Daniele de Paolis

I’m an Italian entrepreneur living in Mexico City. I started by bootstrapping and scaling my first brand, MonkeyHands (www.monkeyhands.eu)—a company dedicated to developing the best grip aid solutions for athletes—from zero to 7-figure revenue. Last year, I launched ILHU Care (www.ilhucare.com), a brand focused on organic personal care. As production demands grew, we decided to invest in our own cosmetic factory rather than outsource. Still today, we develop our own formulas and produce all our products entirely in-house. Me and my business partner learned the hard way—handling everything from sourcing raw materials to launching and scaling brands—and now I want to help founders who are just starting or struggling with their business. I’m here to share what I’ve learned so you can avoid the costly mistakes I made—especially when it comes to time and money. I’m available for calls in English, Italian, or Spanish.

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  Bootstrapping

  Bootstrapping is more than just a necessity—it’s a skill I’ve developed through real-world experience. When I launched my first brand, MonkeyHands, I had no external funding. That meant learning to make every euro count, prioritising what truly moves the needle, and building lean systems that could scale.

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  Branding

  I’m good at branding because I build brands that connect. For me, branding isn’t just about logos or packaging—it’s about creating a clear identity, emotion, and story that people genuinely relate to.

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  Building a team

  From day one, I knew that surrounding myself with the right people would be key to growing sustainable brands. Today, we’re a team of 14, and every person has been carefully selected not just for skills, but for attitude, ownership, and alignment with our values. I believe in creating a culture where people feel trusted, heard, and empowered to do their best work. Because I’ve worked across every function—from production to marketing—I understand what each role needs and how to support it.

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  Go to market strategy

  Go-to-market strategy is one of my core strengths because I’ve had to build and refine it from scratch—multiple times. Launching my own D2C brands, like MonkeyHands and ILHU Care, taught me how to deeply understand a market, position products effectively, and craft offers that resonate with real people. From creating customer personas to designing launch campaigns, testing channels, building distribution, and generating traction—I’ve done it hands-on.

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  Operations

  I’ve had to build and manage complex logistics across continents with limited resources. We import packaging from China, manufacture all our products in-house at our lab in Mexico City, and then export to the U.S. (Texas) and Italy for distribution in the American and European markets. I’ve learned how to coordinate suppliers, manage lead times, control inventory, optimize production flows, and ensure quality across every step.

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  Product management

  I treat product management as a bridge between vision and execution, and I’m constantly optimizing for both speed and quality. Because I’m hands-on across operations, marketing, and sales, I bring a holistic view that helps build better, smarter products that actually succeed in the market.

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  Product market fit

  With no outside funding, every product we launched had to resonate quickly and deliver real value. I learned to listen closely to customers, iterate fast, and align product development with real-world demand—not just assumptions.

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  Sales

  Sales has been at the heart of everything I’ve built. From day one, I had to sell—whether it was pitching our first gel grips to athletes, landing our initial retail accounts, or convincing partners to believe in our brand. I’ve sold B2C through e-commerce, B2B to gyms and distributors, and even wholesale into international markets.

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  Amazon

  5 years of experience

  I wouldn’t call myself an Amazon expert, but I’ve had to learn how it works—especially when it comes to pricing and profitability. Selling on Amazon forced me to deeply understand all the hidden costs: FBA fees, commissions, storage, returns, PPC, and the impact they have on margins.