He Did Not Want to Disappoint Anyone
When I think back today on the final years during which Marco tried with all his strength to breathe new life into our shared dream, I do not see a man who gave up. I see a man who never stopped fighting. Perhaps he even fought for too long. After every setback, he continued believing there had to be another solution somewhere. He had always been that way.
When others said something was impossible, that was precisely when Marco began to think. There had to be another road. There had to be someone who would understand the project. Another opportunity had to arise. I recognized myself in him. Perhaps that was our greatest similarity. But perhaps it was also, at the same time, our greatest vulnerability. Both of us believed that honesty, hard work, and perseverance could overcome almost every obstacle. Life later taught me that, sadly, this is not always enough.
No company is built alone. We depend on people. Partners. Circumstances. And decisions over which we ourselves have no control. During those years, Marco began carrying an ever-heavier burden. He felt responsible for everything. Our colleagues. Our suppliers. Our projects. Our investors. Me. And perhaps he felt responsible to no one more than to himself.
When something did not unfold as he had hoped, he never first looked for someone else to blame. He turned toward himself.
"What could I have done differently?"
"What did I miss?"
Those questions would not release him. More than once, I tried to make him understand that we do not control everything in life. That sometimes we can do everything right... and still lose. Not through lack of commitment or honesty, but because circumstances are sometimes stronger than our will. For someone with such a profound sense of responsibility, that is particularly difficult to accept. Such a person continues searching for answers.
Even when those answers do not exist. What still touches me today is that Marco never became bitter. Disappointed... Yes. Exhausted... Without a doubt. But bitter... Never. Even when he spoke about people who had disappointed him, he rarely did so with anger. It was more a sense of incomprehension. A profound incomprehension. And that touched me, because I knew how deeply certain events had hurt him. He had helped so many people. He had opened doors for them.
He had given them opportunities. And yet, when he himself needed others most, he discovered that not everyone was willing to do the same for him. It is a lesson that leaves deep marks. Not only on an entrepreneur, but above all on a human being. In moments like those, I often told him:
"Marco, don't let disappointment change your heart."
I knew that feeling. After my own great crisis in 1981, I too had faced a choice. Become bitter. Or learn to trust again. I had chosen the second path. And with all my heart, I hoped Marco could follow that same path. But I had underestimated the weight he was already carrying within. He barely spoke about it. He continued working. He continued making plans. He continued encouraging others.
Like so many people who naturally care for everyone around them, he often forgot to care for himself. Today, I hope every father, every mother, and every entrepreneur will remember at least one lesson from this chapter. Carrying responsibility is a strength. But someone who feels responsible for everything and everyone also risks placing all the blame on himself. And responsibility is not guilt. We must never lose sight of that distinction.
Do not ask only how the company is doing. Ask how the human being is doing. Behind every company is a person. And that person is more important than any project, figure, or result. A company can be rebuilt. A human being is irreplaceable. When I think about Marco today, I do not ask which projects succeeded and which failed. What I remember is that disappointment never hardened his heart.
That he continued giving. Searching. Hoping. Even when his own strength slowly began to diminish. That is the legacy he left. Not a company. Not a result. But the example of a man who wanted to do right by everyone and who, because of that, often placed himself last. A man who did not want to disappoint anyone. And that is precisely why he deserves more than our memory alone. He deserves our deepest respect.