WeZard’s Growth Hack: Master Your Niche, Maximize Your Impact
Founders Espresso: Inspiring Stories, Key Lessons, and Practical Tips from Hidden Champion Founders to Boost Your Entrepreneurial Journey.
Founder Shots☕
🚀Startup Growth Hack
WeZard transformed its approach by focusing on building high-quality, tailored software solutions while maintaining long-term client relationships through a strong reputation and word-of-mouth.
💡 Founder Spotlight
Giorgio Morelli, Co-founder of WeZard, navigated from launching a social network app to creating a digital transformation studio acquired by Praxi.
🗝️ Founder Tips
“Forget scaling for a moment—first master your craft and make every client feel like they’re your only one.”
🛠️ Startup Tools
WeZard’s agile project management and SEO strategies played a critical role in scaling and visibility.
☕ Cup of Founders Wisdom
Failing to implement strict management controls from the beginning proved costly, but rectifying this strengthened the company’s core.
🔋 Boost of Inspiration
"Creating beauty is the ultimate goal—whether in a painting, a piece of music, or in business." Giorgio Morelli
🚀Startup Growth Hack
From a Student App with 500k+ Users to an Enterprise Powerhouse: WeZard’s Evolution to Tailored Digital Solutions
WeZard began its journey as a social network app called WeStudent in 2018, targeting high school students. The app saw tremendous early success, becoming the second most downloaded app in Italy at launch, with over 500,000 users. However, the founders soon realized that their business model didn’t align with the VC terms they were being offered.
Rather than pushing forward with a model that didn’t fit, Giorgio Morelli and his team evolved to leverage their core strength: custom software development. “We knew how to build software, so we decided to focus on doing just that—developing innovative solutions for companies who believed in high-quality products.” WeZard’s new model operated as a digital transformation studio, providing end-to-end solutions for both large enterprises and small startups.
Their approach—delivering tailored-made projects that provided real value for their clients. By maintaining a steady flow of high-quality projects, they built a strong portfolio of case studies and relied on word-of-mouth referrals to drive growth. The strategy? Focusing on retaining existing clients rather than chasing new ones. “If your current clients speak highly of you and see you as a trusted partner, you’ll naturally attract more business.”
💡Founder Spotlight
Founder Spotlight: Giorgio Morelli—Pragmatic, Adaptable, Resilient
For Giorgio Morelli, building the right founding team was about clarity and alignment. WeStudent began with three co-founders, but after two years, one co-founder’s priorities changed. “You need a team that’s all-in” Giorgio reflects. They bought his shares and continued with a leaner, more focused team: Giorgio, Matteo, and Paolo—each committed to growing the company.
The hiring philosophy? Purely technical talent. Most of their engineers started as interns, stayed, and became integral to the team. “We look for passion first. Skills can be developed, but dedication and alignment with our mission are non-negotiable.”
When it comes to essential founder traits, Giorgio believes in resilience, curiosity, and the pursuit of beauty.
“Resilience is everything,” he insists. “Startups are a marathon, not a sprint. You have to push through setbacks every single day.” Curiosity is just as crucial: “You need to ask the right questions and constantly learn because understanding the ‘why’ behind things helps you adapt and innovate.” Lastly, beauty—often overlooked—is about caring for the details. “Being moved by what you create means you’re striving for excellence, not just functionality.”
Hello there, I'm Andrea Marino, founder of Founders Espresso.
🗝️Founder Tips
Giorgio Morelli’s Tip of the Week: Master Your Craft Before Scaling
Giorgio advises aspiring founders to master their craft before worrying about scaling. “So many startups fail because they focus too much on growth, without perfecting what they’re actually delivering,” he says. His philosophy is simple: do one thing, and do it exceptionally well.
“Focus on client retention. Make every client feel like they are your only one. If you do that, you’ll naturally grow, and you won’t have to chase clients—they’ll come to you.”
🛠️Startup Tools
Agile Project Management and SEO Strategies
One of the key strategies that helped WeZard scale organically was its disciplined approach to project management. Implementing agile methodologies early on allowed them to adapt quickly to client needs and manage multiple complex projects without compromising quality.
Additionally, WeZard invested in SEO and SEM strategies to increase visibility. By ensuring that they ranked well on Google, they could attract high-quality leads, which they converted into long-term partnerships.
💌Community Shoutout
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☕ Cup of Founders Wisdom
Management Controls: A Hard Lesson in Company Oversight
One of WeZard’s biggest early mistakes was not implementing a strict control system from day one. Giorgio recalls, “Without rigorous management controls, we were flying blind. You can’t run a business based on gut feeling alone.”
After facing several challenges, Giorgio introduced meticulous project-based accounting. “An organization is like an object with multiple dimensions. If you only look at it from one angle, you miss out on the full picture...this level of detail gave us new perspectives and helped us make more informed decisions.”
With better visibility into their financials and operations, WeZard could allocate resources more effectively and plan for growth with confidence.
🔋Boost of Inspiration
Giorgio Morelli’s Why: Creating Beauty in Every Endeavor
For Giorgio, entrepreneurship isn’t just about building a successful business. “Creating beauty is the ultimate goal—whether it’s in a painting, a piece of music, or in business,” he explains. “For me, entrepreneurship is the medium through which I create beauty.”
His motivation comes from striving for excellence in everything he does. “My way of creating beauty is through business. It’s about crafting something that you and others can admire. Something that makes people’s lives better or more meaningful.”
Stay tuned for more founders’ stories and updates in the next edition of Founders Espresso!
Sip up, and Scale up together.
Andrea Marino - Founders Espresso
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