Pierucci says, “I would say in the first six to eight years [of starting a company], you will spend more time with your co-founder than with your significant other. You need to share the same values, the same kind of integrity, the same way of doing business, the same hunger and the same ambition.”

Some would argue that finding a co-founder who has complementary skills or relevant role experience would be more valuable than any shared mindset. But Pierucci disagrees, thinking that while those factors are nice to have, being close friends with your co-founder takes precedence.

“It’s the most important thing. I cannot imagine having a co-founder without sharing that kind of [close] relationship; that kind of love with them. Because it's way easier to fix any problem or face any challenge when you have that. Believe me, you’re going to face a lot of hurdles. No matter how much you ready yourself for it, it’s going to be 10 times more challenging. So, if you want to then go ahead without having someone to go back to back with you? It will be very very tough.”

Another concern Pierucci feels can be easily neglected by those eager to be noticed is considering long-term goals rather than trying to make a quick and big splash for investor attention.

Pierucci says, “You need to build something that people really want. I’m talking about building something that will withstand the next 20 years and not because it is currently in fashion.”

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In his opinion, start-ups today have much higher expectations to meet than the mere inclusion of smart features. They now need to demonstrate longevity in their offerings.

“If you are building a hardware company without software, it will be almost impossible to be successful. We have seen, unfortunately, so many companies fail because they created gadgets that were not solutions. They end up failing because of a lack of sustainability for the business in the long term.”

To be clear, Pierucci isn’t against excitement driving innovation or riding a general hype wave. He believes strongly in its power to drive business. It also needs to actually improve the world.

“Hype is beneficial but there is a time and place for it. It's helpful in the short-term to help make a name and put you on the radar but for genuine business longevity, it takes much more than just being the next hype trend."

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He adds, “We do need to see more caution on the investment side and for clarity of thesis, of why you’re doing something. If there is an African FinTech solution to empower people who have not got access to the internet, you cannot expect the same returns as building a business in the US. Their funds need to be longer and these entrepreneurs need to be given a different kind of support.”

But there's another hype-related concern making its way around the start-up zeitgeist: the overhyping of founders and creating larger-than-life brands for themselves—especially when it proves to be a facade. Recent examples, like the media's championing of Sam Bankman-Fried and his “Effective Altruism” mantra before FTX’s collapse, have drawn massive attention to personality hype trains. With this in mind, Tatler asks Pierucci if founders should question how much they push themselves forward as a brand in addition to their companies.

Pierucci thinks there’s nuance to the issue of personal brand. He says, “Being an entrepreneur is really hard. If you are building a brand around yourself because you want to be famous—not that being famous is wrong—and fame has nothing to do with your business, that doesn’t make much sense to me. But if you’re building a brand around your company, to be able to hire more people, to provide more jobs to people, to be able to raise more money, to be able to sell more of your products, to offer more solutions. That’s amazing.”

One might ask if it is at all possible to maintain honesty and transparency acting as a brand’s face and making one’s company such a key part of their identity. Pierucci believes it’s possible with dedication to maintain trust and balance between all the elements of one’s life.

Pierucci says, “It’s not easy. I was lucky enough to have great parents who gave me an amazing education based on values and taught me the right way of doing things. Creating a company is just one part of your life. Some entrepreneurs make a big mistake in believing that the companies they run and the job that they have, is everything. It’s a big mistake because the moment that you move on from the company, if your company was everything to you, you’re left with nothing.”

But what about when one progresses from the start-up or SME stage to the heights of multinationals and conglomerates, can true honesty and transparency thrive there, especially in a time of such constant geopolitical upheaval? Pierucci says yes.

Pierucci explains, “When I joined J.P. Morgan I, very honestly, had a lot of doubts about many things. But one of the things that I liked the most about working at J.P. Morgan is the integrity that you get to see inside this massive bank with almost 300,000 people. Have you seen the way we operate or the way our management drives us? It’s absolutely amazing. I am completely proud of belonging to an organisation that has such high standards of integrity and how we do business. I cannot talk about any other government or company. But from what I have seen at J.P. Morgan in almost four years, I can tell you that if we can do it with integrity, everyone can as well - no matter the scale.”

The Catalyst Series is a series of roundtables co-organised by J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Gen.T. Each event features a guest speaker, with the aim of providing actionable insights that Gen.T honourees can take back to their business. See more content from the series.

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