Cosmic Lady
"I’m probably the only Italian founder who concluded the exit of her company in the middle of a pregnancy. In spite of everything, Cosmic and I continue to be fully operational, working together," says Eliana Salvi. She clearly remembers not only the birth and evolution of Cosmic but also and above all the long road that led to the launch of the international ad-tech company that designs, produces and distributes short videos for platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Salvi has a lot of professional experience under her belt, as she is constantly looking for lifelong learning opportunities, while always being aware of wanting to follow her instinct to do creative work. In the Bocconi alumna’s varied career after her Bachelor in Art, Culture and Communication and Master of Science in International Management, "every professional phase has brought me added value or, rather, I have managed to add it myself," underlines Salvi. She began her career in corporate finance with British American Tobacco, where she remained for six years, understanding the importance of working in an international environment and above all of developing a capacity for analyzing company numbers. After her first experience as an entrepreneur at the startup Pinktrotters, she moved into consulting with BCG and then back into the digital sector with companies such as Teads and TikTok. The launch of her first company, Pinktrotters – a women's social network that connects online and brings together women from all over the world, creating travel experiences together – took place in 2013. Cosmic, her second company, was founded in 2021 and at the end of November 2024 – after less than four years – it became part of the Retex mar-tech group.
The philosophy that Salvi draws from her education and as a founder is to "not be afraid to undertake varied professional paths that may differ from conventional ones, even if there are very few entrepreneurs who learn everything alone on the job. However, you should not give up your passions, but rather choose a profession where your strengths are recognized. The important thing is to learn a lot and keep learning. You might make mistakes but making mistakes on the job is not in itself a negative factor, because professional careers can’t be built in one day. Therefore, I say that we must not be afraid to test ourselves, to venture into areas less traveled previously."
For example, after her time consulting and her experience with Pinktrotters, Salvi started over and dove into a world she did not know much about to acquire more digital marketing skills, which then proved to be fundamental in her subsequent path. In fact, after gaining significant experience in the ad-tech sector in commercial roles for luxury, fashion and beauty, she returned to being an entrepreneur and founded Cosmic. She also exported the company to Spain and France. It was not an easy challenge, however, to be a young woman founder remembering "the prejudices of many investors, who in most cases are still, unfortunately, men. However, in the end, I was able to stand out in the predominantly male world of digital technology thanks to all the work experiences that had allowed me to develop my skills. In short, as I always say: I strongly believe that adverse situations always hide promising upsides."
