Bending Spoons remains largely unknown, even as its portfolio of products has served more than a billion people.

The company has grown rapidly by acquiring and revamping last-generation tech brands like AOL, Eventbrite, Evernote, Meetup, and Vimeo.

The co-founders of Bending Spoons, the Italian company quietly buying beloved, ailing Internet brands, learned big lessons from their own startup's failure.