Key Highlights from Our Conversation:

The Mentor Ego Trap

Bianca identified a pattern that many founders miss: the difference between genuine mentorship and ego-driven advice. "Many people approached me and Factanza because it's a cool project," she explains. "But their desire to help came mostly from ego—it wasn't really about helping our company, it was about feeling important, dispensing advice, and being the one who 'knows best.'" This insight helped her develop what she calls "the very difficult awareness" to recognize when advice serves the advisor more than her company. "As a founder, you're surrounded by inputs from all sides—everyone claims they can do things better than you. It's dangerous to listen to everyone, in the sense of implementing what they tell you."

Finding Your Voice as a Female Founder

Early in her journey, Bianca found herself adapting to situations that didn't align with her vision, particularly as a young woman in male-dominated spaces. "At the beginning, I was more adaptable to things that didn't seem right to me," she reflects. "Now I speak up more, I point it out more, so that other women who will do my same job don't have to face the same situations." This evolution from accommodation to advocacy was particularly challenging because, as she puts it, "When you start, you're less inclined to respond because you might be the only woman in that context, and you think, 'I don't want to seem difficult.'" Her experience reveals how female founders must not only build a company but simultaneously navigate gender dynamics that male founders simply don't face.

The Role Model Gap

One of Bianca's most striking observations centers around the lack of authentic female leadership models. "It's very difficult to find women who don't have a super masculine approach to leadership," she explains, "because the few women who found companies and reach high positions often adopt a much more aggressive approach to succeed in an environment where it's very difficult to succeed." This creates a cycle where emerging female founders lack examples of leadership that doesn't mimic traditionally masculine styles. "If you're the only woman in the startup world or the only woman manager in a company, there's no one like you. It's no coincidence that many women suffer from impostor syndrome more than men." This absence of representation creates an additional psychological burden that compounds the already difficult founder journey.

The Personal/Professional Divide

Perhaps the most relatable challenge Bianca articulated was the fundamental disconnect between work relationships and personal ones. "From a personal perspective, it's more difficult to discuss things. I don't typically have personal relationships in the work sphere," she explains. "It's harder to make people understand what I do, what my difficulties are, what my life is like. I'm definitely listened to, but rarely understood." This creates a painful dynamic where personal relationships come with expectations she can't meet due to her founder responsibilities. "It was almost a fault—you already feel tired, you're working a lot, and then you're also the jerk who's tired and works a lot." This isolation effect creates a situation where founders often feel caught between worlds, fully understood in neither.

The Identity Separation Practice

The most transformative insight from our conversation was Bianca's approach to psychological detachment. "When you have your own company, it becomes almost an extension of yourself—something you've seen born and grow," she explains. "But it's very important to create a detachment from this passion." This doesn't mean caring less or working less hard. Rather, it's about emotional resilience: "At least one thing I used to do and try to do less now is take things extremely to heart, feeling personally affected when there were difficult moments or things that weren't working." This practice of separating your identity from your company's performance creates space for both better decision-making and better mental health. "This detachment doesn't mean putting less effort or love into the project, but it's a very important detachment."

The Co-Founder Support System

While many founders struggle alone, Bianca highlighted the value of having a co-founder who was a friend before becoming a business partner. "I have the fortune of having founded my company with someone who was a great friend before being my colleague, so she's someone who understands me," Bianca shares. "Being two people and having a personal element to talk about is one of the best things that can happen." This built-in support system creates a bridge between the personal and professional, providing a safe space to process challenges with someone who truly understands both contexts. For solo founders especially, this insight underscores the importance of intentionally building relationships that can serve this bridging function.

The Founder's Personal Performance Team

When I asked what her ideal personal support team would include if budget were no object, Bianca's answer revealed volumes about the true needs of founders. She would prioritize: a meditation expert to help create moments of presence and calm; a sleep coach to optimize her rest and recovery; a wellness specialist focused on nutrition, movement, and overall wellbeing; and an emotional processing guide to help "untangle the knots of emotions" and gain perspective. Notably absent were tactical business advisors—highlighting that the greatest founder challenges often lie not in strategy but in sustainability, both mental and physical.

My Personal Reflections:

Bianca can be considered a founder “star”; she has reached the super sought-after Forbes Under 30 list, and if I remember how I used to think about these “titles” in my 20s, I would have been a little stressed to interview her. You know, she has quite a following already… But the reality is way different. Exactly as she explained in our chat, we tend to idealize people too much through the lens of social media. We think that they are much more than what they actually are: human beings. And as any human being out there, we have problems, we have obstacles, and we have emotions.

Bianca’s story is probably a very typical story of a young person in Italy, trying to change things from the bottom up. Moreover, she is a woman, and as such, she faces way more walls to overcome. Nevertheless, she is public about what she stands for and she isn’t afraid, most of the time, to raise her voice and point the finger at what doesn’t work in the current system. Thus, I truly hope this conversation can bring a clear message to all the young people out there: get out and learn how to fight the system. Build your thing and expect hardship. Learn how to set boundaries and find your way!