How many possibilities?

I'm coming back from TechGarage initiative and I really want to congratulate the LUISS University and Dpixel on how they organized the event. TechGarage tries to setup a stimulating environment where startups can meet with potential investors or even entrepreneurs can exchange their ideas and considerations on the markets.

Btw the big problem is alway the same...italian visionary entrepreneurs! where do they are??

We cannot celebrate things like "Jobrapido", "Downlovers" or similars. And, sure, we cannot invest money and hopes on a "mind" following a future where to be at Hawaii knowing a PC is doing the work for him!

Fiuuuuuuuuuu! A little bit of autogenic training, please! :-)

I am fed up with that situation! Me and Gianfranco got enough bored to leave the event as soon as all the pitches were done. We respect the hard work behind each business proposition...we know how many efforts were done... but we must be concrete and report that we can't go to war with such soldiers and such weapons.

While here in Italy we live this desperate situation, today, some of the best italian businessmen like Fabrizio Capobianco (one of the few visionary italian entrepreneurs able to jump the italian VC's ditch), Federico Faggin (the father of the Microchip), Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza (one of the best geneticists) and Giacomo Marini (Logitech co-founder now leading Noventi) are going for a meeting with the Italian Ambassador to the US, Giovanni Castellaneta. They will present their own ideas and suggestions for moving towards the big dream of an Italian Silicon Valley working ecosystem. I think we are in good hands!..and I absolutely recall you all that these are the kind of minds we italians should celebrate! ;-)

So as I wrote sometime ago only "strong men do strong business"...I know a lot of extremely talent guys are now working on amazing business ideas and research topics here in Italy. We must make them get out..

TechGarage sounds good but "Seed need Pre-Seed"

I wish to point out to all of you the next TechGarage edition on Friday June 20 in Rome. You can find me and Gianfranco right there looking for good early stage or very early stage business to invest on.

I have started working with Gianfranco, Blucape co-founder and CEO at Believing Capital, focusing on good models able to make high potential global market business take off from Italy.

It seems to us it’s the right time for italian VCs to understand they cannot apply in Italy the same role models usually applied somewhere else.

I’d personally like to share up to seven simple concepts, referring to Italy, we are meditating about:

1) Stop waiting for an high potential - high level seed company perfectly “ready to” raise the big financing round…that means risking to get old without any big stroke :-)

2) Don’t hurry to bet on a race. Discover and growth the ”good horse” instead. We all know who we are looking for:

- owns a big idea but believes to be intended for an higher call

- predestination. He does his job when everybody is looking somewhere else

- deeply understand the market

- high technology skills

- iron will and a lot of passion

- forever young

- very very lucky man (protected by Heaven!) :-))

3) We should start to invest time and money on setting-up a mentoring division able to turn big ideas into big companies. We need to teach the colt how to run or, the same, teach the guys how to use their talent in the right way (the game’s rules)

4) We should see the Talent as a God’s gift. It last forever…thus we can talk about "being serial". No serial entrepreneurs means no pure talents…and no pure talents means big problems for an entire country. We need to start priorizing the social-missionary role the VC should play today in a country such Italy.

5) We all should be humble. The humility is like a filter in front of the eyes. It makes us see things in a different way. Without such a filter we could drink a Martini with Mr. Einstein without understanding who is standing near us. Too much often italian talent scouts are not in the right position to discover the next Einstein!

6) Rome is not San Francisco or London!

7) We must recall nowadays italian schools are not the perfect places to growth high potential world-wide entrepreneurs! We must resign ourselves to relate with unripe young guy and do with them a pre-seed hard work.

Again…Here in Italy seed need pre-seed :-)

Strong men do strong business

Hi again guys,

I’m coming back from an hard working period and I really do have to thanks my big mentors, advisors and friends such as Fabrizio and Alberto.

Fabrizio Capobianco

I think Blucape is really a lucky baby! It’s not a common story having such exciting figures giving an help in bringing out the business highest potential. It’s really true..strong men do strong business. The goal is ambitious..redo the new Funambol or Synopsys. Yet another italian disruptive business with a global potential market. As Fabrizio recently wrote in his blog "I am fed up with being know just for making pizza and clothes". Absolutely! I couldn't agree with you more Fabrizio! ;-)