Made by Members: Carlo Badini

The Swiss are a nation of renters: 58% of the population are renting their place of residence. This in turn also means that a lot of people find themselves moving places often and wanting to create an entirely new look for their interior design. This is where Pabio comes in: The startup brings together interior design consulting with the renting of high-quality furniture.

Carlo, how did you come up with the idea for Pabio?

The idea was really born out of necessity, because I was moving apartments very often and have always placed great value on interior design. I realized that it doesn’t make much sense to move furniture back and forth to a new place every time you have to move, because people often buy cheap furniture which, due to the poor quality, needs to be thrown away rather quickly. Or maybe people end up buying furniture without really having any interior design concept in mind, and the furniture end up not really “fitting in” with the apartment as a whole. So, I asked myself “what would be a possible solution for this problem?”

And Pabio is the solution?

I want Pabio to offer an alternative and make high-quality living accessible for anybody and everybody. We offer interior design and furniture in a subscription model: You get wonderful furniture for your home, pay a fixed monthly fee, and when you move out, we come and take the furniture away.

Has design always had a prominent place in your life?

Yes. Design has always been important to me – it is something that has been a recurring theme throughout my professional life. I started my business career in a design agency, and now, too, interior design is a central point in what I do.

Creative output requires creative input. Where do you find inspiration?

Good ideas come to me when running. I am at my most creative as I run through the forest.

Where is it that you most like to contribute with your expertise and with what goal?

At Pabio I most enjoy improving the product and the customer experience. Personally, my goal is ultimately to create a cool company. I love the fact that we have a B2C product, because it enables us to really improve people’s lives.

You have already founded your very own design agency at 20. Would you describe yourself as ambitious?

Yes, I am professionally quite ambitious. And also in my private life I am fascinated by people who have a certain amount of ambition. For me, this manifests itself in that when I do something, I strive to do it the best way possible.

Do you also dedicate some downtime for yourself?

I meditate every day in order to wind down, and once a year I go on a silent meditation retreat. The main point in this retreat is a particular routine: You meditate for 10 days in a secluded hut and simply focus on your breathing. You are not allowed to speak, make eye contact or write. The point is to free your mind from everything weighing it down.

What advice would you give young entrepreneurs?

Paradoxically, “You have to give all the fucks and you have to give none of the fucks.” You need to give it your all, but at the same time remember that there are a lot of things out of our control and don’t turn out how we wanted. The highs are very high, and the lows really low.

Which “high” are you particularly proud of?

One thing I’m really proud of is that we were one of the first Swiss startups to be accepted to Y Combinator. Y Combinator is a startup accelerator program from Silicon Valley that promotes the best startups in the world. Of course, we also get a feeling of success and accomplishment every time we get to furnish an apartment and see how happy the customer is with the result.