publ. 9 September 2024 · source ↗
Sources
Generated October 20, 2026