Monday, June 30, 2025 – Day 15
6:02 AM – Via Tortona, Outside Officina22
The morning was warm with the kind of light that makes even Milan's industrial alleys look cinematic. Leo walked with his usual pace, focused but never hurried, his backpack slung over one shoulder. As he approached the glass-front door of Officina22, he nearly bumped into someone standing by the steps.
"Early bird," Luca said, grinning with a paper bag in hand.
Leo smiled. "Same to you."
"I was heading to the bar. Come on," Luca gestured. "My treat."
They crossed the street to a tiny café wedged between a locksmith and a florist. It had one of those brushed steel counters, the kind you lean on while a barista makes espresso in thirty seconds flat, even though officina22 is Luca's student bar, he had the bad habit to go taste the competition, moreover officina22 bar opens at 8:00 sharp, since lectures at Bocconi starts at 8.15, yet they have the academic 15 minutes so lectures started at 8:30.
Once the coffees arrived—macchiato for Luca, plain espresso for Leo—they leaned in like old friends, even though they were just now becoming ones.
"You know," Luca began, stirring his sugar, "I like watching you guys. You remind me of how I started."
Leo tilted his head. "With officina22?"
"No," Luca chuckled. "Before that. My first real win? Selling industrial pipe connectors in Sicily. No fancy tech, no dashboards, just me and a brochure."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"I learned fast: Don't overcomplicate. You want to sell something? Don't show features. Show gains."
Leo listened.
Luca continued, tapping the countertop. "They want to know: Can I grow my business? Get more clients? Make more money—fast? That's it."
Leo nodded slowly. "So simplicity wins."
"Simplicity sells," Luca said. "You don't sell connectors. You sell faster installs, fewer returns, and happier clients. Same with parts. Frame your pitch around growth. And always and I mean always have 2 backup plans, in your case if a buyer is committed but the seller is not, you risk losing 2 clients at least in this phase, as Sun tzu said, 'The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand' ". Luca chuckled "I am boring my self, ahahahha"
Leo interjected " No, no, I wanted to ask you also some questions about ..." they kept talking for almost two hours
The lessons landed like a sharp knock on the door of Leo's brain. By the time they left the café, Leo had already decided: they needed to move faster and be more prepared for uncertainties.
Without noticing Leo acquired the most important thing when starting a business, a mentor. He was really lucky to start working on his business idea in officina22 and that his backer Lorenzo was also a mentee of Luca.
8:03 AM – Back in the Office
When Sofia and Giulia arrived, Leo was pacing near the whiteboard with a sharp marker in hand and a fire in his eyes.
"Good morning?" Giulia said cautiously, by seeing Leo like that, she already knew that they are gonna get cooked.
Leo turned. "We're locking in Alvani Meccanica this week. I already texted Marco. I'll call him at nine to book a physical visit by Thursday. I'll prep the material and send it by Wednesday."
Giulia blinked. "Wait—whoa. You were all zen in Lecco yesterday. What happened?"
"Luca happened," Leo said. "We're thinking too much like engineers. We need to sell like growth hackers a prepare like a risk analyst"
Sofia raised an eyebrow. "I like this version of Leo. Let's go."
As the espresso machine hissed in the corner, Giulia opened her laptop.
"If we want to scale—fast—we need help. You're gonna need someone to manage leads, suppliers, clients. That's three full-time jobs."
Leo nodded. "We'll post a job today. Junior engineer. Someone who can grow into client ops."
Giulia leaned forward. "Can we afford them?"
"No," Sofia said flatly.
Giulia smirked. "Perfect. We'll pay in stock options. Let's make it clear in the job post."
They huddled around Sofia's laptop. She began drafting:
"🚀 Join Kronos Parts – Milan-based industrial startup reshaping how precision parts are sourced in Italy and Europe. We're looking for an ambitious, technically sharp junior engineer ready to get hands-on across sourcing, logistics, and client onboarding.💡 Equity-only role (for now). Join early, build fast, and own a piece of the future. Master students welcomed!"
As she typed, Giulia turned to Leo.
"We should figure out equity splits."
Leo shrugged. "Let's make it fair."
After a quick debate, they agreed:
90% Leo – founder, visionary, lead executor.
5% Sofia – operational lead and product support.
4% Giulia – commercial and supplier lead.
1% Luca – a surprise, for giving them their first home, even though is a smelly office next to his.
"We'll tell Luca after the 30 days. When the Lorenzo financing hits," Leo said.
"Love it," Sofia added. "Now let's build."
9:00 AM – Leo Calls Marco Alvani
"Marco, buongiorno," Leo greeted as he stood by the window.
"Ah, Leo! Was just thinking about you."
"I'd like to come down Thursday. Walk you through the materials. We'll send everything Wednesday."
Marco paused. "That works, you are fast. I love it! Let's say ten?"
"Perfect," Leo replied. "We're gonna make this a great partnership."
As he hung up, Leo turned to the others. "It's locked. We deliver by Wednesday. We close by Thursday."
Giulia punched the air. "Now that's a deadline." after the initial excitement, she deflated quickly. " can we do it?"
Sofia punched her in the head, " Off course, we gonna do it!"
Leo " Well said! let go back to work!"
Rest of the Day – Work Zones Activated
The team split into their own orbits:
Leo spent the morning preparing Alvani's materials. He simplified every slide: problem, solution, revenue impact, done. In the afternoon, he teamed up with Sofia to prep the German buyer strategy—structuring a pitch around procurement speed and part-match optimization. The key? A powerful 10-minute deck and a list of seller matches sorted by compatibility score.
Sofia finalized the job post and launched it on LinkedIn. She then began scouring her network for referrals—DMing engineers, messaging university job boards, and even cold emailing a few talents she'd admired at Politecnico.
Giulia buried herself in ProtoForma Srl research. She mapped out their capabilities, partnerships, and recent funding rounds. By midafternoon, she had drafted a lean, high-value pitch to present on Thursday—focusing on how Kronos' network could expand ProtoForma's reach into aerospace.
By evening, the whiteboard was full, the air smelled like recycled espresso, and their to-do list looked like a small army had attacked it with color-coded fury.
10:44 PM – Somewhere Else in Milan
In a quiet, dim apartment not far from Bocconi University, a man in his early twenties stared at his laptop.
He wore a threadbare hoodie and wire-frame glasses. His walls were covered in books, charts, and disassembled circuit boards. A flickering ceiling bulb gave the room the strange energy of a forgotten genius lab.
He scrolled through LinkedIn and stopped on a post:
"Equity-only role – Kronos Parts – Build with us from the beginning."
He tapped the post with his finger, then whispered, "Kronos…"
Then smiled.