Perché il FREELANCER generalista oggi guadagna di più dello specialista | lacopo Pelagatti

Iacopo Pelagatti started working as an electrician at 16. He attended Bocconi University with scholarships and odd jobs of all kinds. In 2015, he graduated with a master's degree during the Milan Expo—and instead of going to work in a consulting firm like all his colleagues, he returned to the countryside near Piacenza to work as a waiter. Today, he's a copywriter, strategic marketing consultant, and freelance mentor. He's guided businesses from zero to $3 million in revenue. He's never opened an agency. In this interview, you'll discover: Identity vs. work—where are you drawing the line? Jacopo opens the episode by refusing to give himself a job title. Davide introduces a 0–100 spectrum between who you are and what you do: drawing the line at 99 is the reason a manager who loses his job collapses—because he's confused the two levels. Freedom as true wealth: Iacopo describes wealth as freedom of time, meaning, and health—not Rolexes, not leases, not job titles on LinkedIn. And he explains how his YouTube video on "how to get rich" stems from this very redefinition. The moment that changed everything: at 25, penniless, he watched his best friend earn €9,000 in three weeks working for Peugeot—and take a one-way flight to Mexico. From there, he understood that you could work intensely, then stop, then start again: manage your own pace. Why "generalist" freelancers fail—and how to overcome it: Iacopo introduces the concept of "specific on the outside, boundless on the inside." The market doesn't buy six skills at once: it buys just one thing. You sell the rest to the client once you're in the relationship. The white wave test (surfing metaphor): learning to freelance is like learning to surf. First comes the beginner's enthusiasm. Then comes the slaps. Almost everyone gives up right there. Those who keep going pass the test—and from that moment on, the waves push, not sink. The overcome difficulty becomes the moat between you and your competitors. Doctor vs. Pharmacist—why are you worth 10x or a commodity? The freelancer who simply provides what the client asks for is a pharmacist. The freelancer who understands what's really needed—better than the client himself—is a doctor. The difference isn't technical expertise: it's the ability to listen and the Socratic maieutics of negotiation. How to find your first client from scratch: Iacopo's biggest mistake was isolating himself. "A freelancer alone is a fucked-up freelancer." His first important client came through an acquaintance at a literary event organized years earlier. Networking isn't about happy hour networking: it's about real relationships built over time. Few clients, long-term relationships—the choice that made the difference: instead of working with 100 companies on €50 items, Jacopo chose to work with 10 clients for 2–3 years each. The result: he saw firsthand how to scale a business from zero to €3 million, gaining strategic insight impossible to have otherwise. The 71.5-hour calculation: Davide does the math live—1 hour a day on weekdays + 3 hours on weekends = 71.5 equivalent days of work per year. Two and a half extra months, without taking anything major away from your life. You don't have to quit your job to get started. FunkyLancers—the mastermind for those who want to make the leap: Iacopo has created a community of over 110 freelancers from all sectors (copywriters, architects, engineers, coaches) with weekly group calls. The logic: being in the right group unlocks problems in 10 minutes that you've been working on alone for a year. 💼 IoInvesto — Free analysis of your investment portfolio + 10% discount on the first year: 👉 https://www.ioinvesto.net/analisi-del... 📧 Superhuman — The world's fastest email client. First month free: 👉 http://try.sprh.mn/davide Hyperproductivity Video Course: https://officeofcards.com/videocorso-... 🔗 Iacopo Pelagatti YouTube: @iacopopelagatti FunkyLancers (freelance mastermind): https://funkylancers.com/ 🔗 Office of Cards — Davide Cervellin Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts: Office of Cards 📌 If you found this video helpful: ✔️ Like to support the channel 💬 Leave a comment: Are you more of a Picasso or an Andy Warhol? Pure freelancer or are you building a factory? 📺 Subscribe to never miss the next episodes 📹 Share this with a colleague who's thinking about starting their own business — or is afraid to do so