The Leader Lifebook with Alin Ionescu
A Sicilian kid who sold meme-pages instead of playing FarmVille grew into the Berlin-based founder behind TextYess, the AI-driven WhatsApp revenue channel for European e-commerce. In this episode, Riccardo Russo dissects every “level” he’s had to beat—from losing his first London startup job to flipping an SMS agency into a VC-backed WhatsApp pivot—and why he now treats entrepreneurship like a video game with no final boss. At 13 he scaled an Italian Facebook fan-page to 300 k followers and sold shout-outs to a local e-commerce store, realising social media could pay actual cash. LinkedIn [https://de.linkedin.com/in/rusricc?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Fast-forward to 18: he quit Messina for a London startup that collapsed in months, forcing a humbling return home before rebooting in Milan’s OneDay Group and later Blink, a YC-backed same-day-delivery venture. Customer interviews at Blink exposed a glaring gap: ads were pricey, email open-rates were tanking, and merchants wanted WhatsApp for retention. Riccardo sold a side-project on MicroAcquire, walked the Camino de Santiago to reset, and launched TextYess—now turning WhatsApp broadcasts and AI chatflows into 27× ROAS for 20-plus brands. What you’ll learn How to turn rejection into runway—the mental model that kept Riccardo pitching after 30+ investor ‘no’s’. MECE customer interviews: the exact question set that uncovered WhatsApp as a retention goldmine. Balancing 100-hour weeks with micro-habits: why sleep, sport and weekly friend check-ins keep him out of founder burnout. Selling every day: the art of convincing co-founders, staff, merchants and VCs when the product changes overnight. Chapters 00:00 Intro & 13-year-old Facebook hustle 07:30 London dream lost—back to Messina 15:10 From SMS agency to Camino walk 23:40 WhatsApp pivot & first paying merchants 32:15 Fundraising highs, lows & level-up mindset 42:00 Balancing pressure, sleep & relationships 54:20 Lessons for first-time founders
4 episodios
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