Before he ever built tools for creators or worked on payment systems and SaaS architecture, Jean-Marie Cordaro spent time practicing boxing. It may seem far removed from his current work in tech, yet the sport left a lasting imprint on him: a structured way of approaching effort, a respect for repetition, and a clear understanding of how real progress is built.
For him, a product isn’t just a collection of features. It’s the outcome of repeated decisions, refined actions and a form of mastery developed over time. Much of this comes directly from the discipline boxing taught him.
How boxing shaped his relationship with work
In boxing, nothing is built in the spotlight. Progress happens during training, in the drills that no one sees, in the work that looks ordinary but makes everything else possible. This relationship with practice has strongly influenced the way Jean-Marie Cordaro approaches his work.
He carries with him three essential lessons from the sport:
- the patience required to master a movement before adding a new one,
- the importance of steady, measurable progress,
- the ability to stay focused even when the environment becomes unstable.
These principles now guide how he thinks about product development: clear what clutters, fix what disrupts, stabilize before adding complexity.
A boxer’s mindset applied to product decisions
Time in the ring teaches something fundamental: energy is limited, and every unnecessary move has a cost. This economy of effort directly influences how Jean-Marie Cordaro evaluates what deserves a place in a product.
When faced with a new idea or feature, he pays close attention to whether it genuinely helps the user or simply adds noise. He looks at flow, effort required, readability, and the number of steps involved. If something distracts from the main action, it’s reconsidered, often removed.
This isn’t minimalism for minimalism’s sake. It’s a form of clarity learned from sport: systems overloaded with details are tiring, while systems that stay focused allow the user to move forward with ease.
Creating rhythm and stability in technology
Boxing also teaches how to recognize and control changes in rhythm, knowing when to accelerate, when to slow down, and how to maintain clarity under pressure. This sensitivity to tempo has shaped the way Jean-Marie Cordaro approaches product design.
To him, a good digital tool should offer a stable rhythm. Users need to know where they are, understand what comes next, and anticipate without feeling overwhelmed. Abrupt changes or confusing transitions have the same effect as a loss of timing in a fight: they break control.
This is why Bonzai is built with coherent flows, logical transitions and a navigation style that reduces tension rather than adding to it. Technology shouldn’t speed up the user’s mind; it should help them keep their own pace.
Consistency over spectacle
Boxing values consistency far more than spectacle. That mindset shows clearly in Jean-Marie Cordaro’s philosophy: progress is built step by step, with seriousness and intention.
It explains why Bonzai prioritizes:
- technical stability,
- features that genuinely serve the user,
- slow and coherent evolution rather than rushed updates,
- and a careful approach to what is added or changed.
The work he does on the product isn’t about impressing through novelty. It’s about creating something that supports the creator every day, quietly, reliably, without unnecessary drama.
The sport’s influence on his relationship with creators and tools
Some imagine that discipline leads to rigid products. In Jean-Marie Cordaro’s case, it produces the opposite effect. Boxing taught him that speed without precision is useless, that power without control leads nowhere, and that clarity matters more than intensity.
This understanding nurtures a style of technology that aims to simplify the creator’s life rather than overwhelm them. A good tool shouldn’t demand more energy than it saves. It shouldn’t add stress to an already demanding job.
In this way, the discipline learned in the ring becomes a form of respect: respect for the user’s time, attention and mental space.
Conclusion
Over the years, the discipline Jean-Marie Cordaro developed through boxing has become a quiet foundation of his work in tech. It shapes how he structures his day, how he makes product decisions, how he simplifies flows and how he treats stability as a long-term priority.
Bonzai wasn’t designed as a flashy piece of software. It was built as a practical environment where every detail serves a clear purpose: helping creators move with more clarity, less friction and more control.
Behind the simplicity of the tool lies an approach forged long before the first line of code: the mindset of a boxer, where lasting progress comes from the precise gesture repeated, refined and understood.
