Success Is More Random Than You Think: The Truth About Luck vs Effort | Enrico Mayor Podcast #28

Adriana Crovetto — Entrepreneur & Investor — From door-to-door jacket sales in Uzbekistan to angel investing and AI creator commerce, Adriana reveals why resilience matters—but luck and relationships matter more than most founders admit.In this uncut conversation we discuss:• How elite swimming forged Adriana’s “excellence + discipline” founder mindset• The scrappy playbook: importing jackets from Uzbekistan and selling door-to-door across Europe• Why sustainable fashion marketplaces are brutally hard (cash flow, borders, returns, CAC)• What Adriana really looks for in a pitch deck (and why “no deck” can be better)• Angel’s House: how she screens deals, runs DD, and builds an operator-led investor community00:00 - “They started at zero… I start at ten” (the ambition mindset)00:49 - Adriana’s background: Swiss roots, international upbringing, early career moves02:14 - From competitive swimming to entrepreneurship: resilience, discipline, maturity06:07 - Swiss National Team & early international competitions (pressure + growth)10:30 - Parents who built from nothing—and the “duty first” mentality14:57 - 3 values that shaped her: excellence, discipline, resourcefulness20:24 - First business: sustainable jackets, Uzbekistan production, learning passion vs. challenge24:11 - $3k, a suitcase, and sales: door-to-door hustle + registering the company26:58 - Fashion Week wins, scaling a “family business,” and the reality of brand-building27:56 - Building a sustainable marketplace: dropshipping vs. wholesale, logistics, returns, CAC31:02 - “We thought fashion… ended up in a warehouse”: the operational truth of e-commerce41:29 - Exiting the marketplace & joining Partners Group: entering the investing world42:13 - Angel’s House: deal screening, due diligence, skin-in-the-game investing45:21 - The deal she passed on that later crushed it (and what it taught her)48:54 - How Adriana evaluates founders + decks: team first, sector fit, price matters51:43 - Deck length vs. speed: email/video/website as the new pitch—and tailoring to investors56:58 - AI fundraising workflows vs. relationship building: where scale helps (and where it doesn’t)62:32 - New venture: a creator commerce platform + chat interface (Shopify meets knowledge)65:49 - Building software in the AI era: MVP traps, Cursor middle-ground, product taste71:08 - Female founder realities: “bro zone,” sector differences, and why age can be bigger bias89:00 - The controversial truth: effort ≠ outcomes, luck matters more than we want to admit91:09 - Adriana’s planning system: yearly/quarterly/weekly + daily handwritten priorities95:36 - Billboard advice: “You always have time for what you really want to do.”📍 Follow Enrico:Instagram – @enricomayorTikTok – @enricomayor🎧 Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more.💬 Drop your takeaway in the comments & don't forget to Like & Subscribe.