BAIAblog

A Message from the new Italian Ambassador to the USA

Effective October 1, 2009, the new Italian Ambassador to the United States has taken office in Washington.  Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata assumed his duties as Ambassador-designate of Italy to the United States after having held the position of Italy’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (full bio here). 

In taking office, the Ambassador extended a welcome message to the Italian community, which we are pleased to republish below (in italian):

"Cari Connazionali,

nell'assumere la guida dell'Ambasciata d'Italia negli Stati Uniti desidero rivolgere, come primo atto della  missione che sto per intraprendere, a tutti Voi, ai rappresentanti eletti negli Stati Uniti, alla comunita’ di origine italiana, a quanti trovano nel mio Paese un riferimento ideale e culturale, il mio saluto unito a sentimenti di forte ammirazione per quanto la Vostra, da oggi la nostra, comunita’ ha saputo e continua a fare per consolidare lo straordinario rapporto di amicizia  tra Italia e Stati Uniti. 

Il tricolore issato all’Ambasciata a Washington, insieme a quelli nei Consolati, negli Istituti di Cultura e in tutte le istituzioni e associazioni italiane sul territorio americano sono il segno dell’accoglienza e dell’invito rivolto a tutti i membri della grande famiglia italo americana: siamo qui per far crescere questa famiglia e sappiamo di poter contare sul sostegno e la partecipazione attiva di ognuno dei suoi componenti, anche attraverso l’importante strumento della diffusione della lingua italiana in questo Paese.

Ci separano pochi giorni dalle celebrazioni del Columbus Day. Piu’ di ogni altra questa ricorrenza segna la profondita' storica e culturale del contributo italiano alla formazione e alla crescita della societa' americana. Erano italiani, uomini di pensiero come Filippo Mazzei, d’azione come Giuseppe Garibaldi, di scienza come Antonio Meucci, che in America, come in Italia, sono stati fautori degli ideali di liberta’ e di unita’ nazionale, ancor prima che si consolidassero nei nostri Paesi le attuali realta’ statuali. Un ricchissimo, comune patrimonio di valori politici, culturali, umani si e’ consolidato tra le nostre societa’ e i nostri Governi nel secolo e mezzo di rapporti diplomatici tra Roma e Washington.

Oggi il mio Paese vede negli Stati Uniti un partner essenziale per contribuire al proprio futuro di liberta’, di prosperita’ e di pace. Cio’ deve avvenire a livello globale e in un quadro transatlantico che incoraggi l’Europa a esercitare tutte le sue responsabilita’ sulla scena mondiale.

Ho trascorso molti anni in Nord America come rappresentante dell’Italia e dalla mia esperienza, anche quella recentemente maturata alle Nazioni Unite, ho trovato sempre conferma della strettissima unita’ d’intenti che lega Roma e Washington su questioni vitali della convivenza tra i popoli quali la sicurezza internazionale, l’economia, la tutela dei deboli, la protezione dell’ambiente: lo sforzo comune in Afghanistan, l’impegno per il disarmo, il sostegno al ruolo dell’Onu nel settore delle operazioni di pace e dei diritti umani sono solo alcuni dei punti piu’ qualificanti di un’azione congiunta che Italia e Stati Uniti hanno ancor piu’ intensificato in questi ultimi anni.

E’ la fotografia di un rapporto solido che, come conferma un recente sondaggio sui legami transatlantici, non riguarda solo i nostri governi, ma appartiene anche ai popoli ed e’ ben radicato nelle stessa opinione pubblica. Il grado di sostegno e di condivisione che ottiene attualmente l’immagine degli Stati Uniti in Italia e’ superiore al 90 per cento, un valore in assoluto tra i piu’ elevati che si registrino tra i 27 Paesi dell'unione Europea. 

Vi e’ spazio per approfondire questi straordinari legami diretti che si accompagnano all’alleanza politica tra i due Paesi. A cominciare dalla cultura, con particolare attenzione all’insegnamento e alla diffusione della lingua italiana, dall’innovazione tecnologica e dalla cooperazione in campo economico ed industriale: i recenti successi italiani nel settore automobilistico rappresentano la sintesi ideale di questi tre elementi e costituiscono un modello per futuri progetti comuni.

Per immaginare e realizzare questi progetti serve il contributo di ognuno di voi, che cosi’ spesso manifestate il vostro legame verso l’Italia con una straordinaria partecipazione alle vicende del nostro Paese, sia sotto il profilo della solidarieta’ come e’ stato il caso in occasione del terremoto in Abruzzo, sia con il sostegno verso le iniziative per la diffusione della nostra cultura e della nostra lingua in questo Paese.

E’ con questo auspicio che inizio la mia missione, consapevole dell’apporto che ognuno di voi puo’ dare all’affermazione del ruolo e dell’immagine dell’Italia negli Stati Uniti. 

Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata"

An Interview with Roberto Bonzio, Reuters Journalist

A couple of months ago I received an e-mail from Roberto Bonzio, asking for an interview. Roberto told me he was here in Silicon Valley for a few months on a project about Italians. After a few e-mails, we set up an appointment and a few days later we met at my office. We spoke for a couple of hours about my experiences here in the US and my company, Novedge. A couple of days later Roberto published the interview on his blog, Italiani di Frontiera. I read the interview and was amazed to discover how much Roberto was able to capture from our talk. Despite taking few notes during the interview, he understood all the details about our online system and strategies, as well as our company strengths and weaknesses. Impressed by Roberto's professional capabilities, I've become an avid reader of his blog and discovered a mine of interesting articles, stories, and people. Despite not being a journalist myself, I wanted to return Roberto's favor and so invited him to be interviewed for the BAIA blog. Here are my questions and his responses.

Roberto, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

I was born in Mestre Venezia, start working as a reporter in Venice newspaper Il Gazzettino, as my grandfather Roberto, my father Giovanni "Gibo" and today my brother Giampaolo. I moved to Milan in 1986 at national newspaper Il Giorno, joining Reuters Italian service in 2001, now in a 6 months leave of absence here in California. Be pro-positive and nonconformist have been often not helpful, working in Italy, in media too. I got some more opportunities in reportages around the world for magazines. Then I found in Reuters a fantastic chance for good journalism and international perspectives. And in the web the ideal environment for my unordered curiosity. That goes from movies (I graduated at Venice University in History of Cinema, dissertation about Harpo Marx), to music (I play a lot of instruments, you wouldn't believe how many and how badly), rugby. And new media.

What is your project "Italiani di Frontiera," and how you come up with this idea?

Less than a year ago, I was just trying to figure out how "to survive" to come as a freelance journalist in leave of absence in USA, with wife Pola Science teacher and kids (Alessandro 18, Francesca 16, now happy students at Gunn High School in Palo Alto). I knew few about Italians in the Bay. Three e-mails changed my mind (and hopefully my life): from Matteo Daste (BAIA) Jeff Capaccio (SVIEC) and Palo Marenco (Silicon Valley Italian Study Tour). I understood from their committed answers there was a big story waiting to be told. And this was the right moment (not only for Super-Euro), in a blooming of activities (Baia, Sviec, Mind the Bridge...), and commitment of US Embassy too. In Italiani di Frontiera I am interviewing entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers. Some young newcomers, some veterans with outstanding records, as Federico Faggin, Roberto Crea, Enzo Torresi. They are a mine of gold of memories, enterprises, challenges. Still more precious are their thoughts and critical comments about Italy, its qualities and its faults. Now a blog, then an interactive web site with videos, Italiani di Frontiera will be a book in Italy, sponsored by Centro Formazione Management del Terziario for FrancoAngeli Publisher. And more is still in my mind...

After spending some time in the Silicon Valley, how has your opinion of America and the American way of life changed?

I first came in USA 30 years ago as a young hitchhiker At that time this was an other world from Italy. Big cars and standardized behaviors impressed me more. Today cars are a bit smaller, I'm still impressed by standardization and predictability in daily life. Sometimes I find it funny or boring. But I realize these strict rules are fundamental ground for a multicultural and multi ethnic country. Meanwhile, Italy and Italians became more standardized and stereotyped, after years of flat consumerism and silly hedonism pumped by TV model over exposition. But they lack a ground standard of rules and civic commitment, quite strong here. We still have a sense of quality of life, in terms of friendship, food, beauty. While sometimes I had the feeling that a part of American way of life, in its pursuing of success, has still the goal to make money to show money and money symbols. And then... what else?

After interviewing so many "Italians," did you find some sort of common background or shared archetype?

Yes, absolutely. And much stronger than I expected. Perhaps we managed for centuries to survive with unpredictable as individuals. And our classic roots, deeper than we realize and remember, are the best background for an open mind. Italians graduated in averaged Italian Universities act wonderfully here. Many of them told me they feel to have a special capacity to solve problems out of the standard better than others. Somebody thinks too  you can recognize a software "made by Italians" for a particular touch of creativity an aesthetic...

Once you are back in Italy, do you think you will be able to communicate and share your experience?

If I'll fail, I'll be the only one to blame. Because I think contents and thoughts from Italiani di Frontiera are of extraordinary value, for what in my view is today Italy. So many outstanding goals achieved thank to Italians to remember, while the country dramatically lacks memory. And so many examples to study and pursue, in hard work, creativity, courage, challenge on a global competition, both in entrepreneurs and in corporations. Mainly  ignored in a country dulled by local argues and silly gossip. A country of emigrants, now pretending to isolate and protect itself, than better widely exploit its talents. Let's open doors and windows in Italy, to fresh air! More web, more English speaking. More good models for young people. More chances for inspired ideas. And more sights from abroad, from Italians in the Bay too!

The Italian community in California is very fragmented. Only now are Italians becoming aware of being part of a community and gaining a benefit from that. What can associations like BAIA and Italian institutions such as the Italian Consulate do in this direction?

They can act stronger, in building a powerful community here. But I really think that in this, meetings and networking must be supported by a strong cultural effort. This means first to know what other Italians are doing here around. Then be aware how strong can be their contribution and example non only each other but for their country. Business opportunities are not enough, we need a careful consideration. About qualities that let Italians here acting fantastically: open mind, improvisation, aesthetic taste etc. And a critical reflection on what obstacles the emerging of the same qualities in Italy in entrepreneurship. It is a cultural effort because from my work it emerges that bad habits, distorted traditions (for example family extensions in corporation management) are for Italy heavier chains than old infrastructure and lack of financing.

Will you come back to California with a new project?

Telling the truth, I'm just ready to stay... Kidding (not too much). At the end of July I have to go back to Reuters in Milan and finish my work on the project. For me and my family it would be a dream to come back to stay. There are a lot of subjects and links to work on, in media between Italy and the Bay. I could have ten more "start up" projects in my head, as a web radio, needing a venture capitalist I am afraid... because this adventure 'til now has been hardly self-financed. Good investment for me, my wife and mainly for my teen son and daughter, in their international open mind experience at Gunn High School (while Ale, soccer striker, scored 18 gols in 7 match with Stanford Earthquakes...). One new project is already a part of Italiani di Frontiera. I called "Italindiani" some outstanding Italians in the West, discovered by my friend Cesare Marino, anthropologist at Smithsonian Institution and one of most prominent experts of Native Americans. Nearly unknown both here and in Italy, they deserve a book for themselves, having in past centuries the same bold spirit of Italiani di Frontiera we all need to challenge the new 21th Century Global Fronter.

I would like to thank the Roberto Bonzio for taking the time for this interview and for the incredible work he has done in such a short time exploring the local Italian community and exposing the  unexpectedly long list of entrepreneurs, researchers, and influential people. If you have a question for Roberto or for BAIA please do not hesitate to contact us or to leave a comment below. Roberto is also a member of our online community BAIA Link where he can also be reached.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Fabrizio Marcelli, the New Consul General in San Francisco

Last week I received an e-mail from the Italian Consulate asking for my availability to answer a set of questions from a questionnaire. The questions were part of a survey of Italian companies in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. I was pleasantly surprised. This was the first “business” contact with the Consulate my company had ever had. The person behind this change of style is the new Consul General Fabrizio Marcelli. He came to San Francisco just a few weeks ago and the Italian community is already noticing the difference. People who went to the Italian Consulate offices on Pacific Heights are now sharing stories of efficiency, organization, and a service-oriented approach. The old jokes about the Italian Consulate that have been circulating among Italians for decades are becoming suddenly obsolete. I personally asked the new Consul for an interview in order to get to know him and to facilitate a direct dialog with the Italian business community. Here is the interview. Thank you Consul.

Fabrizio, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional experience?

I have served in various capacities in the Italian Diplomatic Service. This in San Francisco is my first assignment in the United States. My previous posts abroad have been in Argentina (twice), Madagascar and Germany.  In particular, my consular expertise is based on my professional experiences both as head of a Consulate and as coordinator of a major national consular network.

Do you have some information or data you can share that would give us a better picture of the Italian community under your jurisdiction?

The impression I have gathered in this first month in San Francisco is that although Italians in the Bay Area are not as numerous as in other parts of the United States, they nonetheless are a major component of the cultural identity of the Bay Area. There are 12,780 Italian citizens registered with our consulate (our district includes seven states of the Pacific Northwest and a large part of California). Of these, over 9,000 reside in the 48 California counties that fall within our jurisdiction. Besides the San Francisco Bay Area, the Italian community in California is concentrated in the Sacramento area.

What are the major problems you currently face at the Consulate and what are your plans to address them?

My very first priority is to reorganize the Consulate. We have massive arrears in many areas. Also, due to a protracted lack of personnel, we have several hundreds applications for citizenship by descendants of Italian immigrants in the US waiting to be analyzed and sent to Italy for registration. The same applies to certificates relating to vital statistics (DATA). The visa, legal and passport sections are up to date. In addition, we are also striving to “resuscitate” the commercial office.

As the youngest Italian Consul to come to San Francisco, your presence raises large expectations from the Italian community. What changes can be reasonably expected from the Consulate?

Thank you for considering me still young at 47. I hope not to disappoint our community. Their high expectations are justified by the arrival of a new Consul General.  Mi initial effort will focus in reviewing the procedures used by consular personnel in order to find all possible ways of improving our processes and turn around time. I also involved in promoting the image of the Consulate through contacts with local entrepreneurs, authorities and organizations. I hope that the Consulate will become a full protagonist in the life of San Francisco and of the Bay Area. To this end, the Italian Cultural Institute, whose acting director is the capable and dynamic Valeria Rumori, can play a very important role.

In the local Italian community there is always a sort of unexpressed desire to give back to the motherland. What can the Consulate and the Italian community do to facilitate this flow of ideas, experiences, and business toward Italy?

There is much that they can contribute.  As I said before, the “high-added value” of the Italians living in and around San Francisco requires a special attention by the Consulate in terms of efficiency and rapidity of services that we usually provide. I hope that those who use are consular services and are also involved with advanced technologies and software will be willing to give us their suggestions to improve our services and the interactive services available in our web page.

You mentioned a few times that California and San Francisco are not getting the attention they deserve in the relationship between Italy and US. What can be done to change that?

When I arrived in San Francisco, I was surprised by the large number of Italian entrepreneurs, researchers and University professors who settled in the Bay Area in these last years.  It is my intention to have this community adequately represented in Italy.  The first opportunity to do so is offered by the visit to San Francisco of the Italian Ambassador in Washington, Giovanni Castellaneta. We have organized for him an entire day dedicated to visiting UC Berkeley and the Silicon Valley, with a meeting including all researchers and entrepreneurs active in high tech sectors in this region. I also hope that a journalist will be willing to report on the history of the Italian presence in the Silicon Valley, starting with the important contributions given by the pioneers, many of whom were originally Olivetti employees, to the significant influx of young engineers in most recent years.

I would like to thank the Italian Consul General in San Francisco Fabrizio Marcelli for taking the time for this interview and introducing himself to the Italian community this way. If you would like to share your ideas, experiences, and opinions with the Consulate, you are encouraged to visit BAIA Link, the online BAIA community, where we have a section of our forum dedicated to this dialog.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Gaetano Pellicano on Venture-Capital Reform in Italy

On February 19, 2008 I had the pleasure to be invited to speak at the Italian Parliament for an event on Venture Capital reform organized by Gaetano Pellicano, the President of BAIA Italy. Since the inception of BAIA Italy last year, Gaetano has been working on connecting the business communities gathered by BAIA in Italy and California, leveraging his experience to promote the exchange of knowledge, especially in the venture capital area.

Gaetano, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

Since 2001 I have been a political advisor of the U.S. State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. I work with American companies and institutions in Italy and advise the U.S. government with respect to policies in Italy and the EU. I focus also on job creation policies and have taught public administration at the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione. After meeting BAIA founders Matteo Daste and Giorgio Ghersi in San Francisco and seeing what BAIA is doing, I espoused the idea and in 2007 I promoted the launch of a BAIA Rome Chapter, that I am currently presiding.

How relevant of a topic is promoting venture capital investment in Italy today?

Low level of investment by risk capitals hinders the capability of boosting an ecosystem which favors innovation. Either big corporations or the research sector call for a stronger network between different actors, including venture funds, in order to improve their competitiveness, to establish cooperation with international players, and to bring new ideas, products and service to the market.

How did BAIA Italy play a role in organizing the February 19 event?

BAIA had been working in close cooperation with the Partnership for Growth of the U.S. Embassy in Rome that promoted a network between serial entrepreneurs, business angels and venture capitals. We proposed to work with this group of players to strengthen the links with Californian counterparts and to consolidate a package of proposals of improvements of the legal system along with most interested policy makers. Decidere.net and Competere appreciated our initiative and decided to cosponsor it.

What possible benefits could come out of these activities for Italy?

Our aims are to improve the ecosystem, to increase its dynamism and to help Italian innovators willing to establish joint ventures and other forms of cooperation with American colleagues. We will submit the package to the new parliament and the new government by September.

What's the outlook for BAIA Italy?

We are structuring our organization concentrating our energies on few events which might allow us to involve new members. Volunteerism is less common in Italy than in the States, but with a strategic vision we hope to stimulate the participation of a significant group of innovators interested in our unique initiative.

I would like to thank again Gaetano for his contribution. It is hoped that initiatives like the one promoted by BAIA Italy will be a welcome addition to the Italian economic panorama and will not only contribute to promoting knowledge of California models in Italy, but will also give a fresh  perspective on venture capital to leaders and entrepreneurs in Italy.

Matteo Daste

Middle school creativity wins as education and sports team up in preparation for the Rome 2009 13th FINA World Championships

The creative, Italian-style, design of a middle school student was chosen for the Mascotte of FINA World 2009, a major world swim competition to be held in Roma in 2009, July 18 through August 1st.
What’s especially inspiring about this winning outcome is the fact that the school, Riccardo Quartararo, whose student won the creative contest, received a prize of 5000 Euros in support of structural improvements. The prize was consigned by Olympic Champion Domenico Fioravanti.
Top Italian swimmers, among which Alessia Filippi, Federica Pellegrini (latest testimonial of the FIAT 500!), Filippo Magnini and Massimiliano Rosolino, greeted DIVA, the new Mascotte, along with champions from the other water disciplines (synchronized swimming, diving, open water/distance swimming and water polo).
Official partners of Roma 2009 are, at present time:  ENEL, Intesa Sanpaolo and Omega.  Official sponsors currently include:  Aurora Assicurazioni and AVIS.
An Aquatic Festival of cultural events and performances developed around the water theme will take place during the 2009 competitions.
In numbers, Roma 2009 will present:

• 16 Days of Competition
• 5 Disciplines: swimming, open water swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming
• 170 Nations
• 2.500 Athletes
• 2.500 Volunteers
• 1.500 Officials
• 1.500 Journalists & Technicians

As an enthusiastic master swimmer and water lover I cheer at the idea of having the FINA 13th World Championships hosted on Italian soil.
As usual, with well-designed international sports events, there is a unique opportunity to open our borders to champions and representative of other nations and to celebrate records, achievements, discipline and perseverance, which go well beyond the confines of the pool, in a spirit of open friendship and fair play.

Lucia Panini

An Interview with Massimo Scognamiglio, CEO of D-Helix

Massimo Scognamiglio is the founder and CEO of D-Helix a new biotech company based in San Francisco with strong roots in Italy. Massimo is approaching business with an angle that is quite unusual in Italy: he is trying to combine the best academic resources with a solid business structure and plan. While Silicon Valley success is based on this kind of connection, in the Italian business landscape Massimo is still an exception. In order to learn more about Massimo's entrepreneurial adventure I invited him for an interview. Enjoy!

Massimo, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

In my opinion the most important part of life is curiosity. When it doesn't kill the cat. It is an extraordinary source of knowledge that you first learn as a little kid. And if you can retain that curiosity, it can become the most important source of knowledge. Obviously that's not enough - you also need to study and have some luck. My curiosity led me to try to understand the mechanism that governs the world around us. I guess "curiosity" it's part of my DNA. However, what explains my actions best is the concept of multitasking: my life is multitasking. Everybody knows that you have only one life that has to be shared with your friends, your love, your society and your professional life... so for this reason you can't sleep too much and you have to live your life to the fullest. And the most important part of that life is to maintain your integrity.
Talking about my company, it's difficult to start a biotech company, but it's possible if you can see the business opportunity. I have this opportunity and I turned it into reality, much the same way as my first venture. In 1996 I founded a multimedia company in Italy at a time when the market was not quite ready even for the concept of the internet. However, I was successful in convincing the market. It also gave me the opportunity to grow as entrepreneur. I understood that you have to risk your own money, your stable job, the most precious years of your life, and all your passion. In 2000 I sold my first company (xmedia) to the most important media group in Italy. Years later, here I am in California. D-Helix, my company, was incorporated in San Francisco in April, 2006: It is the project that builds the bridge between academic discoveries and the industry. You don't realize how many great discoveries never see daylight because they are hiding in the university. Our main business is to fill this gap by sponsoring early stage research in many biotech areas. Even thought the risk is greater, so is the payoff. At the same time, we think that we are on an important mission for society: transforming these groundbreaking technologies for the real world.

With your company you are building a business bridge between Italy and California. Can you explain the reason behind this choice?

Italy is so beautiful, the perfect place to live but it's not the right place to be an entrepreneur. California is the perfect place to start up a global company based on a global network between universities and research labs all around the world, between United States, Spain and Japan.

San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, and the Bay Area are becoming key places for the biotech industry. How favorable is the business environment in Italy for biotech startups?

As I said before, Italy, today, is not a simple place to work like entrepreneur, and the university research environment is even worst: we have some great university and great scientists but absolutely no entrepreneurial culture... for too many years (and probably also today) research has been considered a loss of money and not a gasoline for new companies and for the Country.

Starting up a company is a difficult job. Based on your experience what are the most common errors new entrepreneurs should avoid?

The one billion dollar question... the first answer that comes to mind is avoid arriving too soon: you risk being not understood, and you must have a "marketable idea." The second error is to choose bad associates: do not trust from the very beginning, build the trust day by day... You must remember that even the greatest idea needs a great team and great marketing to reach the market. For these reason I believe that D-Helix could be a winner: biotechnology is becoming mature, from the business and scientific side, and, at the same time, our associates are strongly committed to the company. When I present my company to an audience, I emphasize not only the business/scientific side but also my spirit, my vision, my very personal way of seeing the world, and my commitment.

You are a strong supporter of the connection between academia and business. How do you manage the bureaucracy of the Italian academia in a way that makes sense from the business point of view?

We are currently working in the United States. D-Helix is active in scouting, acquiring, developing, and commercializing groundbreaking intellectual property licensed from a number of universities and research institutes in particular areas of biotechnology (with current focus on environmental stress plant tolerance, biofuels, and antiviral treatment possibilities.) The company’s business model is represented by an independent innovative platform (made of a strong research world wide network of leading scientists with a deep pipeline of development), able to accelerate the research value creation time to market and reduce related direct costs. We will soon begin collaborating with some Italian universities, so wish us good luck! The bureaucracy is awful and it's still one of the most important difficulties when working with universities. You can't manage bureaucracy. If you are a very lucky boy, you can just survive bureaucracy!

Fundraising is one of the most critical steps for new entrepreneurs. Any recommendations?

A very good Business Plan, a short Time to Market, and a clear competitive advantage. Then great imagination and luck.

BAIA has plans to promote on Italian land the Silicon Valley open approach to business network. What will Italians have to change in order to fully benefit from those types of social relationships?

The network is the most important issue, more than the money. In Italy the network is always a closed network, you can't talk directly to anybody. The Californian way is the opposite: it's not a matter of friendship, it's just business.

I would like to thank Massimo Scognamiglio for taking the time to speak with me today. If you have any questions for Massimo or for BAIA, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Gino Ferretti, President of the University of Parma

Gino Ferretti is the President (Rettore) of the University of Parma (Università degli Studi di Parma) in Italy. Parma is a very interesting  city, not only for its incredible cultural and historical heritage, but also its gastronomic tradition which brought us such products as Parmigiano-Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma. Thanks to a flourishing and technologically advanced food industry, it has become known as the Food Valley, an obvious reference to the Silicon Valley. By many Italians the city is considered a live laboratory experimenting different combinations of tradition and innovation. From his position at the University of Parma, Gino Ferretti is the person that can marry the incredibly rich food traditions of Parma with the business opportunities and challenges created by the global market and economy. Having known Gino Ferretti for more than 15 years, I asked him to share his ideas on how to bridge the Silicon Valley business models with the Food Valley food traditions.

Professor Ferretti, can you tell us a bit about yourself and the University of Parma?

The origins of the University of Parma go back more than one thousand years. While the original constitutive document has been lost, we still have an ordinance of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I dating back to 964 AD authorizing the Bishop of Parma to institute a Law School. We have records of scholars active in the city in the following centuries, but it was only in 1406 that a document was drafted stating a "re-foundation" of the University as an institution independent from the local bishop.
Today 1,100 teachers and a total of 1,100 technicians and administrative employees work for the University of Parma. We have about 30,000 students spread over 12 Faculties: Law, Literature, Economy, Political Sciences, Psychology, Medicine, Pharmacology, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture, Science, Architecture, and Engineering.
According to our data, 48% of out students come from outside of the Emilia-Romagna region, while only 33% come from the city and province of Parma.
Answering the question about myself: I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bologna. In my career I taught at several universities including Bologna, Padova, Trento, and, for the last 20 years, Parma. I have been in charge of the Reggio-Emilia public transportation company as President for about 2 years. After holding the title of Director of the Department of Industrial Engineering for six years, I have been elected Dean of the Engineering Faculty for 2 years. I've been the President (Rettore) of the University of Parma since the 2000 and thanks to the favorable results of the recent elections, I will be in charge until 2011.

According to Ignazio Marino, President of the Italian Senate's Health Commission, Italy is second only to India in the phenomenon known as fuga di cervelli or “brain drain”. This suggests that while Italian universities produce competitive young researchers and engineers, the Italian business and economic environment does not attract them. What’s your opinion?

The quoted statement is absolutely correct. This is mostly the result of a political crisis that dates back to the seventies. The social and economic differences between the diverse parts of Italy and the enduring political and ideological conflicts make governing our country a very difficult task. The instability of the government creates a difficult situation for enterprises and entrepreneurs with the result of slowing down economic development. Despite these problems Italy's scientific production, when considering the funding and the resources available to researchers, is at a very high level. What has been missing is a strong and consistent commitment of the central administration that has instead favored other sectors pursuing an easier and faster popular consensus.

The region of Parma is known as the “Food Valley” (an obvious reference to the Silicon Valley). Which parts of the economic model of the Food Valley could be adopted here in the US, and which aspects of the Silicon Valley economic model would be beneficial in the Food Valley?

The province of Parma and its region have historically been among the wealthiest and more productive agricultural areas in Europe. This richness brought us high quality products, stimulated a flourishing local food industry, and therefore supports a network of companies producing machines and plants for food processing. We are talking about small and medium companies making high quality products, and structurally unable to compete at the price level. Their products, coming from the rich local tradition, have specific features that were intended for a market and consumers that don't exist anymore. The current effort is to evolve those products that were not designed for large distribution or for a global market, in order to adapt them to the new markets and to make them more competitive. We are working on technologies, packaging, logistics, and branding. For these reasons our local business model is significantly different from the one used in Silicon Valley. We share the need for continuous innovation in order to sustain our economic growth.

Market globalization is a huge opportunity for Parma to expand its economy on a planetary scale. What is the role of the University of Parma in this new scenario?

I believe that global competition forces the scientific research, the scientific institutions, and our "capability to innovate" into a central and strategic position. Therefore the University has an important role to play, both indirectly preparing people and directly collaborating with enterprises. For this reason we are currently working on a new scientific park to host spin-offs from the academia and research labs shared with outside business enterprises.

In 2004 Parma was appointed the seat of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). What is the University's relationship with the EFSA?

EFSA is an institution that works in the same way as a scientific institution. We have a contact group and together we organize conferences and seminars. Several of our labs at the University have been accredited to provide consultancies and support for the EFSA. We are creating with them a Media Center for scientific communication. We have also to consider that EFSA hasn't yet fully deployed all of its activities in Parma.

In recent years the University of Parma started programs to foster spin-offs and new businesses. What has been your experience so far, and what are your expectations for the future?

The Italian academic world is not yet used to mapping its knowledge into business opportunities, though the situation is quickly changing. Some of our most recent spin-offs are achieving great results as businesses and we are determined, as a University, to further develop this approach in the coming years.

Thanks to the Internet, several Italian entrepreneurs in California are starting to look at Italy as a viable source of a highly qualified and relatively inexpensive work force. How can an association like BAIA be more effective in establishing these kinds of reciprocally beneficial connections?

I don't know your association and the way you work well enough to give you a specific answer. The best way to start a collaboration could be to jointly approach a specific problem from the legal and technical point of view. For example, I see opportunities to work together on topics such as the legal aspects of the import/export of food products in Italy and California. The reference person for those topics is Barbara Panciroli (barbara.panciroli1@unipr.it), from our Technology Transfer Center.

I would like to thank Gino Ferretti for taking the time to speak with me today. If you have any questions for Prof. Ferretti or for BAIA, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

The New FIAT 500 is Here!

Torino and Italy will be celebrating a festive, special 4th of July this year, in a unique coincidence with the American celebration of Independence.

Torino – capital of Italy when the country was unified in 1861, and home of the 2006 Winter Olympics – is known around the world mostly for its automobile tradition, heralded by FIAT.

This 4th of July, the new FIAT 500 will debut, on the 50th anniversary of the launch of its first predecessor.

Torino and several other cities around the country will make their historically-charged piazzas  center stage for the FIAT 500, while supporting a very important charitable initiative:  “Un nido per Pollicino, aiutiamo i piu’ piccoli a diventare grandi”, a fund raising campaign in support of premature babies.

The highlight of the event is expected to be a show by the PO river, on the night of July 4th in Torino, presented by K-events/FilmMaster Group, directed by Marco Balich, the most famous Italian Creative Producer, whose works include the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Olympics.

Starting at 10 PM Italian time (1PM PST), the show will be available in streaming video at:  www.fiat500.com

Lucia Panini

An Interview with Mauro Lupi, CEO of Ad Maiora

Mauro Lupi is the president and CEO of Ad Maiora, an Italian Internet marketing agency. His blog is one of the top 20 Italian blogs. Mauro doesn't need any additional introduction to BAIA members; he was a panelist for a BAIA event held here in San Francisco last February about Blogs and Marketing (check the videos). In my daily excursions to Mauro's blog I always find it to be a place where people can exchange opinions in a respectful yet profound way. I asked Mauro for this interview with the hidden agenda of capturing his secret for a successful blog. Read the interview to find out what I was able to discover.

Mauro, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?
My last 12 years are devoted to internet business, mostly of them through Ad Maiora, an agency based in Rome with offices on Milan and San Francisco, that I founded in 1997. My past experiences was in marketing and advertising in financial sector, then computer and telco industries. Ad Maiora is specialized in online marketing services, search marketing and business blogging services and consulting.

You are one of the most popular bloggers in Italy . You managed to get there without screaming or attacking anybody. I can see a bit of your style in your blogʼs comments. Which other features of your personality do you recognize in your readers?
I think that the blog owners is the first influencer on comments quality. It's like when you invite someone in your house: if your guest find an ordered environment, probably he will asks where hang his coat; instead, if he sees confusion everywhere, he will leave his coat in any place. If you scream, everyone will do the same.
Other important element it's the relation with other companies in the same marketplace, expecially with competitors. A fair approach, talking about them when it's opportune with links to their sites, receive trust and normally it's reciprocal.

You wrote more than once about the importance of managing your own time. A blog, if not well managed, can absorb quite a lot of personal time. Do you have any specific advice for bloggers?
First, look to any of current content material you produce now: sometimes there are many stuffs that should be used as blog content, and it means less time to produce them.
In any case, consider blogs like one of other communication channels where the time and budget reserved to them should based on ROI evaluation.

Many SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts claims that what is good for your website Google ranking is always good for your visitors. Is this statement always valid? How can technologies such as Ajax and search-engines interact effectively?
I'm not fully in line with this assumption. Some technologies like Flash or Ajax, could be coherent with the website strategies and so used even if they create problems on search engines ranking. My point of view it's that there isn't a single "best way" to create a website, because the users preferences are different too. Some likes emotional communication, others need concise information; some use to visit home pages, others prefers to subscribe RSS or email newsletter.
Search engines are a kind of "special user": they like many text, focused on specific topics, well inter-linked on the web site and updated incrementally frequently. Then they like incoming links. So, there isn't a secret recipe: it's opportune to start with users in mind and then see if the contents produced match the search engines principles. If not, should be necessary to produce other optimized contents.

As the CEO of an Italian company, Ad Maiora, do you perceive the language barrier (English-Italian) more as a protection for your domestic market or as an obstacle for global growth?
Both. But considering that the globalization is an on-going process in every business sector, I think that the language barriers will be continuously reduced year after year. At the same time, I feel that together with language it's the culture the real key point that creates distances through markets. "Culture" both in the way to conduct business and also regarding the experience in international relations. What I see it's that for countries like Italy, the difficult it's to scale a project when it was thinked for local market originally. I believed that you could deliver a project to a global market only if you start it with a global approach from the beginning.

Your blog seems to be shy in promoting your company: there is no logo, no prominent links. How separate are the two entities: the blog and the company? Can you also tell us about the exchange of ideas, connections, experiences between Mauro the CEO and Mauro the blogger?
I write about what I have in mind and what I do regarding my work, so I write about my job and my company continuously even if it's not specified directly. For example, when I write about a conference where I talk, the non-written words are that my company and myself have gained the authority to participate to the event. And when I share my visions, in fact I talked about the vision of my company and the knowledge inside it. Call that "information marketing" if you want; the fact it's that companies likes to find some expert that demonstrate time after time their knowledge, their visions, outside the standard marketing (read "advertising") ways. The blog it's a simple ways to demonstrate it; of course you must have some interesting to say!

I would like to thank Mauro Lupi for taking the time to speak with me today. If you have any questions for Mauro or for BAIA, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Marco Palombi, Italian Entrepreneur

Marco Palombi is a special Italian entrepreneur and blogger. After starting a very successful company (Tipic, Inc.), he wants to share his experience helping Italy and Italians to be more competitive and to develop a stronger entrepreneurial attitude. To me this sounds like a perfect match with the BAIA mission. Even if the Silicon Valley business model can't be implemented in Italy, as Marco made clear, he still looks at California as a reference and inspirational model. It's time to get Marco's first hand opinion on these topics. Here is the interview.

Marco, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?
I consider myself a serial entrepreneur. I sold the latest company I founded 6 months ago and now I am helping with its integration; meanwhile I am trying to figure out what the next big thing is.
When I sold it, Tipic Inc. had developed Splinder.com into the largest community and blogging site in Italy with 5.5 Million unique users per month. I sold it to Dada SpA, which is part of the Rizzoli Corriere della Sera Media Group.
Tipic Inc. is a very advanced technology company too; we developed the first Jabber Instant Messaging Server for Windows in 2002, the first mobile Jabber client for J2ME, etc. I was a Member of the Board of Directors of the Jabber Software Foundation in 2002/2003. I have a blog, and you can find more info about me there.

There is a lot talk in Italy about importing the Silicon Valley business model to foster the growth of new companies. What is missing in Italy that could prevent the successful replication of this model there?
Importing the Silicon Valley business model as a whole is not possible because there are too many things that are missing, not only in Italy, but in Europe in general. The most important missing piece of the puzzle is a market for products and services offered by start-up companies.
Let me explain this in detail because I have been through this for the past 10 years and have developed a good understanding of the situation. When you start a technology company -- once you assemble the team, create the product, and finance the company -- you must start selling the product or offering the service. That's where Italy and Europe have a lot of catch-up to do with Silicon Valley; large and medium Italian companies do not invest in products or services created by start-ups, because they are not in a competitive market and are not forced to experiment with new technology. An Italian start-up with the best product would probably start selling it in its home market 3 to 5 years after a US start-up with an equivalent product.
Finding money and bright people is possible in Italy; finding a market for a technology company is very hard on the other hand. Our hope is to do what Swedish or Israeli companies do: develop the product at home and sell it in the US first. That's what we did with the Instant Messaging products we developed in Naples, Italy. Our first customers were NASA, the US Army, and many other medium and large US companies. The first Italian company to buy our wares was Tiscali, 3 years after we had sold the first server to a US company.

Business social networking, both online and in person, seems to be one of the key components of Silicon Valley success.  Regarding the building and maintaining of business relationships, what is better to handle online and what in person?
Nowadays I do not see any difference between online and offline any more. I have a blog, and use it instead of a business card, or together with it. You meet someone in person, chat a bit and then refer him to your blog. On the Internet you can search for people, starting from what they do, something which was impossible before. Some of the people that worked for Tipic Inc. had never met in person, although they actually worked online together everyday.
That being said, you still need to meet in person for casual conversations. That's when unexpected opportunities arise!

Can you describe a little about your First Generation Network initiative you’re setting up with Michele Appendino? What are the current and long term goals for this program?
Italy's economy has not grown much in the past 20 years. We think that that is due, among other things, to the lack of innovative first generation entrepreneurs.
The current goal of the First Generation Network is to show that Italy has some valid first generation entrepreneurs; these entrepreneurs can be role models for a new wave of young entrepreneurs. We started by interviewing some first generation entrepreneurs, and posting the video online.
The most common misconception in Italy is that for you to be an entrepreneur your dad must be one. This feeling is so ingrained that *real* entrepreneurs seem to be only the second generation ones.
The long term goal is to create a Network of Entrepreneurs and Friends of the Network that can spark an ecosystem where it is easier than it is now to start and grow your own company.

Young entrepreneurs can be concerned about sharing their ideas and experiences with others. How can we motivate them to share their experiences and benefit from others’ experiences?
We must create a win-win situation where young entrepreneurs participate because that gives them access to knowledge, resources, visibility and people (Friends of the Network); we ask them to contribute to the Network by sharing some of their knowledge.

You are a popular blogger and Splinder, your previous company, is about blogs. In a world where almost everybody connected to the Internet seems to have a blog, having great content is not enough to be noticed anymore. How can an individual or a business attract readers to their blog in such a crowded environment?
I would say that the rules have not changed. Having great content is still very important. What has changed is the fact that we hear many more voices today, now that anyone can have a blog.
Thanks to the Internet, we do not live into a broadcast world anymore; now you can interact and communicate directly with your friends and partners; and you must nurture and build your own networks everyday.

A few years ago, when I moved to California, I noticed and learned to appreciate one great feature of the local business environment: professional roles are well-defined and each person is responsible for his part. For example, an investor is responsible for choosing the manager but after that should not interfere with the management of the company. My Italian experience was quite different.  Do you see this situation changing in Italy with the appearance of a new generation of entrepreneurs?
Yes, I see a change mostly when you interact with people that have studied or had a significant work experience in the UK or the US. Changing the culture is the most difficult thing to do.  We think that a good way to start is showing positive role models.
The problem and opportunity in Italy (and Europe) is that ideologies are waning and there are no clear role models anymore. We think that ethical, responsible, innovative, first generation entrepreneurs can be a model for the new generations in a fast evolving society.

What can a business association like BAIA do to help young Italian entrepreneurs succeed?
Well it can do very much. When I founded my latest company, I had no idea how to start a company in the US, how to contact possible buyers of the technology; had to work hard to find partners who could help me with communicating what I was doing (from Italy) in Silicon Valley.
An association like BAIA can provide all the above and much more. It is important for Italian entrepreneurs to know that they can talk to someone who understands them, yet someone who is fully integrated in the Valley.
Thanks to the Internet, there are a lot of new opportunities for entrepreneurs (and a lot of competition too). BAIA can provide competitive advantages to Italian companies wanting to expand into the Valley.

I would like to thank Marco Palombi for taking the time to speak with me today. If you have any questions for Marco or for BAIA, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

The picture is a Photoshop elaboration based on an original by Shel Israel.