Aug 13, 2026 · 38 min · 9 segments
Most founders chase the biggest possible market. Angelo Amicarelli chased the smallest one he could own completely. In this episode of The Plucky Bamboo Podcast, Angelo Amicarelli, co-founder of…
Angelo AmicarelliGuestChrisHostOkay, so let's talk about growth for a second.
So you and I kind of both know the sector goes in two ways.
One is that they don't really believe in growth.
They just believe in the mission, so they end up just taking things very slowly.
The other half is A bit addicted to the B2B SaaS story where they grow three, four, 5X a year for like a software company.
You are building a neutron counter.
What does the, the whole SaaS growth myth cost the founders who believe it applies to them?
I, I have to say that actually we have a sort of middle way between, you know, this myth of growing three, four, 10 times per year every year for forever, and the slow growth of the classical, let's say, hardware manufacturer that you cannot grow more than, let's say, 10%, 20% every year is already a super good result.
First of all, at the beginning it's sort of easy because the revenue is so low that it's so simple to make it per free.
So from 1,000 to 3,000 are not such a big effort, but it's just, I'm a little bit exaggerating, but that's also the reality of the really beginning.
Hmm.
And now also we have to deal with the investors that have joined, uh, the Finup journey, you know? So we have collected some good money to be, especially to be in Italy, especially to be in this, let's say, environmental sector, you know, green sectors.
And, uh, so we have to deal also with, uh, the business plan, and we have to deal with the expectation of the investor that put money on top of it.
And so let's say that our growth is something that I will say is something sustainable, is not like unbelievable fast.
It is something, let's say, balanced between, uh, the myth and expectation and the reality.
So we, we find ourself, let's say, in a reasonable, comfortable position, but also the expectation that we created on top of our growth were not unbelievable high.
How did you manage to do that then? Because there are so many sustainability hardware companies that get stuck, and they almost move from like one funding round to another funding round and don't quite manage to take off.
It sounds like you're doing better than that 20% to 30% you just mentioned.
Talk me through kind of how you reached that stage.
There are, uh, s- uh, m- I remember a couple of years in which we were basically stuck.
We didn't decrease the revenue, but was sort of the same of the previous year.
Hmm.
And there are years in which we do maybe per two, per three compared to the previous year.
Okay, so let's talk about growth for a second.
So you and I kind of both know the sector goes in two ways.
One is that they don't really believe in growth.
They just believe in the mission, so they end up just taking things very slowly.
The other half is A bit addicted to the B2B SaaS story where they grow three, four, 5X a year for like a software company.
You are building a neutron counter.
What does the, the whole SaaS growth myth cost the founders who believe it applies to them?
I, I have to say that actually we have a sort of middle way between, you know, this myth of growing three, four, 10 times per year every year for forever, and the slow growth of the classical, let's say, hardware manufacturer that you cannot grow more than, let's say, 10%, 20% every year is already a super good result.
First of all, at the beginning it's sort of easy because the revenue is so low that it's so simple to make it per free.
So from 1,000 to 3,000 are not such a big effort, but it's just, I'm a little bit exaggerating, but that's also the reality of the really beginning.
Hmm.
And now also we have to deal with the investors that have joined, uh, the Finup journey, you know? So we have collected some good money to be, especially to be in Italy, especially to be in this, let's say, environmental sector, you know, green sectors.
And, uh, so we have to deal also with, uh, the business plan, and we have to deal with the expectation of the investor that put money on top of it.
And so let's say that our growth is something that I will say is something sustainable, is not like unbelievable fast.
It is something, let's say, balanced between, uh, the myth and expectation and the reality.
So we, we find ourself, let's say, in a reasonable, comfortable position, but also the expectation that we created on top of our growth were not unbelievable high.
How did you manage to do that then? Because there are so many sustainability hardware companies that get stuck, and they almost move from like one funding round to another funding round and don't quite manage to take off.
It sounds like you're doing better than that 20% to 30% you just mentioned.
Talk me through kind of how you reached that stage.
There are, uh, s- uh, m- I remember a couple of years in which we were basically stuck.
We didn't decrease the revenue, but was sort of the same of the previous year.
Hmm.
And there are years in which we do maybe per two, per three compared to the previous year.
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