An entrepreneur has an aptitude for risk, not an aversion to it. In some ways, they are a bit reckless. This level is just the starting point. Success is a terrible advisor. Complacency is dramatically dangerous. And there's no recipe, you buy a book, you become an entrepreneur. It is a higher-order calling.
He is Nerio Alessandri, founder of Technogym, a global wellness giant that has made him one of the few self-made Italian billionaires. If you have ever been to a gym, even once in your life, you have surely used one of their machines.
I had wanted to interview him for a long time, and I finally succeeded. In this mission, Google decided to help me reach some of the brightest minds that exist. People who have made innovation their strength, who do not fear novelty and who in this new era of AI are leading their companies to success. These CEOs will star in a series of interviews made possible by Google, where we talk about their journey and innovation.
Now, Nerio Alessandri's story is well-known and he's told it in his book, so I'll summarize it for you. With him, I preferred to use my time to ask the questions that interested me most, not things he has already written. So, Nerio, born in '61, is from Cesena. He didn't attend university and at 22 he was a technical designer at an agricultural machinery company. Since he was a boy, he had a passion for engineering, design, and Italian style. He would dismantle scooters and appliances to understand how they worked and to make some money, but at the same time, he was fascinated by design, dreaming of one day working for companies like Armani. Then, at 22, in '83, upon entering a gym, he noticed the equipment was rudimentary and poorly designed from an ergonomic standpoint. So, in his home garage, he designed and built his first machine. An inclined bench for squats, which he would later call the Hack Squat. And that's where Technogym was born. Machine after machine, the company grew, riding a trend that made the idea of going to the gym and taking care of one's body popular. Over the years, Technogym has sponsored Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, becoming the official supplier for the Olympic Games, and has brought its equipment to gyms, hotels, and companies worldwide. Today, Technogym has thousands of employees and has been listed on the stock exchange since 2016. It is worth billions of euros and shows no signs of stopping. The heart of the company is the Technogym Village in Cesena, where I went, a huge, futuristic headquarters that perfectly represents Alessandri's vision. And it was there, in fact, that I met him and, as usual, I started from the beginning.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I always looked at mechanics with great attention, because I lived opposite a mechanical workshop. So I spent my childhood, so to speak, inside a workshop, because in the afternoon my parents left me alone and, after doing my homework, I'd spend my time in this workshop. And there I became passionate about what is, precisely, mechanics, which for Technogym later transformed into biomechanics.
And the desire to become an entrepreneur came later?
There isn't a moment when you say 'I want to be an entrepreneur.' Certain aptitudes exist, primarily curiosity, the desire to discover, which are in fact the start of entrepreneurship. But it's not like someone decides to become an entrepreneur. This idea of becoming an entrepreneur by opening a start-up is a recent trend, compared to the previous hundred years of the industrial revolution. Being an entrepreneur has a profound meaning. It's not that you are born an entrepreneur, you become one, but you train for it. It's a path that likely matures from the age of 10, 12, 15, 20, perhaps it's hidden. Maybe one rediscovers this characteristic at the age of 40. But they were surely an entrepreneur inside long before that. So an entrepreneur essentially has an aptitude for risk, not an aversion to it. Typically, it's a person who is a bit reckless, in some respects. They are more driven to development through passion, through curiosity, hunger. The hunger to build something starts from how much curiosity a person has. So it's a progression that can last two years, ten years, twenty years. And so in my case, I think I've always been an entrepreneur, even as a child, because at home I was the one who fixed the washing machine, I was the one who did the chores. I've always had that attitude of building, whether it was building with Meccano, for example, which I was very passionate about, or building a bicycle with my own hands, fixing it, repainting my dad's scooter, or building my own motorbike because I didn't have the money to buy one, or making my own clothes, because I made my clothes myself, as at home there wasn't the possibility to align with what were also expectations, with what was also a desire. And so, actually, I probably would have wanted to be a fashion designer, so much so that at twenty I aimed to become a fashion designer. Specifically with a very clear goal, which was to design for Mr. Armani. But I have always been, since I was little, let's say, a designer, because I liked to draw. So, you see, many things contribute to it.
Nerio often speaks of the 'imbestio,' that grit, that inner fire that he looks for in every person and that he considers the key to always giving one's best. What is your 'imbestio'?
Well, 'imbestio,' which is a very local term from Romagna, essentially boils down to living every day as the most important day of your life and living every occasion, like this one for example, as the one that can change your life. Because whoever has the 'imbestio' goes beyond.
So if you had to tell me, what is that thing that drives you to push harder despite your success? I think you've probably reached all the goals you set for yourself when you were little. What pushes you today?
No, I never set goals for myself, let alone achieved them. Absolutely not. For me, every day is like the first. For me, everything we see around here, if it works and is successful, in my way of thinking and ours at Technogym, it means it's obsolete. So it really means that everything has to be redone. So it's like telling Schumacher or Cristiano Ronaldo, well, you played well today, this is your limit, don't try for anything more. It's truly against entrepreneurship or at least against my way of being. So this level is just the starting point. So I haven't really achieved what I had in mind, in fact, I have much more in mind. I hope to have the life, let's say, to be able to carry it forward. But there is no arrival point. The goal, if we were to talk about a goal, is the journey. The experience one lives every day, for the last 42 years, as far as I, my team, my people, the territory, our clients, suppliers, the country, all stakeholders are concerned. If we really wanted to imagine the fulfillment of a desire, it would be to see a healthy planet that can solve the problems of risks derived from unhealthy lifestyles. So we're talking about prevention, healthy longevity, human performance. And today, unfortunately, we have millions, if not billions, of people in the world running very significant risks, deriving from alcohol, smoking, stress, and above all, a sedentary lifestyle. Yes, from inactivity.
Nerio always repeats it, you can't stop at one result, because the moment you reach it, it means you still have to surpass your limit. For Nerio, success is an endless journey towards an excellence that is never fully reached. There's a common trait in great Italian entrepreneurs: knowing how to be technicians, designers, and salespeople. Nerio is no exception. He is interested in engineering excellence, but also in design and the appreciation of beauty, always putting people at the center. A combination I have found in other Italian excellences.
We are, first of all, product-driven, all of us. So the product must satisfy our consumers. For us, the product is the customer experience. So Technogym's obsession is the success of our consumers, in terms of well-being, health, and prevention, and the success of our partner operators, so hotels, companies, sports centers, homes, hospitals, to ensure that our partner operators, our clients, are successful. Because if our partner client is successful, we are successful too. The starting point is to satisfy, to delight our client, whether they are a consumer or an operator.
You need a team. So an entrepreneur, a CEO, a company head, etc., the focus should not be to sell or to create a product: the focus should be the client. This is already a difference between an entrepreneur and a non-entrepreneur. That is, entrepreneurs who start a company, who are there doing fundraising, can't wait to sell the company, to make a finance deal, to create a deal, to make a deck, sell the deck, sell stage one, stage two, that's not entrepreneurship, it has nothing to do with it. An entrepreneur sees the company as a child. I have three children, one is named Erica, Edoardo, and the other is named Technogym. I mean, it's been 42 years. I hope the company remains a healthy, long-lasting company for the next 40. Regardless of who the main shareholder is, it can be publicly traded, or it can be private, but what's important is satisfying clients, being sustainable, profitable, in the long term.
Okay, so what does Nerio do in his life as a CEO?
Ah, I do everything. I mean, it's not like I have an agenda where I set 20%, 30%, 40%.
No, it depends on the time of year. The flexibility and holistic approach of an entrepreneur means looking at the big picture, but then focusing on the detail. Thinking long-term, but also about today or in half an hour. Maybe looking locally with great attention to things, but at the same time, having a global approach, so 'glocal.' So an entrepreneur takes the elevator, goes from the basement to the skyscraper's roof, taking the elevator several times a day. It's an artistic approach, so a higher-level approach, that can't even be explained, honestly. And there is no recipe, buy a book, become an entrepreneur. It is a higher-order calling. This applies to those who compete in the Olympics, to those who want to be a great architect, it's about pursuing excellence, but excellence doesn't exist in the sense that you've reached it, because the next instant it's gone. So the limit is that possibility of achieving something extraordinary, but the moment you've achieved it, it's no longer extraordinary. It's no longer extraordinary. And so you have to raise the bar the very next instant.
Speaking of raising the bar, Technogym has been a pioneer in creating an interconnected system that leverages AI and that it develops with the support of strategic partners like Google. But how does it work?
Well, if you want, Technogym machines keep track of everything. The reps we do, with what weight, how our body changes, and we can integrate other data like heart rate, daily steps, and feed all this data to the AI, to get personalized programs. And I'm very pleased that sectors complementary to wellness, health, and prevention are developing, such as sleeping in a certain way. We founded a company in Seattle 30 years ago called MyWellness Inc. In 1996, we started software development. Then in the early 2000s, we brought it to Italy after the dot-com bust and we have always innovated in this direction, making our products IoT. We have always seen an ecosystem with a view to integrating data from wearable devices, from other apps, from other software, and we have always believed in data. In short, for some time now, Technogym products are not just simple machines, you connect with your account and wherever you are, in a hotel or your local gym, you find your data, your connections. With AI, all this becomes a personalized program tailored for you. It's possible to customize programs starting from the Technogym Checkup, which are six important values: cardiovascular and muscular endurance, flexibility, balance, body composition. I did it earlier, I was up there. So there are six data points that instantly give you your wellness age, which is basically your functional age, and then we can automatically define a personalized program based on your characteristics and goals.
So it means if a person has diabetes, if a person wants to lose weight, if a person wants to do a particular sport, Technogym anywhere, so Technogym in any place, at home, traveling, at work, in a fitness center, in a hotel, anywhere, you always have, thanks to WiFi, the ability to download your program directly onto the gym equipment, simply by logging in, and you see your profile directly on the display, with your music, your movies, and if you were watching a Netflix show, you can continue watching it, as well as having your data, and the machine adjusts itself. And thanks to the collected data, Technogym can better understand which training programs work and how to improve them. Thanks to the experience we had at the Olympics, for example in Paris 2024 last year, where we trained 13,000 athletes, that was fantastic data for our ability to ensure that, thanks to Technogym, you get better results, on average 30% more, for the same amount of time spent, more safely, while having fun. However, it doesn’t end there. Technogym can also support those who are unfortunately going through chemotherapy. Data shows that combining our technology and exercises with the medical treatment, before, during and after… significantly improves treatment effectiveness. So Technogym is, let's say, transversal, and so in the various seasons of life, when you are young, adult, elderly, in the various places of life, Technogym is by your side, this is the value of our social responsibility. That is, we are proud, but honored to be able to support the well-being of people around the world.
Is your functional age higher or lower than your chronological age?
My functional age is lower, I won't say by how many years, but the interesting thing is that I benchmark, let's say, with the entire internal population of the company, we recently did a statistic, in the last two, two and a half years, we have given 3.5 years of life to our employees. Since we have a corporate wellness program that is very, very well-attended, we have a rate, I believe, of attendance at the corporate wellness program that is the highest in the world, I think, since we have 9,000 companies with Technogym, so we know the data, and the fact of seeing that the company average is, let's say, compared to the average chronological age, the functional one is three and a half years lower, is a source of pride. It's a great source of pride.
In your dreams, what is that product that you haven't seen realized yet?
First of all, I can't say. We have a plan, we invest a lot in innovation, and what I can say is helping people get better results in less time, in a personalized way, and helping the planet, our country, Romagna, the Wellness Valley, to create a legacy for the new generations, which is education, prevention, health, healthy longevity.
What do you think of products like Eight Sleep, or all these new products related to tracking biomarkers, etc.?
We are partners through Wellness Holding with many companies, especially American ones, like Eight Sleep, of which we are shareholders, as a Family Office, and we have learned a lot from companies very different from ours. We are also shareholders of Enervit, which is a very important supplement.
And speaking of dietary supplements, Nerio explained to me the philosophy behind wellness at Technogym, which starts with nutrition.
We are against diets, our research center, we are against those stressful diets. Diets, let's call them marketing diets, have advantages and disadvantages. The problem is that when you stop the diet, the body suffers repercussions. We, instead, are more for a healthy diet. So lots of vegetables, fruit, beans, white meats, olive oil. The Mediterranean diet, to be clear. But what matters, given that, is having adequate muscle mass to keep the metabolism high. Up there earlier I saw I was almost excellent in my lean body mass. Excellent, excellent. Over the years there have been these trends, first only muscles, then only cardio, then back to only muscles. You need both, both the cardiovascular system and the muscular system. Then you need flexibility and then you also need proprioception, which means that while I'm walking, if I stumble, I need to have, let's say, the ability to react. However, they all start from the muscular base. Being able to fight aging, so the weakening of the system, even the skeletal system, this also comes through muscle training. Lean mass will correlate with longevity, that much is clear. I mean, really today all the scientific research and validations confirm what we have just said.
Understanding in hindsight the success factors of a company is never easy. Anticipating a huge trend? Widespread distribution? Iconic partnerships? Company culture? Probably for Technogym, all of the above. But I asked Nerio, in his opinion, what came first.
First of all, there are the people. People who have an ideal. And so the strength of Technogym is the team. We now have a team of 3,000 top-level people. We do a lot, a lot of training. We have a corporate university. We have a program we call Wellness Workplace. We have a restaurant with a Mediterranean diet, a vegetarian diet, an organic diet.
