Arturo Artom: Fiat Lux

“Venture Capitalist” must sound like a bad word in Italy. This is the first impression when you attend a speech by Arturo Artom, an Italian entrepreneur (Muvis intelligent lighting system and Netsystem) and novice venture capitalist (Artom Innovazione Italia).
According to Arturo the type of risk investment that made Silicon Valley rich and successful is almost non-existent in Italy. He claims to be one of the few Italians determined to change the current situation and wants to proof that the “Bel Paese” can provide great business and financial opportunities to all investors willing to take risks.
Arturo talks about his experience with a lot of color and passion, with a style that remind me more of Marco Polo than of a cold professional investor.

For half an hour the entire Skilling Auditorium in Stanford was following Arturo Artom in the exploration of an unknown region: the Italian venture capital territory. Arturo was leading us across this uncharted land pointing to a few visible reference landmarks: the rounded hills of the Italian Style, the vast sea of Italian talents, the river of Innovation, and the dark forest of the Italian bureaucracy.
According to Arturo, to successfully travel across this land we need to recognize this is a different place from the fully explored Californian equivalent territory: different but not less promising. Where the ancient maps used by traditional Italian investors say “hic sunt leones” (here are lions), Arturo found ideas, talents and business opportunities. As Marco Polo, Arturo charted this new land, managing not only to survive the lions but to come back with gold and honors.
How many investors, Italian and not-Italians, will get rid of those obsolete maps and will follow Arturo steps?

Franco Folini

Comments

[Michele Ursino]

I enjoyed the presentation of Arturo Artom.

I found the key point of his speech very interesting and very true: Italian startups do have a chance if they leverage the traditional Italian fields like design, fashion and food as Troyan horses for their hi-tech products.

Forget about trying to create Silicon Valley style companies. Use and leverage the world wide perception Italians are best in creating good looking and good tasting items.

Michele Ursino

[Matteo Daste]

OK, but how can startups like Muvis, which meet an Italian strenght (design) with technology, be built bottom up? Mr Artom told us that he personally financed his enterprise. Italian entrepreneurs do not have access to SV-type angel and VC capital...so even if you have the good tech + design combination, you still have an issue in turning those companies into actual SV-style startups....

[Mark Balmen]

I enjoyed the presentation of Mr. Artom, I just don't get few details of Arturo approach to VC:

1. If I am a Silicon Valley investor, give me a reason why I should put my money in Mr. Artom venture capital firm knowing they are investing in a Mr. Artom company. If Arturo wants to become a real VC, my suggestion is to make choices and invest more in his trustworthiness than in his own companies.

2. If Mr. Artom can't convince Italian investors to invest in his own VC firm, why he believes he should be more successful with Californian investors?

3. If Mr. Artom really believe that his idea of Italian style VC is so great, why is going around sharing it with everybody? In my experience, when an entrepreneur has a great idea he tries to squeeze as much value as he can out of it. Only when the idea becomes widely known, he starts to share the details.

Mark Balmen

[Mario Bucolo]

The situation described in Italy is real only for 1/3 of the country.
I do business in Sicily and here there aren't VC or BA ready to invest in companies. The situation is very bad. Also, as I have an initiative looking for money (museumland.net) I need to look in NYC or Bay Area, I will start a tour there next week.
Mario Bucolo