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Interview with Stefano Venneri of Poste Private Nazionale
In August 2021 Stefano Venneri told us about the private postal franchise: a sector liberalised a few years earlier, no longer a monopoly, and a business that can be opened on its own or alongside one already up and running. The interesting part, five years on, isn't the sector — it's how he searched for people.
Published 25 August 2021 · revised 16 August 2026
What he told
A business that sits alongside those that already exist
The postal sector is liberalised: opening a private post office is possible as a main business, or as an addition to something that already exists — a tax-assistance office, a tobacconist, a neighbourhood shop. Franchisees were given territorial exclusivity, and the option of adding other counter services alongside the postal one.
Candidates were of two types: those who wanted to strike out on their own and those who wanted to diversify. Two very different profiles, found in different places.
The problem he had
Finding people who are thinking about changing careers. You don't find them through advertising: they don't raise their hand, and often they haven't even decided yet themselves.
But someone else knows them — the accountant, the colleague, the friend who's heard them complaining for two years. It's the textbook case where a referral is worth more than any advert.
One word at a time
The token finds names. Reputation finds the right people.
In 2021 the mechanism rested on a cash reward for every referral that led to a sale. In the case of a franchise, that model shows its limit faster than elsewhere.
Why the limit shows up right away there
Whoever introduces someone who then opens a business isn't just passing along a contact: they're telling a person to change careers. If it goes badly, that person doesn't come back asking for a refund — they stop talking to them.
It's the Sixth Law: in every referral, the one taking the risk is the one making it. A token doesn't compensate for that risk, because the risk isn't financial.
What compensates for it
The system knowing who is reliable, and for how long. In the discipline, a Connector's reliability is a score that moves over time (Fifth Law), and the introduction only happens once both sides have said yes — that's what distinguishes a match from a name on a list.
The practical result: fewer people are introduced, and they're the right ones.
The first step
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