Failure is often seen as an endpoint over a means to be successful: Especially in the world of technology. Companies struggle to adapt after prolonged periods of failure. For E Simple, a company that operates in the challenging world of tech, failure has served as their means for innovation. The company has spent years perfecting their business model, while also failing countless times and changing their approach to the world of technology. Francesco Marcantoni, one of the Co-Founders of E Simple mentioned how failure was common for them, noting that “failure of our technology is something that we are used to unfortunately.”
E Simple started when the digital world was still rapidly evolving into what it is today. In 2007, E Simple started as an online marketplace, where they used 3D models to create a digital space. With an avatar, someone could walk up to a market and buy something from a store that E Simple would have contracted with. In 2007, this idea was revolutionary in the world of the internet. It was Amazon before Amazon fully existed. E Simple recognized they had the technology to create the digital marketplace through online payments and created something that was essentially a “one-stop-shop” for consumer goods.
“[We] had to connect to a bank system to retrieve the credit card payment, we started to say, OK, we have the technology, we know how to do it, why now,” Marcantoni said.
With the plan in place they launched their marketplace; five years before Amazon turned from a bookstore to a similar concept. However, even though the idea would catch on in the future, it was too early. The website ultimately failed and E Simple recognized that people weren’t ready for that sort of technology, and that the average consumer wasn’t ready for ecommerce.
“I mean, at that moment 25 years ago, [people were using] websites like a business card, no one was using a website for work,” Marcantoni said. E Simple underscored how early misconceptions about the internet’s potential led to a failure in capturing widespread adoption. It was clear that even though they could see where technology was heading, the rest of the world couldn’t
This failure showed that even groundbreaking ideas may not catch on immediately. Still, E Simple continued to adapt. E Simple’s approach to innovation is characterized by failure and adaptability. Rather than letting these setbacks get to their vision, they forged ahead and kept driving new technology to the market. They adapted to the market trends and continued their work.
One of the ways that they did this was through their knowledge of creating 3D environments in a digital world. A new trend in technology involves augmented reality, or mixing reality and technology together. Essentially, the digital world and the real world are mixed into one. This can be seen through Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3, both which use cameras to project digital environments in the eyes of their user. E Simple has quickly adapted to this technology: They already had experience in 3D environments through their online marketplace, and were able to quickly shift to creating 3D environments through augmented reality.
One of E Simple’s virtual reality headsets
E Simple is developing a digital experience of Pompeii. Someone can put on the Virtual Reality (VR) goggles and the VR goggles would project artifacts and information about Pompeii into the real world shown on a screen that the user could see. This type of technology is a growing trend in the augmented reality world, and E Simple was quickly able to shift and adapt to it. This seamless transition allowed them to stay competitive in a global market: Bringing new technology to Italy. Their previous innovation, and failure of that innovation, eventually led to success in their market
E Simple stands as a testament to the power of embracing failure. Even though they faced countless struggles since their beginnings in the early 2000s, they are still standing. The company’s journey through failures has culminated into them always looking for ways to innovate. As they look forward to the future, they remain committed to creating a digital experience that everyone can understand.
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