15 Minutes or Bust: What Hospitality Taught Rafael Barini About Commerce The Ostrich Report has landed. What I loved most about my conversation with Rafael Barini is his reminder that eCommerce is not just retail.
It’s a discipline.A way of thinking.A toolkit for solving problems across any industry.
Once you’ve learned to build and manage marketplaces, you start to see systems everywhere.The restaurant kitchen is just a fulfillment center with higher stakes. A hotel lobby is a loyalty program waiting to be optimized. Even real estate starts to look like product listings, search filters, and conversion funnels.
That’s Rafael’s gift: taking the mindset forged in Brazil’s early eCommerce boom and applying it everywhere from Switzerland’s hospitality industry to AI-driven transformation projects today.
Some moments that hit hardest:
👉 “If you can build a marketplace, you can probably build any eCommerce business.” 👉 Marketplaces aren’t one-dimensional. You’re serving multiple “customers”: buyers, sellers, developers, and ecosystems. Balance or bust. 👉 AI isn’t just a buzzword, right now it’s about productivity. Next wave? Personalization. Think of it as the industrial revolution for intellectual work. 👉 Hospitality taught him that speed changes everything. Deliver food in 15 minutes or fail. That kind of timing discipline should terrify every retail exec. 👉 Coming from Latin America gave him adaptability muscles most of Europe doesn’t even know it needs.
This is why I love conversations like this, they remind us that commerce is not a department, it’s a lens. Whether you’re selling sneakers, steaks, or square meters, the same underlying logic applies: systems, people, and the flow of value.
And that’s exactly what The Ostrich Report is here to explore. Honest, global stories that cut through the noise and show how commerce is really evolving.
🎧 Episode 1 is live now: Rafael Barini on marketplaces, AI, and the cultural power of adaptability. [Insert Spotify/Apple link here]
A big thanks to our community partner Evolve Commerce Club (where Rafael is also a proud member) for being part of this journey with us. And yes, we are still looking for a headline sponsor to grow this show. If you believe in honest conversations about the future of global commerce, my inbox is open.
Big thanks again to Rafael for setting the tone for our very first guest episode, and Hendrik, you’d better bring the heat when you’re back on!
#ecommerce #marketplaces #AI #TheOstrichReport
