Luigi Ghilardi

Luigi Ghilardi is a finance and veteran technology entrepreneur. He started his career in mortgage banking in California where he remained until the mortgage crisis in 2008.

Luigi serves as director and board member of Clearmove Ltd, a global mobility software company headquartered in London and with offices in New York, Kiev, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai. Clearmove is an Award-winning technology company providing completely integrated Global Mobility infrastructure.

Prior to Clearmove, Luigi managed two successful funds based in New York City. Black Onyx Capital Management, a systematic long/short equity fund and Merkaba Capital, a fund focused on technology investments in FinTech, AI and machine learning, and VR. Both funds were backed by a consortium of family offices. Facebook, Dropbox, Palantir, MomgoDB, SoFi just to name a few, have been some of the high profile technology company investments made by the fund. He has also served as advisor to numerous blockchain/DLT projects.

Luigi works closely with institutional and private investors, select affluent families, individuals and closely held businesses and has extensive experience in dealing with technology teams, regularly bodies and private and government backed funds.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My typical day entails lots of meetings and conference calls as I am always on the road and in between offices. I also use these meetings to brainstorm on new ideas. To make my day productive, I ensure that all my meetings for the day are fully planned a day before they happen.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I am very excited by blockchain technology and where is headed.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I wake up at 5 a.m. and hit the gym or go for a run. It helps me start the day energized and happy.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would advise my younger self to follow his passion. There is nothing as rewarding as making money doing something you love.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

I am constantly on the lookout for new opportunities. As an entrepreneur, it’s the only way to stay in business in the long-term.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

I am a very client-centric person and a great listener. Whenever I take a project, I always ensure that deliveries are beyond the client’s expectations so listening to the needs is a must to grow any business.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

When started my first business, I made a mistake of hiring friends instead of technically competent professionals.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I wish I had one. To a large extent, business is about passion. It’s not something that one can just copy and paste.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I subscribed to a to a book-summarizing service.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I use What’s App and Slack.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I would recommend Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. It’s a book that offers lots of valuable insights on how to avoid mistakes that lead to business failure.

What is your favorite quote?

My favorite quote is, “I don’t know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it” by Susan Butcher. It reminds me to never give up no matter what.

Key Learnings:

• Persistence
• Hard work
• Technical competence