2011 here we come!

Wow.

It's been a busy year, to say the least...

Here are a few numbers that summarize our 2010:

• 22 events part of the MTB Italy Tour
• 9356 members registered community members
• 1473 members of our Facebook group (in 6 months)
• 35 startups mentored during our bootcamp, 7 attended the US roadshow, 3 startups moved to San Francisco in our GYM incubator
• of our alumni, one got acquired (Neptuny), two received more funding (Spreaker, Adant) and a good number of them are experiencing significant commercial development
• 354 people attended our Venture Camp event, with 12794 live streams (32% from outside Italy) up 64% from an already memorable 2009 event
• our YouTube channel has been in the top 20 most viewed channels worldwide (in education)

Reflecting back, Italy is a different country from what it was just a year ago.
The world of startups has finally gone mainstream. Blogs, events, business plan competitions are building a lively community now eager to start hatching some success stories.
The activities bridging Italy and Silicon Valley are being developed at such a fast pace that it is difficult to keep track. Try to align them to make the best out of their own competences will be one our common goals ahead.

Last but not least, my last thought goes to all the people that made this possible: our board of directors, our newly created board of advisors and in particular to our growing team of volunteers. They embody the whole spirit of our initiative.

Thank you all. Have a memorable 2011!!!

New Advisory Board @ MTB

While our 2010 activities are winding down and our board of directors is reflecting back on the successes and challenges ahead, we are getting fit for a memorable 2011.

To that extent, I’m very pleased to announce the set up of a new, outstanding advisory board.


Fabrizio Capobianco, old friend of MTB (and mine), already board member in 2009 and coordinator of our selection committee since 2009, mentor of several MTB startups, and main (and only) organizer of the Capo-startup-baseball night.

Professor Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli, an icon of the Silicon Valley Italian community... and any other community that values entrepreneurship! He's been a strong supporter of MTB since its inception. He attended every Venture Camp event we organized since our beginnings and inspired hundreds of young entrepreneurs. His performance with Severgnini in 2009 made history.

Lesa Mitchell, COO of the Kauffman Foundation, the world most relevant entity supporting entrepreneurship. Since our first conversation, not too long ago, Lesa demonstrated her personal strong interest in supporting our bridge, re-instated with her visit to our incubator @ Pier 38 a few weeks after my first visit at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas city.

The support of such exceptional professionals in the entrepreneurship world is a testament of the high-quality work that our foundation has demonstrated since its inception in 2007.

I'm personally honored to have them on board.

If we needed to be re-energized for a new year full of activities, could we have asked for more???