Lost in translation

Charles Versaggi is an interesting man. He's charming, he knows a thing or two about communications and he has a good sense of humor. That whole mix made him the perfect director for our first bootcamp.

And so it was, as I'm learning from the participants feedback. Alas, I couldn't make it to Varese. However, he shared a note with me today that gave me the whole picture of what I missed.

This goes under the category of Italians meet Americans, and vice-versa.
I thought I'd share it with you all.
Here it comes:

"Marco, I thought I'd share a couple of funny moments from the bootcamp.

One of the business plan presentations concerned a web-based business to help people with common sports interests find each other online.

The first slide of his B-plan presentation: "Stop Playing With Yourself!"

The class roared. The class roared again after I said, "Well, there's really no reason why you shouldn't play with yourself. But that's really your business."

It's amazing what a well placed preposition can do for communication.

Another one that got a few laughs. One of the life science participants presented his business plan for a new type of implantable bladder sphincter. His first slide showed a picture of the male anatomy with the sphincter apparatus placed strategically around a massive disproportionately large penis that hung down to the bottom of the slide. The apparatus looked more like a device to treat erectile dysfunction. I swear he got this image from a porn site (now, of course, you're wondering how I knew that...).

There were a few blushed faces on the women in the classroom, although they didn't seem too shocked. You got to love Europeans when it comes to celebrating the human anatomy."

Right Charles, you gotta love "Europeans"...

Startups admitted to 2010 MTB Venture Camp

After collecting the feedback from all the Instructors @ MtB Boot Camp in Varese, our selection committee has finally completed its effort. Below you can find the list of the 15 startups admitted to pitch at the Venture Camp event in November (Milan @ Corriere della Sera). The final ranking merges the original evaluation from the desk analysis and the qualitative analisys we performed during the 3-day Boot Camp.

Congratulation to the winners but also to those that did not make it: tune your business plan and do not give up! That's why we decided to open the Coaching session in Pavia also to the remaining 17 startups. We are confident that they can be the next protagonists!
STARTUPS ADMITTED TO 2010 MIND THE BRIDGE VENTURE CAMP

> ADMOBSPHERE
> eRALOS3
> FUBLES
> GET CONNECTED MOPAPP
> INTERVIEWEB
> ISN VIRTUAL WORLDS
> KONKURI
> MINTEOS
> PORCO VINO
> RADIO TOUCH
> ReMEMBRANE
> SMANIA
> UNPLUGGED
> WE SPORT
> XAPIO

Stay connected for more details and ... see you in October in Pavia and in November in Milan!

Genefinity: the value of academic research

Today we are proud to introduce our new friend, Stefano Maggiolino, that has recently joined us at Pier 38. Stefano is the co-funder of Genefinity, a spin-off from the University of Trieste. The idea of Genefinity was born in 2005 with the intention of valuing the research developed within the University Labs and using that for business purposes. At that time, the team was composed by Nicola Scuor, Francesca Antoniolli, Stefano Visintin, Vanni Lughi, Luigi Marras, Paolo Gallina and of course Stefano Maggiolino. It was only in 2006, after having won numerous prizes (Start cup, PNI, European Young Entrepreuneurs Adward), that Genefinity was incorporated and became a separate entity. Among the shareholders that joint their vision there were the University of Trieste, DGR consulting and the Local Holding Company, Friulia Spa.

Genefinity has developed an innovative and cost efficient process named GHOST (Genefinity Hi-resolution One Step Transfer) that consists in the deposit of thin films within specific patterns on flexible superficies.

The GHOST process can be applied to the manufacture of numerous products like diagnostic test strips, printed electronics devices (smart card, RFID antennas) and other industrial tools (temperature and pressure sensors).

The target market is mainly composed by companies that are headquartered in Silicon Valley and California, that’s why Stefano Maggiolino came to San Francisco: “we want to meet them, learn from their experience and eventually find out if we can make synergies with them. Here in the Bay Area we have a plethora of potential customers: Abbott Diabetes Care is based in Alameda; LifeScan, owned by J&J Group, is based in Milpitas; Intuity Medical is based in Sunnyvale; other diabetes care leaders are headquartered in US or have North America headquarters: Roche, Bayer, Niprodiagnostic, Nova Biomedical. I can continue the list with numerous potential commercial partners (Parlex, Flextronics, …).”

Stefano looks really committed on his project and want to fully invest his time in the Gym. “My agenda is crowded. Our intention is also to raise capital for investment purposes. We intend to expand our business to the US, but, to do this, we need to build a plant that serves the local market and use the GHOST technology.

Genefinity is an example of how to profit from the research and use it as a competitive advantage. Being a P.h.D graduated student doesn’t necessarily means to spend the entire life in a dark and isolated lab. “We have many ideas: the MAXUN project (an innovative photovoltaic panel), for example, is one of them and we hope that in the next future these ideas will turn in a company like Genefinity", a brave start up that employs 12 brilliant recently graduated engineers.

Selection is completed. And the winners are ...

After spending a full month working on it, our Selection Committee coordinated by Fabrizio Capobianco has finally completed its job. Selecting the best business plans has been quite a challenge, because the number and quality of the proposals we received.
In our selection process we focused on quality, with a particular attention on diversity, including subject matter, geography and gender. We decided to merge the Business Plan Competion and Call for Ideas into a single ranking.
Below, you find the list of the startups admitted to the Mind the Bridge BootCamp (in Varese, from September 23rd through September 25th). It is a 30+ list. During the Bootcamp we will extract the short list of the 15 semi-finalists presenting @ Corriere della Sera in Milan in November.
Congratulations to the selected startups and also to those that did not make it: tune your business plan and do not give up!

> ADMOBSPHERE
> ASV
> BIOPAN
> CITY TOURING
> eRALOS3
> FUBLES
> GANTOR
> GET CONNECTED MOPAPP
> HAPPY MINUTE
> INTERVIEWEB
> ISN VIRTUAL WORLDS
> KONKURI
> MAKOO
> MINTEOS
> NETHICAL
> OKOBICI
> ORANGE CLOUD
> PARKVICE
> PHILANTHROBUSINESS
> PORCO VINO
> RADIO TOUCH
> ReMEMBRANE
> REPUTAG
> SECURO
> SMANIA
> TEAM
> TODAY EXTREME DISCOUNTS
> TZENTE
> UMBRA MED
> UNPLUGGED
> VIDEO PAY ME
> WE SPORT
> XAPIO



The selected startups are admitted - free of charge - to our Bootcamp (that will be held in Varese on Sep 23-25) and to the Coaching session (that is scheduled in Pavia on Oct 14-16). During these two events we provide the startups with tailored training and mentoring and select the 15 semi-finalists to be admitted to pitch at the Venture Camp in November (on Nov 5-6 @ Corriere della Sera in Milan).
More information by email and on our website. See you in Varese!

Introducing HyperFair: Trade fairs get virtual

Even if many of you have already heard about them, today we would like to officially introduce HyperFair, the new stat up that is taking part to the 2010 Gym Program at Pier 38.

HyperFair, thanks to a proprietary web-based 3D platform, revolutionizes the way of making trade fairs, organizing and managing turnkey virtual exhibitions on the web. HyperFair reproduces the trade fair environment just as we all know it: pavilions, booths, workshops and conferences. Inside the virtual fair real people in real time are moving around, interacting through their avatar and communicating via chat and video call. Exhibitors can choose their stand and customize it adding 3D products, brochures, video and any interactive content. Visitors can exchange information, view the products and download documents from the comfort and convenience of their home or office.

HyperFair (www.hyperfair.com) was founded in December 2009 by Marco Campanari (CEO) and Massimiliano Bonfanti (executive VP). The Company holds a qualified technological partnership with the Politecnico of Milan University, and is being hosted by the University incubator managed by the "Politecnico of Milan” Foundation. The operations in the U.S. are carried out by Andrea Ballarini (COO) who is also leading the strategies of the Company.

HyperFair has completed the development of the technology and in November will show up to the market during the Virtual Transpotec. Next appointment will be in December during the Hip Expo, the first online fair dedicated to halal food products. (www.hyperfair.com/eng/eventi/eventi.html).

We asked Marco how the project started and which are their plans for the future. That’s what he answered: “We officially started up HyperFair in Italy on December 2009, but we have been working on it since the beginning of 2009. Massimiliano and I were looking for a new technology that could significantly impact the business community and we came up with this ground-breaking idea by developing our own innovative technology. We thought to a virtual world focused on business applications where people could interact and do business together as well as socialize and improve their network; everything without moving from the office.

Our product was meant to be at the same time fully 3D-immersive, strongly multimedia oriented, and cool. We first made a technical JV with the Politecnico di Milano-Metid Center and after we entered into Politecnico incubator. The reason why we are at Pier38 with Mind The Bridge is that we want to think global: we'll soon relocate HyperFair headquarters in San Francisco, keeping the technical development in Italy. Our mission? To grow as much as possible, as quickly as possible. To this extent, no other place in the world is better than the Silicon Valley.