Mind the Bridge

Massimo Arrigoni joins MTB board

2012-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to report that Massimo Arrigoni (AKA SuperMassi) has joined the MTB Board of Directors.

An entrepreneur at heart, already sitting on the board of BAIA (Business Association Italy America) and now leading the development of MailUp in the US, Massimo is an outstanding addition to the MTB team.

As his nickname suggests, Massi tends to over deliver in everything he does. One example for all: with 4 children under his belt (figuratively speaking), Massi is still the record holder among the (un)famous group of Italian fathers in the Bay Area.

See here for his full (real) bio.

With a 2012 full of exciting new developments ahead of us, I am thrilled to be able to count on the support of a professional and a friend of the caliber of Massi.

Welcome SuperMassi!

We Love OpenHouses!

2012-01-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

2011 has definitely been a great year for networking events. With more than 10 openhouse parties, +40 startups have presented their ideas in front of more than 450 people. The perfect occasion for sharing their projects, improving their presentation skills and getting feedbacks. Andrea from Hyperfair, Francesco from Spreaker, Antonio from Beintoo, Lorenzo from Treedom and Elisabetta from Quipu have been among the first to participate, followed then by many others.

Since its start, Openhouse has been a periodic event for startups and our community.

Here a quick 2011's rewind:

Since June, our friends from Istituto de Impresa came twice to visit us during their Silicon Valley Study tour trip. The first time at the beginning of summer and then again last november during the One Market Opening Party organized with SOMAcentral. A great event where we had the pleasure to take part in a firechat with Pierluigi Zappacosta (Founder & exCEO of Logitech, today Venture Partner @ Noventi VC).

If you missed it, here below some highlights:

In July we hosted an outstanding presentation from Fadi Bishara, about "The Startup Genome Project and the Marmer Stages". A group of senior managers visiting the Silicon Valley with the American Chamber of Commerce and some folks from Google Italy also came to enjoy the party.

Below a recap of the event:

In August (after the visit from Le Iene) also RAI TV joined us to record our August Openhouse , interviewing participants and shooting some footage. During this event, we had an inspiring guest speaker: Hartmut Esslinger - Industrial Designer and Inventor and Founder of Frog Design.

We 're pretty sure that all the attendees still remember his presentation "Managing Creativity in Business - Right vs. Left Brain -The ultimate challenge of young entrepreneurs".

If you weren't amongst the lucky ones who were be there you can either have a look of this presentation or watch the following video:

Here you can also find the video that RAI has released.

Again in August, our friends from Silicon Valley Study Tour came to visit Pier 38. Students from Startup School had their great occasion to present their projects.

In September during our "changing time" we had the last, well deserved Goodbye Party in Pier 38, the historical, vibrant icon for startups. Loris Degioanni, founder of Cacetech (acquired by Riverbed) had his introduction speech and we also hosted a photography exhibition from ArtForLove.

Here's Loris' speech:

Last but not the least, in October in the occasion of our move to our new location at One market plaza, we hosted a group of Executives from the industrial associations Confindustria Venezia and Padova. Below are pics taken by our great friend and photographer Paolo Bonaccorsi from B-Crome during the event.

Finally this Friday, January 13th we are hosting our first Openhouse of 2012. A group of Italian entrepreneurs from A.SVI.COM will join us for another great networking opportunity.

We are planning many other events throughout 2012. So.. stay tuned and be ready to meet and mingle with us!

Startup School 2012, a New Adventure Awaits

2012-01-03T22:02:00.001-08:00

After the success of the previous editions, Mind the Bridge is now receiving applications for the 2012 Startup School, which will take place in San Francisco from March 5th to March 23rd.

Having a precise business idea is not a requirement; all you need is a strong desire to create a technology startup company and a good English proficiency. The deadline is January 31, 2012.

The startup school program includes theoretic learning lessons taught by Silicon Valley personalities on the typical aspects a startup needs to take into account to scale its business.

Don’t worry, you won’t spend all your day taking notes. Our program also includes a practical learning workshop with team work, visits to Silicon Valley high tech companies, incubators and Universities. A full immersion in the life of a startup.

To learn more about the program, take a look at the Curriculum. And if you’re curious to know what our alumni have experienced, browse through our previous editions.

HOW TO APPLY

Send an email to startupschool@mindthebridge.org with your CV and business idea (optional) attached. A good level of English proficiency is required. After completing the application, you will be invited to take an English Test which is one of our main criteria for evaluating applicants.

COST

The tuition cost is $1,800. If you are under 30, Mind the Bridge Foundation could support up to 40% of the tuition cost, based on merit. The cost is not refundable and it doesn't include transportation and accommodation.

ACCOMMODATION

Mind the Bridge offers the availability of shared corporate apartments starting at $1,800 per month per person. Living with your peers is an important component of the school.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Apply by January 31, 2012. Limited availability.

The program will be only activated with a minimum number of 12 students.

Here you can find more information about the program.

Highlights from 2011

The best of 2011

2011-12-29T16:42:00.000-08:00

Stating that it's been a busy year is just an understatement.

We started the year incubating 12 startups, in addition to our long term guests at the gym.

The Italian Innovation day at Stanford and then in New York were stunning successes, where our startups showed to the world to be ready for the premier league.

At least, that's what the world top VCs who judged our finalists told us (and that was pre-drinks, so we can assume they really think so).

We had a busy spring in Italy, with multiple events around the country as part of our usual MTB Italy Tour. 500+ people attended those events, dozen of startups had the opportunity to present and build their muscles.

In the meantime, the activities at the Gym got more and more dense. We hosted countless open-houses and demo days, often matched with large groups visiting from Italy (plenty!).

Among the several interesting friends we hosted Le Iene, RAI TV, Helmut Esslinger (Frog Design), Pierluigi Zappacosta (Logitech), Nerio Alessandri (Technogym) and many more.

Moreover, we launched our first Startup School: with the support of Wired, we run four 3-week sessions which got fully booked with 30+ participants.

In the midst of all this activity, we also moved our HQ from Pier 38 to the One Market landmark in San Francisco.

To top all off, November was Venture Camp month, with hundreds of participants, a memorable night with Le Iene and thousands of followers (we crossed the 3000 on FB).

What a year folks! The video says it all. As Simona, who made the video on Xmas eve, while cooking, puts it: "while putting together all those memorable moments, I re-lived the emotions and the fun while working with such a unique bunch. It's heaven."

That's exactly how I feel.

Have a memorable 2012.

Personally, I can't wait.

Stereomood wins Premio RCS 2011

2011-12-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Stereomood is the winner of the RCS Prize for 2011 as the most innovative startup in Digital Publishing.

As the name implies, Stereomood thrives to re-organize the way we approach, listen and discover music based not on a singer or playlist (still an extension of singers) but rather on your mood.

Feeling Christmas-y these days? Here's the right music for you!

Do you want to transmit a good karma? Here's the music that will fit you like a glove!

I personally tried the "making love" list. It didn't quite got me what I was hoping for. However it did get me pretty relaxed (and with a good karma too).

How do they do that? Their juice is their proprietary algorithm for music taxonomy: stereorank (kind of resembles the famous "pagerank" algorithm, that made Google Google - good karma?) collects tags from music blogs, crowdsource and music habits of listeners.

They are breaking the usual paradigm of listening to music (I listen what I like), and rather create an interesting alternative to discover new music, not the big hits, based on the atmosphere I'm trying to generate.

Something that theme parks or shopping malls have known for quite some time.

Love or not love, I can see why they have over 1M visitors/month with an amazing 75% of returning users. It's fun!

Monetizing their traffic won't be a walk in the park, but they are not alone in that struggle (ask Pandora, LastFM, Spotify and the likes).

And that's what they'll be working on in their 3 months incubation at the MTB GYM.

We'd better start working on the "traveling to San Francisco" music tagging...

Vinswer wins Premio Marzotto - MTB

2011-11-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

Vinswer rules.
Last night in Vicenza, the Associazione Progetto Marzotto in collaboration with MTB, proclaimed Vinswer as the winner of the Gaetano Marzotto prize (hi-tech / international).

Vinswer provides a marketplace where professionals can sell their by-the-minute service to a relevant community.

Where's the beauty of it? Publishers can embed the service for free in minutes.

Think at an Adsense where, instead of text ads, publishers can earn significant revenue from B2C transactions... and with a better rev share plan.

The market can be enormous, the size of the infinite professional services that human beings can sell online.

Could be professional services by the minute (lawyers , designers, architects) but also, more importantly, regular folks with an interest and a talent, that can earn a few bucks in their spare time. How many Americans would love to learn Italian from a mother tongue on line or would appreciate some suggestions on how to furnish their home with taste from an Italian "interior designer"? How about cooking class?

Vinswer provides a community and a tachymeter (video, mobile or whatever).

Examples? Here's an initial implementation within the Bakeca website.

Congrats to the co-founders of Vinswer.

We'll be providing 4 months of full incubation, here at the Gym.

Get your ticket ready, we can't wait to see you in the Bay area ;-)

The finalists for the 2011 BPC are...

2011-11-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

Arkimedia (I Like TV)
D-Orbit
NextStyler
Stereomood
Timbuktu
Vinswer
Vivocha

Not much more to add, folks, it's all in the usual under-the-bridge video.
Representing ahigh diversity of Italian Innovation, played an important role in the decision.

What's next? The month of February will be incubation time, at our GYM in San Francisco.
We'll top it off with a Demo Day for investors.

Given the substantial improvement of the quality of the presenting startups, chances are that, down the line, there will be opportunities for some of the other semi-finalists.

Just a few days, and you'll hear about the winners of the 2011 Prizes.
Stay tuned. Same channels.

Venture Camp 2011: here's what happened

2011-11-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

33 speakers, 15 startups, 375 participants, #MTBVentureCamp the top discussion topic in Italy on Twitter, just to name a few numbers.

Part of the discussions we had, ended up on the Italian Government official website. Santoro has been chasing us and our speakers every since. The real "Iene" wanted to exchange T-shirts, like you do at the end of the worldcup (expect that we run out of ours).

Established entrepreneurs who attended the events are saying our startups are officially ready to play the major league, meaning Silicon Valley (Massimo Sgrelli: "Startup italiane pronte per la Serie A")

Even more established industrialists, at the very end, communicating they want to invest heavily and directly in the Mind the Bridge Foundation (Gaetano Marzotto: min. -38)

But what happened really?? It's all kind of blurred now. I remember showing up with Iene-like sunglasses, talking with Rampagna (RCS) about the role of larger companies in Italy (to acquire startups!), with Villanueva (McKinsey) of the role of governments in promoting Startup Chile-like programs, with Earner (VC) about the chances of Italy to survive at the current pace of innovation production, while discussing the always spicy assessments of my good friend Vivek Wadhwa (Washington post, Techcrunch, etc)

I then remember Loris Degioanni and Bonzio talk about the role of role-models and father figures in one's success ("Chi vola vale, chi vale vola, chi non vola non vale (ed e' un vile)")

Bassetti, Marzotto and Beretta (that is, the best of Italian brands in the world!) kind of looking back and see how to leave a significant imprint for younger generation of entrepreneurs.

And then Vito Lomele (Jobrapido, $20M+ revenues in less than 5 years), Mario Mariani (ex Tiscali), Leandro Agro' and Gabriele Gresta (Bibop) proud representatives of a new Italy that is making waves, against all odds!

And then Nick Heller (Google) describing Google's new efforts in the "startup-incubation'

space (new incubator in London, support for similar programs in Israel and South Africa), Gesess and Baldini about their recently launched new funds.

And then Byers (Stanford) and de L'Etraz (IE) addressing the key questions entrepreneurs should answer.

And how to forget a highly inspired and always funny, Lady Innova, bringing the wisdom of the crowds (=Twitter and Facebook) in the room with the speakers.

And the evening event? Playing Light Painting with Claudio Bonoldi (boy, is that difficult!), listing to the live music of the Trio Fabio Mariani and... being totally disrupted by the Il Moralizzatore from the IENE... all flown in from Rome to attend our evening event.

Was it all real??

Did you miss it? Really??? Listen up. This is your last chance: in a few days you'll be able to see all the videos from our YT Channel.

PS the awesome pics are by Paolo Bonnacorsi, photographer (Paolo, you rock!)

The new MTB GYM @ One Market is open for business

2011-10-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

It's been barely 3 weeks. And yet, it seems like a new era had started.
It seems like yesterday that we had to move from our beloved pirate cove, Pier38.
In the typical Silicon Valley way, where everything is dynamic and accelerated, so was our move.
And exactly on Oct 3rd, together with most of the Pier38 Startups, we moved.
Where?
It's arguably the most iconic business building in San Francisco, also known as "The Landmark", home of dozen among the most successful companies in the Bay Area (Salesforce.com and Autodesk, just to mention a couple).
One Market is the dream location for any company, a stone throw from the Ferry Building, a stunning view of the bay, and the most desirable location for public transportation, restaurants or a relaxing walk along the Embarcadero.

We occupy the entire fifth floor of the Steuart Tower, on the South-East corner of the One Market Plaza complex.
I kid you not. This is not the usual bare-bone space you are used to associate with the scrappy startup world. This is a full blown, top corporate space. How on earth can startups afford such a space? As they say here: "don't ask, don't tell" ;-)
There is still plenty of space available (30K sqf total), but things are coming together pretty quickly, including the famous common area that has been transported entirely from Pier 38.
As far as we are concerned, we took a spacious wing of the floor, filled natural light, where we can run our loud presentations, training modules, etc without killing the other startups that are busy changing the world.
In fact, since we moved in, we've been running our October session of our Startup School, and things, so far, have gone as smooth as silk.
Last night, we even hosted the first official Open House event in our new home.

We do have plenty of space, so that we are starting renting out desks to folks who are a good fit with our philosophy.
If you are interested, start having a look at the pictures here. Wondering why our pictures look so professional? Because a real pro took them, Paolo Bonaccorsi, one of the brilliant participants to our October Startup School (thanks Paolo!!).

The Venture Camp Gala Dinner. A dream venue for a rocking party.

2011-10-20T12:40:00.001-07:00

A terrific event requires a royal celebration … and when it is time to celebrate we never refuse.
We are going to put together all the ingredients for a great party. A dream venue, fun and amazing people. And yes, we have them all!

A very special venue. The selected venue for this year Dinner Party is the Showroom EDRA, an Italian design company that has found the keys to success through fantasy, risk and imagination. We like that. And we are sure you’ll fall in love with this place at first glance.
Fun. Games and entertainment, networking and yes … pure fun (someone says Le Iene will be there..). And sure, you’ll get surprised..
Amazing people. However, what really makes the difference is you! Wanna have a proof?
Look at the pics of the last year HEROS. This year we wanna do even more..

Mark your calendar and join us for an unusual night of fun, networking and…a lot more.

yes, we are IENE too

2011-10-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

It's true. We are IENE inside.

Following last night's airing of the Iene's special on the brain-drain in Italy, we finally showed our true self. For the few that don't know IENE (Italian for hyenas), they are the investigative reporting news show.

When Lucci contacted us (via Loris Degioanni), it wasn't quite clear what kind of cut he wanted to give to the topic.

What highly controversial story did they want to build around us?

Truth being told, both Loris and I were quite apprehensive to be devoured by "the hyenas" we all grew up with.

Now, the day after, it's all clear.

The hundreds of emails, messages, facebook/linkedin connections we received within the few hours after the show, really made it clear.

We posted some of those on our blog on Corriere.

The truth is that in Italy there's a whole world in the 20-something generation (but not only) that today is in pain.

Their well expressed messages are a clear request for help: to have the opportunity to make a difference, to feel appreciated or, sometimes, just to express their dismay about their future.

Nothing to ask really, mostly the need to talk to "an entity" that could feel their pain.

For us, being identified with that role is not only flattering. It's our life juice. It's what gets us going. It's an honour and a privilege.

Thanks.

Venture Camp 2011 warm up

2011-10-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

5 weeks only!

The countdown is on for the MTB Venture Camp 2011, the top event hosted by Corriere della Sera, bridging technology and startup world from Silicon Valley to Italy (and back).

At its 4th edition, the event will have the usual format: a 2-day conference focused on promoting the new Italian talents coming from the MTB Business Plan competition, learn from success stories of who "made it" and address the issues that today are impeding the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem to blossom.

Some joucey news coming: significant prizes from our partners (ie Marzotto, RCS), top speakers lineup and our renowned (un-)usual Friday night party (see picture...).

Tickets are available here. Remember, they go fast!

Significant discount for you early birds until Oct 10, so act now....

Here are the 15 startups admitted to 2011 Venture Camp

2011-09-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are. After collecting the feedback from all the Instructors @ MtB Boot Camp in Turin, our Selection Committee has finally completed its job. They had a hard time to pick-up the best 15... since all the 29 startups we selected for the Boot Camp in Turin were actually very good. But a choice has to be made. And, most of the time, it is a tougher to say no than yes...

Below you can find the list of the 15 startups admitted to pitch at the Venture Camp 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 we organized last week.

Kudos to the selected startups but also to those that did not make it: you are good, tune a bit your business plan and never give up! We are working to organize an event dedicated to you as well as a subset of the startups that have not been admitted to the Boot Camp. We are confident that some of them have a great potential and can be the next protagonists! We are going to work with you guys...

STARTUPS ADMITTED TO 2011 MIND THE BRIDGE VENTURE CAMP

Arkimedia
D-Orbit
Frestyl
Gowar
Iubenda
Mangatar
Naevi in silico
NextStyler
Phlur
Sounday
stereomood
Timbuktu
Treedom
Vinswer
Vivocha

See you in Milan @ Venture Camp and leverage the support of your brand new Stanford interns (more info here)

MTB and Stanford solidify their partnership

2011-09-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm just back from Florence where I spent two days teaching with Tom Byers @ Stanford Campus. I had the privilege to work with the Stanford students attending the Comparative Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Course that Tom is teaching in Italy this term. Really, really bright guys.

I'm back from Florence with two phenomenal news.

Phenomenal News #1) Tom Byers will be one of our key notes speakers at the Venture Camp on Nov 4th-5th @ Corriere della Sera in Milan. He is undoubtedly one of the top expert in the world re: entrepreneurship and a terrific speaker. Then you can't miss the chance to hear from him in Italy.

Phenomenal News #2) 15 Stanford students will be assigned as "shadow interns" to the 15 startups admitted to the Venture Camp for a 2 mos period. This way our startups will benefit from the smart support of some of the most brilliant students in the world. They will be at their disposal for testing the product, doing some market research, improving the pitch, ... and, most important thing, add a fresh Silicon Valley perspective to each team... Enjoy!

Let’s Boot Camp!

2011-09-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Terrific speakers, awesome venue, promising startups! We are talking about the MtB Boot Camp that kicked off last Thursday in Milan (hosted by the Social Media Week) to continue for the 29 semifinalists at OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin.
More than 300 people attended the MtB Boot Camp Open Forum. Alberto Onetti (MtB Chairman) anticipated some data from the Mind the Bridge Survey 2011 “Startups in Italy. Facts and Trends” that will be presented in November at the Venture Camp. Then a group of terrific speakers animated the stage: James C. Roberts III (Lawyer & Managing Partner at Global Capital Law Group), Marco Magnocavallo (Co-Founder at Blogo and Wikli), Stefano Maruzzi (Country Director at Google Italy), Pietro Bezza (Managing Partner at Connect digital media ventures), Massimo Ciociola (Founder & CEO of MusiXMatch) and Piero Bassetti (President of the Giannino Bassetti Foundation).

Central theme for the day was the ability to embrace a culture of risk in Italy, magisterially captured by the “pony allegory” narrated by Charles Versaggi (President of Versaggi Biocommunications®), the MtB Boot Camp Director.
September 23 and September 24, different venue (Turin), but same enthusiasm: the 29 MtB semifinalists went boot-camping @OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni (Stazione Futuro the tag for our place, quite evocative), together with a stellar group of mentors.

Learning sessions in the morning and GYM pitching session in the afternoon. Hosted and sponsored by TOP-IX Consortium, this two days program represented both a great opportunity for startups to learn and get inspired by our Boot Camp instructors and an invaluable occasion to test themselves and improve their communication skills. Among the mentors, led by Charles Versaggi: Ivan Farneti (Partner at Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures), Marco Magnocavallo (Co-Founder at Blogo and Wikli), Elisabetta Ghisini (Founder at Verba - International Communications) and Stefano Bernardi (Dave McClure’s Shadow at 500 startups).
Moreover, as already specified in our previous posts, this event represented a further selection step in the process that will bring 15 startups to the MtB Venture Camp in Milan at Corriere della Sera and later on to Silicon Valley.
Curious to know about the top 15's names???

Just stay tuned!

The end of Pier 38 (the way we know it)

2011-09-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

It's official. By the end of the month, all Pier 38 tenants (~70 startups to our last count) will have to move out.
It doesn't really matter what's the real story behind it (Chronicle, Techcrunch) , the 400 people signing a petition or the visit of the mayor of San Francisco.

What really matters is the bottom line.
On Sep 30th, Pier 38 will stop being that unique, creative, open, vibrant hub for startups as we've known it.

We can't say enough about how this pirates cove had an impact on our beloved organization.
It's been our first home. But since we moved in, just over a year ago, things have happened faster than we all expected.

The open, anarchic spirit of this place, almost a commune where nobody has any other interest than promoting successful startups, has been deeply inspiring.

Here's where we started organizing events for all possible occasions, the end of a startup summer school, a large group of visiting students, GYM Openhouses and demo days.
You name it.
That's also where my 5-year daughter (with other 90 something people) ended up celebrating her graduation from Preschool.
It's all good.
We are definitely not worried about our new home. In fact, we'll be moving to the One Market building, another San Francisco landmark.
It's a great opportunity to grow. And we'll take it.
But, as good pirates after a successful assault, we want to honor our first battleship, or rather, our beloved galleon.

On 9/20 we'll host our GoodBye party for Pier 38. Drinks, startups and laughter. Pier 38 way.

From Marco Marinucci

2011 Business Plan Competition: here is the short list of the the top 30!

2011-09-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

This year we received a lot of submissions for our annual Business Plan Competition. Most of them are really cool and interesting projects...
Then our Selection Committee (coordinated by Fabrizio Capobianco) had a hard time to come out with a short list. But they did it. Thanks guys for the great and passionate work.
Below you can find the short list of the top 29 startups that have been admitted to the 2011 Boot Camp Mind the Bridge (with the active support of TOP-IX) organized from Sep 22nd through Sep 24th.
During the three days we will provide your with top notch training (here you can take a look at the agenda ... our speakers and instructors are impressive) and have the chance to know more about your startup and business plan. Then the Boot Camp represents a further evaluation step to identify the 15 semifinalists admitted to pitch at the Venture Camp (Nov 4th and 5th, in Milan @ Corriere della Sera).
A final note aimed at the hundreds of startups that are not included in the list below. Don't give up, there is potential in your team and idea... We are looking forward to meeting you in Milan for the opening of the BootCamp (on Sep 22nd, at 4pm, at Mediateca di Santa Teresa, the event is open, just click here to get your free ticket).
And we are planning to organize a mini Boot Camp reserved to the best startups that have not been selected...then we definitively want to stay in touch with you guys and help you succeed. And you can do it...

Startups admitted to MTB Bootcamp 2011

ARKIMEDIA
BLOMMING
COOKOUS
D-Orbit
DigitalFluency
FLYBBLE
FRESTYL
FRINZER
GOBILABS
GoWar
iubenda
mangatar
Mytata
NAEVI IN SILICO
NextStyler
OkeyDokeyEvents
Phlur
QUIPU
RickyRoubin
Smartruck
SOUNDAY
SportSquare
STEREOMOOD
TIMBUKTU
TREEDOM
TWIMBOW
Video Template
VINSWER
VIVOCHA

Startup School - A new edition coming in October

2011-08-25T02:58:00.001-07:00

Two editions of the schools gone and - here the big news - not one, but two to go!

Indeed, given the high number of applications for the first three editions of Mind the Bridge Startup School, we decided to organize a new edition in October (10th - 28th)!

So, halfway through the 2011 Startup School activities we can definitely say we are pretty much proud of how things are going. We've hosted 12 students with different ages, from different background and coming with different goals, but every student leaves the school as they've experienced a "life changing" period. Students visited some of the most prestigious incubators and accelerator, 500 Startups, Plug and Play, Rocket Space, prestigious universities as Stanford and Berkley and the Singularity University; they participated to a few incredible events in the area, as Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, giving his speech at the Singularity University and Steve Blank talking about Entrepreneurial Education at Parisoma. Moreover a few terrific new speakers, Burton Lee, Hartmut Essingler, and Gigi Wang.

These were the regular activities MtB Startup School offers, but along these activities the students had the possibility to breath the Silicon Valley incredible vibe of energy, good ideas and technology and people.

The energy and the dynamism of the Silicon Valley are two things that surprise students every time here. "In three weeks I've learnt so many things and talked with so many interesting people; I've also talked with another startup for a possible agreement on the product development. I've experienced so many things in three weeks that have never happened in Italy in a long time." Or "Here nobody wants to read a 80 pages business plan, things are so dynamic that you need to pivot your business idea so many times according to the reaction and feedback you get from your users. A 10 pages deck is what you only need and then just talk and get feedback."

The easiness to get useful feedback is also another things that thrills students. "Here you don't need to talk with three assistants to get in touch with the CEO of a company. You just go to one of the pool party in the Valley and you can meet him there, drinking a beer with his/her t-shirt and his/her flip flop talking with other startups.". Or "The density of talented people here is incredible, you can go everywhere, just get a coffee and you can find a person ready to give you feedback on your startup and to pitch his/her startup. There are no issues here in sharing ideas, while in Italy it seems more difficult either because people are afraid that someone can steal their idea or because the person listening can simply destroy the idea but without constructive feedback. Here in Silicon Valley, people always give reasons either for a positive and for a negative feedback".

Our intent is to improve and enrich even more the activities of the school! So, if anyone is ready to experience all this and much more, the applications for the October edition are now open! Availability is limited so hurry up!

For more information contact summerschool@mindthebridge.org.

MtB Boot Camp 2011.. One more reason to be in!

2011-07-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

The deadline (July, 31st) to participate in the Business Plan Competition is approaching and it’s time to give you one more reason to be in.
For the 25 best startups selected in the competition MtB reserves a special path that includes education, training, networking, visibility, connections with the Silicon Valley.. In one word “Opportunities”.

First stage: 3 days, 9 instructors and 2 cities, Milan and Turin!

We are talking about the MtB Boot Camp 2011, a 3 days of exclusive intense, hands-on workshop led by exceptional instructors and devoted to the 20/25 startups that will pass the first selection. This first phase represents a unique and outstanding occasion for the selected startups to receive valuable advices useful for structuring their business plan. Charles Versaggi, Ivan Farneti, Marco Magnocavallo, James C. Roberts III are some our excellent Boot Camp Instructors having the hard task to inspire, follow, comment and evaluate your project.

Let’s find out something more about them..

Charles Versaggi (president of Versaggi Biocommunications): Mr. Versaggi is our MtB Boot Camp Director. With nearly 30 years of strategic marketing and communications experience, he helped launch a number of industry firsts in life science field. His charisma had already won the attention of the last year’s startups and we are confident he will gain yours too.

Marco Asquini (Co-Founder, Italian Angels for Growth): Mr. Asquini is an industrial designer, serial entrepreneur, restructuring specialist, and the co-founder of Super//Fluo, a Pordenone-based company focused on the design and creation of Friulian TVs, plasmas and LCDs. He is also co-founder of the Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), the largest angel investment group in Italy aimed at promoting Italian entrepreneurship.

Ivan Farneti (Partner at Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures): Mr. Farneti has been an active venture capital investor in start-up businesses both in Europe and in the US since 1997. He is a Partner at Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures where he focuses on enterprise, internet and mobile software and services.

Marco Magnocavallo (Co-Founder at Blogo and Wikli): Mr. Magnocavallo is a serial entrepreneur, product manager and technology executive. Known as an angel investor and a successful serial entrepreneur, Marco has recently invested in companies in the US, UK and in Italy including: WebMynd, NextDigest, NoiseToys, Iubenda and Fubles. The latter was one of the finalists of the MtB past edition.

Massimo Ciociola (Founder & CEO of MusiXMatch): Mr. Ciociola is founder and CEO of MusiXMatch , a new startup focused on Music + Online Ads Platform. He has more than 11 years worldwide experience in Mobile Entertainment and Music Market. In 1999 he founded one of the first Mobile Entertainment player: Wireless Solutions spa, then part of DADA Group in 2001 (DA.MI).

James C. Robert III (Lawyer & Managing Partner, Global Capital Law Group):
Mr. Roberts is the managing partner of the law firm, Global Capital Law Group, and CEO of its affiliated strategic consulting firm, Global Capital Strategic Group. His work (in both law and consulting) span several fields: startups, venture capital, licensing, international expansion and mergers & acquisitions in digital media and technology (e.g., cross-platform or mobile projects), cleantech and other advanced technology initiatives, especially those that cross borders.

Pietro Bezza (Managing Partner at Connect digital media ventures): Pietro is a passionate entrepreneur turned active early stage investor, with 12+ years experience in Internet, Mobile and Media sectors. He is member of IAG; he is Mentor at Seedcamp and Oxygen Accelerator.
Pietro acts as angel investor, co-founder and/or advisor in internet-based and consumer brand project and in promising startups, such as RisparmioSuper, winner of Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition 2010.

Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Foundation and Leonardo Camiciotti, Development Program Director at Top-IX Consortium complete this magnificent frame.

The MtB Boot Camp represents also a compulsory step for deciding the 15 semifinalists that will pitch at the MtB Venture Camp. However, regardless of the selection results, thanks to the MtB Boot Camp you will have terrific advantages. Besides benefit from the experience of our prominent Mentors in helping you dealing with your business plan structure, you will soon have the opportunity to get in contact with strategic people, investor and entrepreneurs. Entering in the “Mind the Bridge world”, indeed, will give you access to the Silicon Valley network, an incredible opportunity to see your business taking off.

But when and where the MtB Boot Camp is going to take place?
The workshop will open in Milan with a Public Forum held in September 22nd in occasion of the Social Media Week. Then the MtB bandwagon moves to Turin for a 2 days of lessons, pitches and suggestions (Sept 23rd, 24th), reserved to the 25 selected startups, to help them in clarifying, creating and communicating their business vision, proprietary science and technology into a viable business plan, worthy of financial support. This year, thanks to the partnership with TOP-IX Consortium these two intense days will be held at OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni, a masterpiece of industrial architecture set up to celebrate the 150 years of Italy in the heart of Turin

.

What are you waiting for? Send us your Biz Plan and save the dates!

Nicola Allieta, the jackpot winner

2011-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Back in Febrary we announced the amazing opportunity for the best recent graduate to join us in Silicon Valley, supported by a significant package.

Now, a few months later, the dream came true for one lucky candidate.

We are excited to introduce Nicola as a new team member, based out of our HQs in San Francisco.

Here's his story:

A true man of the valley. To the Silicon Valley, home to many of the world's largest hi-tech corporations, from the Aosta Valley known for...well...cheese. No matter how much he has traveled since leaving his native Aosta after high school, it seems that Nicola was destined to settle down in a valley.

Nicola started his education in management at at the Università degli Studi di Pavia where he graduate in Marketing and E-Business. During this period he spent 1 year in Strasbourg through the EU Erasmus programme. He then completed a three-year graduate Master programme in Management at the French ESCP Europe spending 2 years across London and Paris. He recently graduated in Business Administration at the University of Turin.

His professional background is mainly in the entertainment industry having worked for a film financing boutique in London and a major distribution and production company in Paris. Nicola’s interest in entrepreneurship sparked through an international research project on business incubators.

The survival challenges faced by startups and the risks undertaken by venture capitalists remind him of the often hazardous business of entertainment. In both ventures the challenge is to pre-determine the outcome, be it a Fortune 500 company or an Oscar winning blockbuster (although Nicola does spot the differences between a sci- fi script and a business plan).

You'll hear more from him here and here.
Questions? Feel free to contact him at nallieta@mindthebridge.org

Startup's.. cool!

2011-07-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

People living in San Francisco during this weeks will certainly agree that there's not a full summer in the city, the fog and the cold wind are good and habitual friends here. Although the cold summer, 5 guys decided to leave the 95 °F (35 °C) in Italy to attend the first edition of Mind the Bridge Startup Summer School. They brought a few sweaters in their luggage, a business idea in their mind and a lot of excitement for this life-changing experience.

Simone Lini, 21 years and at his second year at Bocconi university, is developing a business on a carpool system. Massimo Garzulino and Danilo Spanò, 25 years both and at their last year respectively of Law and Business School at University of Pavia, have a patent on a wall mobile charger. Andrea Amedeo, 32 years and expert in communication, is developing a systems of feedbacks on top of a social network and finally Andrea Morra, 34 years, physicist and MBA, is developing a tracking system to avoid falsification of goods.

Whatever their idea, they decided to spend their holidays to get their first experience of the startups world in the most entrepreneurial area in the world, the Silicon Valley, because yes, also in Italy for increasingly more people "startup is cool"!

And in the big debate between "born-to-be entrepreneur" or "trained-to-be entrepreneur" they just jumped in the action without waiting for other people's answer to this big question, deciding to try, to share their project with the speakers of our seminars and with other startups in the area, ready to see their business model destroyed and to rebuild a new one with the feedbacks received.

Are those guys born to be entrepreneur? I guess they just took the risk to become one.

2011 Business Plan Competition: what a Selection Committee!

2011-07-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

While we are approaching to the deadline for the 2011 Business Plan Comepetition, our Selection Commitee has been integrated with phenomenal adds-on.
Now we have 40 people -investors, angels and entreprenuers- representing the best of breed of the seed and venture capital eco-system, both in Italy and abroad.
Here you can find the updated list of members. Welcome to the new entrants and thank again to the core group of members who support us since day one.
The Commitee is coordinated - as usual - by Fabrizio Capobianco, Founder and President of Funambol Inc. (on the right in the pic, shot last Friday in Pavia at the Summer Meeting of the Giovani Industriali di Pavia, where we had a lot of fun discussing how to exploit connections between Italy and US).
Don't miss the deadline for submitting your business idea, that is July 31st. 20 days are remaining, then hurry up!

Super-closing for the MtB Italy Tour 2011!

2011-06-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last week more than 150 people attended the Genova final date of Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2011 hosted by IIT – Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.

With amazing guest speakers talking about their successful entrepreneurial experiences in Silicon Valley and giving inspiring lessons, MtB met the enthusiasm and attention of the participants who felt immediately involved in the discussion. Thanks to Marco Marinucci, Fabrizio Capobianco and Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli, who told their stories and enriched the discussion with their comments, the Startup School coordinated by Alberto Onetti represented a real interactive moment for learning and collecting inestimable hints.

Moreover, the insights and feedbacks given to the startups selected to pitch by the panels of experts during the Gym Session, gave a panorama of what are the must-haves for an effective presentation for high technology based products: do not go too deep into the features of the product (often very complex), but focus on the value proposition and the discriminators.

Mission accomplished! A few days after the end of the MtB Italy Tour 2011 we feel even more eager to receive the business ideas from all the other Italian talents we haven’t the chance to meet.
The Business Plan Competition 2011 is open! It’s time to send us your ideas..
Remember, the deadline is July 31st.

Mind the Bridge Startup Summer School & Wired

2011-06-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Finally we have the names of the two winners of the scholarship Mind the Bridge offers in collaboration with Wired!

Mariano Ambrosio, 24 years (Roma)
Simone Lini, 21 years (Crema)

Although both very young, Simone and Mariano have submitted a promising business idea they will work on while they are host at Pier38. They will join the other selected students for this first edition of Mind the Bridge Summer School starting on.. July 11th!

A special thank to all the other applicants that have not been selected for the scholarship. Don't miss the opportunity to participate to the Business Plan Competition or stay tuned because, given the high number of applicants, we might replicate the school during this fall!

Well, it's almost time to start.. we will keep you posted on this brand new Mind the Bridge initiative!

Are you ready for Genova? Here the selected startups!

2011-06-21T05:27:00.001-07:00

The last date of the Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2011 will be hosted in one of the most prestigious landmarks of technology, the IIT- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. Tomorrow we have the opportunity to hear from 6 exciting startups showcasing their business ideas!

Thanks to the presence of Marco Marinucci (MtB Executive Director), born in Genova and Google Manager in Silicon Valley, and of Fabrizio Capobianco (Funambol President&Chairman), both arriving from San Francisco to take part in the event, the Startup School coordinated by Alberto Onetti, will be further enriched of invaluable insights and experiences.
The afternoon, structured as a Gym Session, will be devoted to a bunch of startups presenting their business idea in front of a panel composed by relevant investors and seasoned entrepreneurs such as Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli (Univ. of Barkeley), Giuseppe Rasero (Genova High Tech, Leonardo Technology Spa), Joe Petillon (Banner Ventures LLC) and many others. Goal of the session will be to give constructive feedbacks to the admitted startups and look in deep at their business in order to seek out either the points of strength or of weakness.

What about the selected projects? Here are the names of the startups that will present tomorrow.

1. SunWise 
2. Twimbow 
3. 3Brain 
4. Best Creativity
 5. NANOMED  
6. Arbot Technology

This time the choice has been even harder than usual. Besides receiving a high number of Business Plans, we found a quite consistent number of interesting ideas. Thus, our choice has been driven not only by the quality of the idea, but also by its attitude to be discussed and its potential to be a helpful case study for the audience. Do not feel left out! Not being selected does not mean there is no potential in your plan. On the opposite, we are pleased to invite you to attend both to the Gym Session- for listening to the precious feedbacks and advices provided by the magnificent panel of experts to the startups- and the education program in the morning.

See you in Genova!

Great day in Pavia! Learn more about the selected startups..

2011-06-18T07:18:00.001-07:00

Startups, enthusiasm, constructive feedbacks, terrific speakers.. that’s what you need for organizing a successful event!

Yesterday, we recreated for a day the atmosphere of Silicon Valley in Pavia, involving startups, entrepreneurs and investors, students, Ph.Ds and whoever was interested in learning how to turn an idea into business.

The introductions of the Mayor of Pavia, and of Margherita Balconi and Annalisa Tocchio, respectively the President of the local Polo Tecnologico and industrial association immediately set the tone: create an ecosystem in Pavia to support a new generation of Italian entrepreneurs.

The speeches of Alberto Onetti, Charles Versaggi and Fabrizio Capobianco inspired the participants.

And in the afternoon, a Gym session. Six startups were invited to present their innovative business idea, in front of a panel of experienced investors and entrepreneurs. Let’s briefly introduce them!

Among the early stage ideas we heard from Linksten - a mobile application that reproduces a short jingle during the idle time while your smartphone opens a link, THE WHITE RABBIT – an innovative software platform aimed at providing innovative solutions for business, education, healthcare, home and social needs through touch-screen applications - and EasyGoing - a multi-platform (social web, website, SMS, mobile app, telephone) management system for car pooling. The presenters got a lot comments, feedback and tips that for sure will help them to focus more on their business and exploit their business idea.

Danmax Tech Solutions, tpenso and iLIKE.TV presented their prototypes and products.

Danmax Tech Solutions produces an universal charger for cell phones to be applied into the wall’s outlet.
iLIKE.TV, structured as a web tv channel on cross-media social platforms, allows users to be involved to the shows, influence and interact with them via a secondary screen.
tpenso presented its product - Margerita Salvadita - an innovative device that reduces the risk of needlestick injury from syringes.

Then a lot of good and promising ideas…and - for one of them - an incredible opportunity to make it happen.
We were able to open the door of the MtB Gym to one of the 6 startups. This thanks to Durabo, whose general manager - Tommaso Mazzocchi - volunteered to offer this opportunity to one of the startups in memory of his father Antonio.
Carlo Giuberchio, tpenso founder, received the best of the day award. For him a 3 months stay at the Gym, the mentorship program held @ Pier 38 in San Francisco. Great opportunity for exploiting the business potential of his device!

Carlo, see you in two weeks in San Francisco! All the others, see you on Wednesday next week in Genova!

Summer School: who's in!

2011-06-14T23:13:00.001-07:00

MTB people,

after launching our first Summer Startup School a few weeks ago, we did experience an overwhelming response from you.

One more sign that the popularity of the Silicon Valley-Startup pair is at its tipping point amongst Italians.

Here are the candidates who made it through, for our next 3 sessions (July, August, September):

Andrea Amedeo
Andrea Morra
Luigi Greco
Marco Solfato
Enrico Prunotto
Albert William Pozzi
Fabio Parisi
Eugenio Pugliese
Matteo Bortolu
Giancarlo Vergine
Luca Bernardi
Alessandro Coscia
Michele Orsi
Giorgio Bertolino
Federica Riva
Alejandro Martinez
Giuseppe Pace

We are still working on the selection for the promotion in collaboration with Wired.it

Stay tuned to get more info.

In the meantime, congrats to all those who have been accepted.

You can start packing (and don't forget some thick socks + hat!)

Pavia, here we go!

2011-06-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

Guys, we are almost there!

Everything is ready for the third date of the MtB Italy Tour 2011. The venue is Pavia, the date Friday, June 17th. 6 cool startups have been selected, investors and entrepreneurs are eager to meet young talented entrepreneurs. Moreover special guests are coming to participate in the event!

Just to mention a few.. Alberto Onetti, MtB Chairman, serial entrepreneur and professor in Finance and Innovation Management, is the most suitable person to give you the nuts and bolts for starting up a business.

Directly from San Francisco, Charles Versaggi will provide you with invaluable insights about how to tell your business story. Founder of Versaggi BioCommunications and MtB Mentor, Charles is recognized not only for his experience as entrepreneur, but also for his cheerful charisma and unique communication skills.

Among the others, Francesco Carione (New Business Director and Digital Incubator @ RCS Group) will introduce you to the RCS Digital Publishing Prize, an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs with an innovative idea in the digital media/publishing field.
Joe Petillon (Banner Ventures LLC), Maurizio Liverani (Baryon Capital Corporation) and a lot of other investors and entrepreneurs will populate our investors panel, providing stratups with comments and helpful tips.
Not enough reasons to join us in Pavia?
Last but not least, Barbara Labate, the winner of the Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition 2010, awarded last month @ the Italian Innovation Day in New York, will tell us her engaging experience at the MtB Gym in San Francisco.

See you there!

Startups admitted @ Gym Session in Pavia

2011-06-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 17th (yep, Friday the 17th...), we are in Pavia for the second date of our Italy Tour 2011. In the afternoon we replicate a Gym session, with a bunch of startpus pitching in front of a panel of venture capitalists and seasoned entreprenuers.
As usual we received a lot of applications.
Anyway, here are (in alphabetical order) the startups we selected for the Gym in Pavia:
- Danmax Tech Solutions
- Easygoing
- iLIKE.TV
- Linksten
- The White Rabbit
- tpenso

As we always point out, not being in the list above does not mean that there is no potential in your plan. You can largely benefit from the discussion of all the business ideas as well as the education program in the morning(BTW Charles Versaggi is joining me on the stage...terrific opportunity to learn). Thus we are looking forward to meeting all the startups (not only the selected ones) in Pavia, where to share insights and provide some feedback.
We strongly suggest to take part to the whole event with your entire management team (please register with all the members if you haven't yet done). Startups admitted to the Gym session have 8 minutes for presenting their idea (we will send you a template for helping you in structuring the presentation). Presentation will be followed by 20/25 minute time of Q&A.

Gym OpenHouse: Jun 9th

2011-06-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

We are adding an important feature to our Mind the Beer social mix.

Fear not. Booze will still be part of the mix.

But in addition, starting this Thu June 9th, we are planning to open the door of the GYM incubator and add a demo area for some selected startups.

..... more Info here.

We plan to run those events throughout "the summer" (disclaimer: no summer in San Francisco).

The following startups will be showcased (in "demo-with-a-beer" mode):

Hyperfair, Andrea Ballarini.
Spreaker, Francesco Baschieri
Beintoo, Antonio Tomarchio
Vinswer, Daniele Alberti
Quipu, Elisabetta Bianchini
SMANIA, Silvia Bossi
QIRIS, Nicholas Caporusso
Treedom, Lorenzo Martelletti

An awesome mix between startups hosted at the GYM and the subset of the 2011 Fulbright-BEST winners who run a startup (including the ones supported by MTB).

Spend the summer in San Francisco: startup summer school

2011-06-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

Tired to spend the summer in Costa Smeralda?
Had enough of the usual month on your yacht in Saint Tropez?
It's time to get serious about your ambitions to become a successful entrepreneur... and spend your summer in San Francisco!

In case you haven't noticed, a few days ago we officially opened the doors of our GYM incubator in San Francisco for a summer startup school.For 3 weeks, you'll leave the life of our startups incubated at Pier 38, follow a number of seminars, and, most importantly, you can work on your project.
Don't have one yet? No problem.
You'll get assigned to one of the startups and will work on their business plan!

We have very limited availability, so apply ASAP if you don't want to miss this life changing opportunity (and I'm not kidding...).
Else, you'll be forced to spend yet another summer in Costa Smeralda!

You'll find all detailed information here.

Presenting Premio Gaetano Marzotto

2011-06-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Do you want an additional compelling reason to participate in the Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition 2011? Here you go.
You can be eligible for the Premio Gaetano Marzotto for young high-tech entrepreneurial ideas.

How does it work?
The Project Gaetano Marzotto aims at supporting a young entrepreneurial idea developed in a high-tech field with the possibility to grow internationally. As presented by Alberto Onetti in the video above, thanks to the partnership with Associazione Gaetano Marzotto, we can offer to one of the selected startups the opportunity to attend our Gym program @Pier 38, our incubator in San Francisco, for a period of 4 month.
It is a terrific opportunity! You will learn how to structure your business idea, making your business plan valuable, solid and successful! Relationship with potential partners and investors will be facilitated, and everything happens in the heart of the Silicon Valley, totally free of charge!

How to enroll for the Premio Gaetano Marzotto for young high tech entrepreneurial ideas?
Just apply for the Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition 2011 (deadline July, 31st), have an innovative high-tech idea and be under 35 (for startups at least one of the founders’ team should respect this criteria).
Young Innovators, we want you!

The Business Plan Competition 2011 is open!

2011-05-27T05:02:00.000-07:00

Are you a wanna-be entrepreneur? Are you a talent with an innovative idea? We are waiting for you!

After a few weeks from the Italian Innovation Day (IID) in New York and Stanford, which declared Barbara Labate (Super Compare) and Marco Brini (Minteos) as the winners of the BPC 2010, the applications for fifth edition of the Business Plan Competition are open now!

To participate you have just to fill the Executive Summary you can download from our web site and send it together with your Business Plan to bpc.selection.2011@mindthebridge.org not later than midnight of July 31st, 2011.
Here it is possible to download the documents required (Executive Summary and Business Plan) and find all the rules and instructions.
And.. that’s all!

Why should you submit your Business Plan?
Participating in the Business Plan Competition give you the chance to live a unique experience. The best 15 innovative ideas will be admitted free of charge to Training modules and have an opportunity to pitch @ the MtB Venture Camp that will be held in Milan at Corriere della Sera on November 4th and 5th.

Selected finalists will be admitted - for one month (in March 2011) to the MtB Gym, our mentoring program we run in Silicon Valley, and the investor roadshow we organize both on East and West Coast. Then a unique opportunity to get trained and spend a month in Silicon Valley, a strategic place where to focus on your business plan, meet investors, potential customers and partners.

Want to hear from our last year finalists? Here is the video of some of our alumni talking about their experience with MtB!

Finally, thanks to the partnership with RCS Media Group and with Progetto Gaetano Marzotto, starting this year we introduced two new Prizes. The RCS Digital Publishing Prize will offer the opportunity to a startup operating in the digital media/publishing space to attend our Gym Program in San Francisco for 3 months instead of one. The Premio Gaetano Marzotto, which extends the Gym period to 4 months, will be devoted to a young entrepreneurial idea (max 35 years old) developed in a high tech area with possibilities to grow internationally.

So, what are you waiting for? We are looking forward to receive your application!

For further information visit our page regarding the BPC 2011 or write to information@mindthebridge.org

Presenting the RCS Digital Publishing Prize

2011-05-14T02:31:00.000-07:00

Great news for the startups attending the Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition!
Starting this year, we have a new important award that further enhances our partnership with RCS Mediagroup.

The RCS Digital Publishing Prize has been officially presented last week in New York City @ the Italian Innovation Day. The Prize aims at supporting innovation in the publishing, advertising and media industries. More specifically, the goal is to improve either the user experience of digital readers (content, value, etc.) or the appeal of digital publishing platforms for advertisers.

That's how Alceo Rapagna, CIO of RCS Mediagroup, introduces the goals of the RCS Digital Publishing Prize.
The startup awarded with the RCS Digital Publishing Prize will be incubated – free of charge - for a period of three months at the Gym Program in San Francisco. A terrific chance to turn your business idea into a solid and sound business plan and create business and funding connections in the ecosystem of the Silicon Valley!

What do you have to do to apply for the RCS Digital Publishing Prize?
Just have a disruptive idea in the digital media/publishing space and make the application to the Business Plan Competition 2011 (deadline is Jul 31st).
Digital Innovators, we want you!

Mind the Bridge @StartuParty at The Hub Milan

2011-05-13T01:25:00.000-07:00

StartuParty is an initiative launched by a bunch of start-uppers who would like to involve new people in the Italian Startup & Innovation world; following the example of Assisti (Associazione Italiana Startup Innovative) and in partnership with The Hub Milan and Startup-Business, its purpose is to bring new energy into the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem, in particular students and young entrepreneurs in a very informal way and pulling them with the “party” call up!

StartuParty will be a very easy-going event where the aim is to involve students who will be the future entrepreneurs, into the entrepreneurial community and try to cross the chasm of the diffusion of Innovation culture in Italy.

In fact, StartuParty format consists of a series of "theme party” where many wannabe-start-uppers who had not made yet the first pitch are invited, besides the case-hardened start-uppers. A number of parties will be launched to put in touch start-uppers, geeks, coders, wannabe entrepreneurs, business angels, venture capitalists and everyone interested in the early stage ecosystem.

The first event will be held in Milan, on Thursday, May 19th starting from 9 p.m. @The Hub Milan (Via Paolo Sarpi 8), music by Stefano Bernardi (dPixel).

Mind the Bridge will be there, what about you?

Startups admitted @ Gym Session in Firenze

2011-05-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

As you know, on Friday the 13th, we are in Florence for the first date of our Italy Tour 2011. In the afternoon we are going to replicate a Gym session, i.e. part of the mentorship activity we regularly run in Silicon Valley with the incubated startpus: companies pitching in front of a panel of venture capitalists and seasoned entreprenuers.
We got a lot of applications from Tuscany. Our Selection Committee worked pretty hard for preparing the short-list of startups admitted to the Gymnasium in Florence. Not an easy task since we received a lot of plans, all of them quite interesting and promising.
Anyway, here are (in alphabetical order) the startups we selected for the Gym next Friday:
-COOLLA.ME/SMARTEX
-ECO CONGRESS
-JOOINK
-PAPERMINE
-TREEDOM

As we always point out, not being in the list above does not mean that there is no potential in your plan. Thus we are looking forward to meeting all the startups (not only the selected ones) in Firenze, where to share insights and provide some feedback.
We strongly suggest to take part to the whole event with your entire management team (please register with all the members if you haven't yet done).
Startups admitted to the Gym session have 10 minutes for presenting their idea (we will send you a template for helping you in structuring the presentation). Presentation will be followed by 20/25 minute time of Q&A.
The key word of the Gym is open discussion and honest feedback. Then partecipating to the Gym session is a MUST for all the startups, not only for the ones we selected to present. Everybody can largely benefit from the discussion of all the business ideas as well as the education program in the morning.

Firenze: here we come

2011-05-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

Next week, on Friday (May 13th) we are in Florence, with the first date of our Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2011 (next dates are Pavia and Genova, both in June). The venue is the Sala Assemblee Confindustria Firenze, Via Valfonda, 9.
It is a full day program (here you can find the updated program): Startup School in the morning (with Alberto Onetti on the stage) and a session of our MtB Gym in the afternoon.

As you know, in the afternoon we are going to replicate here in Italy our Gym, i.e. the mentorship activity we regularly do in Silicon Valley with our startpus admitted to the program: companies presenting their business plans in front of a panel of venture capitalists and seasoned entreprenuers. Open discussion, comments, honest feedbacks. Ultimate goal is fine tuning the business idea (what and where it works, where and what doesn't) and making the value proposition more effective.
We are collecting applications. If you are interested to present at the MtB GYM session, please send your executive summary to Firenze2011@mindthebridge.org. We will select the most promising projects that will be presented to the panel of experts. Deadline is May 6th, then hurry up, don't miss the opportunity!
If you are just interested to attend to the event, please remember to reserve your ticket: it is free, but admissions are limited. Here is the link for RSVP.
During the morning session we will present the Business Plan Competition 2011 (providing insights and tips) and the terrific Prizes we introduced this year:
the Premio Gaetano Marzotto (check the website for details) plus others (one will be announced tomorrow in New York @ the Italian Innovation Day, stay tuned...).

MtB Italy Tour 2011: here are the dates

2011-04-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

We are going to hit the road again. After the opening on February 11th in Rome, we will be in May in Florence and in June in Pavia and Genova. Do not miss the opportunity to get in contact with our speakers and learn from them the key elements to start a new business.

Here the incoming dates and venues of the Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2011.
FIRENZE, May 13th
PAVIA, June 17th
GENOVA, June 22nd

Why the MtB Italy Tour?
We receive every day a lot of requests about how to prepare a business plan, how to talk with a venture capital, and so on. Many of you ask feedback about his/her business idea. The MtB Italy Tour is going to provide some concrete answers to these requests.  The morning session (MtB Start-up School) is aimed at providing education re: entrepreneurship, business planning, venture capital market and Silicon Valley eco-system. Business school style, with a pragmatic approach (we give you the “nuts and bolts”). The modules are provided by Alberto Onetti, Chairman of MtB Foundation, and other top notch experts.
In the afternoon we replicate a session of our MtB Gym, the mentorship program we run every week at Pier 38 in San Francisco with the startups admitted to our incubator. A panel of investors and entrepreneurs provide comments and feedbacks to selected start-ups that present their ideas. If you want to be considered for the MtB Gym sessions, please send your executive summary to the email address indicated at the webpage of each event.

What’s the goal of the MtB Italy Tour?
The key word of the Gym is open discussion comments, honest feedbacks. Ultimate goal is fine tuning the business idea (what and where it works, where and what doesn’t) and improving the presentation. Then participating to the Gym session is a must for all the startups, not only for the ones we selected to present. Everybody can largely benefit from the discussion of all the business ideas as well as the education program in the morning.

Who are the recipients?
If you are a wanna-be-entrepreneur with an innovative business idea, a research or Ph.D. aiming at creating a spin-off or a startup at the early stage, this program is something you can’t miss.

What is required for participating to the Tour events?
Admissions are free, pre-registration is required. You can find details for registration at the webpage of each event.

For further information and updates on the single events please refer to our website

Virtual IID Fair, today 8AM PST

2011-04-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be a real innovation day if nothing significantly new shows up.

And here you have it!

Today, Thu Apr 7th @ 8AM PST (5PM in Italy) the Virtual Italian Innovation Day fair will officially open.
What does that mean really? It means that:

you'll be able to setup your avatar (not quite Wii style, but you can decide to wear your Arabic look...)
you can visit all the virtual booths of the Startups (room/pavilion B in the virtual world) and SMEs (room A) that participated at the Stanford event.
you can download all the relevant information you expect from a trade show. For every exhibitor that means business cards, marketing material, videos, etc
Watch the videos of the entire conference who took place @ Stanford (hint: do not miss the investor panel)
Only today 8-11AM you'll be able to interact synchronously with the exhibitors. Chat, shaking hands, conduct business, even interview ...kind of like at a real trade show (expect the painful feet part)

It will be a first for me. And I can't wait to try it, eventually.

For the record, the virtual fair is the result of the amazing work done by our friends @ Hyperfair, one of the startups still hosted @ the MTB GYM.

I tried today, here's my personal feeling.
It does take sometime to download the plugin, setup your account, avatar, answer the highly politically incorrect questions, etc...
Also to understand how to move about avoiding to hit the wall at every curve. But once you get the hang of it, it's definitely a new experience.

You'll just need to come prepared with a glass of prosecco. That one has to be real.

See you in the virtual world!

Lessons learned at the Gym

2011-04-05T05:32:00.000-07:00

People say, time goes by so quickly when you love what you are doing. Well, it seems to be true. A month spent at the Gym? No way, there must be a mistake! But the truth is these days went by really fast and indeed a month has gone.

At the farewell party, while eating the famous focaccia made by Vittorio Viarengo, we asked the startups which are the key lessons they learned during their time spent in Silicon Valley. Here a summary of their thoughts.

1. Timing: In Silicon Valley timing is key. In Italy we are not less smart than people here but we need to learn to keep their pace.

2. No understatement: Too often Italian entrepreneurs underestimate their own qualities and capabilities. In this month here, the startups achieved top posititions at international competitions as at the Plug and Play Internationa Expo. These great results gave them the concrete awareness of their potential in a highly competitive arena as the SV.

3. Networking: The density of people that can give you advices, suggestion, feedbacks and introductions to other people is enourmous in SV. Exploiting this unique SV potential is an essential ingredient for being successful.

4. Packaging: Italian entreprenuers often tend to focus on technical quality, functionalities of the product and competitive price, even too much. But a product need to be appealing for a customer also from an aesthetic standpoint. In SV entrepreneurs have a talent to present products in an appealing way for the customers.

5. Shipping: Feedbacks are very useful and in SV you can find them everywhere. However there's a point when you need to stop collecting feedbacks and start executing. You are the person that cares most about your business, you need to feel you are doing the right choice yourself.

6. Pitching: Pitching is like playing a comedy in a theatre, you need to practise a lot for a good pitch. However you can't be a good actor without the talent for improvisation - in SV there is always an opportunity to pitch and you need to be ready for 30 second pitch, 1 minute pitch, 2, 4, whatever time the other person gives to you.

These were the main lessons we collected but we are sure each startup has a full list of lessons that he/her will remember for a long time.

So, dear startups, wherever you will be in the next future we hope you will share with other aspiring entrepreneurs what you have learned here!

Good luck!

Ladies and gentlemen, the IID SMEs

2011-03-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

Italian pearls, today @ Stanford

2011-03-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

The countdown is officially on.

Within the 12 startups that have been preparing this moment for the last month at the MTB GYM and the 9 SMEs that flew from a far-away land, the excitement is palpable.

And we, the organizers, have a night-before-the-exams kind of feeling.

Let's be honest. Putting together such a production, between startups, medium companies, partners and media has not been a walk in the park. Starting from the effort of aligning different organizations, with very different DNAs, but yet, moved by very similar drivers, we wanted to communicate our strong belief that we, together, can make a difference.

And yet, this is a result of a gut feeling. And a pretty strong one.
That we, Italians, have still an opportunity to shine as innovators, even in the land of innovation by definition: the Silicon Valley.
And tomorrow we'll have our opportunity to prove it, providing data (a white paper) and "the beef" (the innovators).
We'll have a pretty full agenda full of stimulating content.
Have a look/download the full brochure here.
I just can't wait...
So people. Let's get this party started!!

IID goes virtual (with Hyperfair)

2011-03-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

[guest post by Andrea Ballarini, Hyperfair COO]

Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the Italian Innovation Day from the convenience of your home of office: the Italian Innovation Day goes virtual!

One week after the physical event, on April 7th, 2011 from 8am-11am PDT (17:00-21:00 GMT+1) you will be able to live the event again. Go to

virtual.italianinnovationday.com
sign up and start enjoying a fully immersive 3D experience. After styling your avatar you will be able to walk in a 3D world and get to know more about the companies by visiting their booths and interacting with their representatives through audio and video chat. You will also get the chance to watch the full recording of the conference by going to the virtual auditorium.

Be innovative yourself and attend the Virtual Italian Innovation Day!

Fourth week at Mind the Bridge Gym - Highligths

2011-03-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, our ten startups are almost at the end of their adventure with the Mind the Bridge Gym. However, they have no time to think about that, they are using every single second of their day to take advantage of their experience here!

This week we run several seminars as part of the Gym Edu program. The following are the most notable:

IP Rights: Vijay Toke, expert in IP rights, talked about patents, trademarks and copyrights - According to its technology a startup needs one more than another, but when a company grows up likely a combination of the three will be necessary to fully protect your intellectual property rights.

Innovation and Human Resouces: Vittorio Viarengo shared with us his meaningful experience with his startup focusing on team building. People is one of the most important ingredient for a startup. Always hire people that are smarter than you are - Class A person hires class A people, class B person hires class C people. Also, are you an entrepreneur-like guy or more a big company-like guy? Consider the 5 Fs principle. In a big company you have more time for Family and more Force; working in a startup is Fun, and has, as potential, Fortune and Fame. Which set of Fs fits you better?

The art of Networking: Evan Nisselson talked about the power of networking. One of the most important asset an entrepreneur might have or build is his/her contacts portfolio, especially in Silicon Valley. Be very smart in using it in a proper manner.

A first great result from one of our startups! Giovanni Venturini, CEO of Agroils, after few days here signed a partnership with Roberto Crea, PhD to start a new company Biosolids Technologies. This is the startup he's going to present at the Italian Innovation Day.

On Friday we had the last session of Gym Fridays' presentations. All three sessions were a big success, with an increasing number of people coming to assist to the presentations providing very useful feedback. This Friday we had some Gym Mentors and people from Microsoft and Guidewire group.

A few but intense days left with the 10 startups getting ready for the Gran Finale at the Italian Innovation Day at Stanford. We look forward to seeing their presentation after a month training at the Gym. Good luck guys!

Third week at Mind the Bridge Gym - Highlights

2011-03-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

The third week at Mind the Bridge Gym has been a very intense week for all the MTBers!

Events in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, meetings in Redwood City, Mountain View and Stanford...our startups are getting the chance to know the Silicon Valley and its vibrant network pretty well!

While working hard to get their pitch ready for the Gran Finale at the Italian Innovation Day at Stanford, this week our 10 startups were invited to participate to a few pitching events in the area and they participated to two seminars within Mind the Bridge Gym Edu program.

VISA issues: On Wednesday 16th, Jim Mayok, expert in immigration Visas, talked about the different typologies of Visas. Having a good law consultant facilitates the possibility to get a Visa tailored to the business you have rather than tailoring your business according to the Visa you can get. Getting a Visa requires a startegy that needs to be taken into account in your business plan if you are planning to move in the US.

Accounting system in the US: Elizabeth Shwiff, talked about some differences between the accounting system in Italy and in the US and she stressed the importance of relying on experts especially if you don't know pretty well the system yet.

VC Task Force: On Thursday 17th Minteos, Supercompare.it and Skipso presented their startups at VC Task Force. Marco Brini won the top score with Minteos while Supercompare.it and Skipso arrived in the first 5 positions among 11 startups. Good job guys!

Happy birthday Italy: Although in San Francisco, our startups didn't want to miss Italy's 150th anniversary celebration. What else better than a Italian flag - colored pasta? Milan, Turin, Sicily, Bologna, Florence, Brindisi.. no matter what city are you from, nobody can disagre with pasta!

Pitch @ Plug and Play: On Friday 18th, eRalos3, Glossom, Minteos, Mopapp and Supercompare.it were invited to present their ideas at Plug and Play in Sunnyvale.

Mind the Beer with Technogym: This week ended with a fantastic Mind the Beer event with Nerio Alessandri, founder and president of Technogym. He shared with us the inspiring story of his company, a story of passion, persistance, and hard work - three the key words that guided him in these years: passion, innovation and execution.

A great and inspiring example of a successful company based in Italy but internationally known, exporting its product everywhere.

Each entrepreneur and his/her own startup have particular conditions that may make more or less difficult or opportune to base or scale the startup in Italy, but examples like that gives some good hopes.

The debate is open..

Italian Innovation Day, March 31 - Stanford

2011-03-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

In the day of its 150th anniversary, our Bel Paese finds itself facing some serious troubling times. Probably the most challenging since several generations.
To be able to see the light at the end of this long tunnel, Italy needs to focus firmly on nurturing its best talent, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.
In one word, it should move Innovation at the top of its priorities.
Nurturing innovation domestically and packaging better its existing excellence to the eyes of rest of the world are the 2 main pillars around which we built the Italian Innovation Day concept.

It's the natural evolution of the "showcases of the best Italian innovation" (focused on our startup business plan competition) that we've been organizing for the last 3 years.

To be able to make a substantial imprint both internally and in international markets, we ought to widen the scope, including young companies as well as the most innovative small and medium companies that are notoriously the backbone of the Italian economy.

This is a very ambitious project that requires the support of multiple operators.
As such, the Italian Innovation Day was born as a joint effort between the Mind the Bridge foundation, Intesa Sanpaolo, sponsor of the Startup Initiative and Booz & Co main supporter of the Fulbright BEST program.

In addition, for every event (Stanford, New York, etc) further local co-organizers will join the organization committee.
Aligning the effort of such diverse entities, is already a clear sign that we are in the right direction (against all odds, one could suggest) adding rather than disaggregating.

Today, Italian Innovation Day is a nascent platform that will inaugurate its first event exactly in 2 weeks, on March 31 @ Stanford University (CA).

The half day event will consist of 3 tracks:

a conference: in collaboration with the prestigious Harvard Business School, we'll present the macro economical prospective of what's happening in Italy today, challenges and opportunities. Does Italy still matter to the world? The session will be followed by a stellar panel titled "Does Silicon Valley still matter?". Moderated by Fabrizio Capobianco, we'll have Tim Draper (Skype, Hotmail, Baidu, Overture, etc) , Scott Sandell (Salesforce, WebEx, NetIQ, etc), Jeff Clavier (Mint, Eventbrite, Milo, Ustream, etc), 3 of the world best startup investors.

a showcase: a set of selected most innovative SMEs will be showcased throughout the event in the exhibition area. A Scientific Committee, composed of all Italian superstars that made a significant imprint in the Silicon Valley innovation history, will evaluate the projects, interact with them and select the most innovative

a pitch session: a dozen startups, after 4 weeks of incubation at the MTB GYM, will have the opportunity to present their elevator pitch to the world best startup investors, chaired by: T. Draper, S. Sandell, J.Clavier and F.Capobianco

We expect to live an epical night, that, hopefully, will get us one step closer to the lofty objectives we posed ourselves.

Your admission can be booked here.
We see you guys all there!

Second week at Mind the Bridge Gym - Highlights

2011-03-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

The second week at Mind the Bridge Gym has gone!

Although our 10 startups are sleeping just a few hours every day - they're trying to be aligned both with the Italian and with the Silicon Valley time zones to manage their business operations in the two areas - they seem to have an endless energy!

After a first week of "orientation", their second week was pretty intense and full of meetings with potential partners and customers, networking events and seminars from Mind the Bridge Gym Education program - Presentation skills, Business Development and Corporate Operations in Silicon Valley.

Here the main highlights!

Presentation skills. On Wednesday 9th Elisabetta Ghisini gave our startups useful suggestions on how to make an effective pitch. It's probably true that experience and practice help you a lot, but there are yet some key points that everybody should keep in mind for a good presentation. Share your energy and your passion with the audience is one of those.

Business development. On Thursday 10th Matteo Fabiano shared interesting thoughts on how to develop the business model. Talking about partnerships, when you realize which would be your best partner, even if it's a big company, don't be afraid to negotiate with them deciding to go to the second choice partner instead - there are two reasons: first, the time you will spend to negotiate the partnership it's more or less the same, second, if you go to the second choice your competitor will go the best choice using you as case study!

Corporate operations in SV. On Friday 11th Matteo Daste talked about technology transfer models, exit strategies, cap tables, term sheets and valuation. An important aspect that came out of the discussion is that in Italy the valuation relies mostly on the past and expected revenues probably because having customers is one of the few ways to assure revenues to the investors due to the limited numbers of exits, M&A and IPOs, that occur in Italy.

In SV instead the valuation is determined by several other factors as portfolio of IPs, background and track record of the team, other investors involved etc. - if you have an interesting patent a company may be extremely interested in the acquisition of your startup and investors know that!

MopApp presenting to SFBeta. On Wednesday 9th Alessandro Rizzoli presented his startup at SFBeta, San Francisco's largest and longest running sturtup mixer, at the session Maximize Mobile Apps receiving very good feedbacks.

First session startups presentation. On Friday 11th we had the first session of startups presentations. Risparmiosuper, Xapio and Smania presented their business in front of their mentors and other people within MTB network receiving useful feedbacks to improve their final presentation.

Mind the Golden Gate Bridge! Saturday some of the startups decided to ride on their bike till the Golden Gate Bridge, that was quite an adventure for them - it took five hours to arrive there with a few technical stops during the journey! But they made it and after arriving to the bridge, well the view was breathless!

Stay tuned because the third week seems is going to be even more exciting!

Introducing Giusy Cannone

2011-03-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

Americans find her name impossible to pronounce.
The ones that kind of get it, are too embarrassed to say it ("juicy, really??")

It's kind of true. Giusy is part of the new juice @ Mind the Bridge!
Since January, she's been working tirelessly to make sure everything is running smoothly at the Gym, where she's the coordinator.
Giusy's professional experience spans from programs and activities to foster entrepreneurship, research on innovation policies and financing, intellectual property rights and technology management.

Born in Puglia, Giusy is currently doing a Ph.D at Polytechnic University of Turin on Economics and Management of Innovation. Among Giusy's prior professional experience, she spent six months at the Kauffman Foundation working with Kauffman's VP Lesa Mitchell on innovation policies research and on the organizations of programs to advance entrepreneurship in Europe.
In fact, I met her the first time in Kansas City, while visiting The Kauffman Foundation...

Giusy holds a master in Industrial Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, a master in Management Engineering from Polytechnic University of Milan and a diploma from the school of excellence Alta Scuola Politecnica.

Since she moved to California, after a couple of days of assessment she had to make the hardest decision. No more high heals, just flip-flops.
In that cove of hackers as Pier38 is, what else was she supposed to do??

Giusy, welcome to the MTB family!

First week at Mind the Bridge Gym – Highlights

2011-03-08T07:39:00.000-08:00

It seems unbelievable but the first week at MtB Gym has gone!

The 10 startups arrived 7 days ago are giving their first bites to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem. Here the most remarkable activities our startups were involved in this past first week! (full calendar here)

Introduction to the Silicon Valley ecosystem. On Thursday 3rd the 10 startups met Marco Marinucci at Google offices to talk about the main differences between Italy and Silicon Valley. Marco gave them the “first aid kit” for an Italian entrepreneur coming to SV.

Mind the Bridge Welcome party. On Friday 4th more than 70 people landed at Pier38 to welcome our startups. It was a great event that further demonstrated how much the community of Italian entrepreneurs, investors and managers based in the Silicon Valley sharethe objectives and the mission Mind the Bridge is carrying on.

Lunch&Learn about good and bad past decisions. On Monday 7th the startups had a roundtable lunch to share their good and their bad decisions on their businesses. This was a really useful moment to concretely learn from each other.

Meet your mentor. The startups got an introduction to their own mentor. The mentor will guide them through the Gym adventure helping the startup focus on ambitious but yet reachable goals during this month first few weeks in Silicon Valley.

Mind the city! As people say here - work hard, play hard! – Our guys here are very much enjoying the city. Walking all along the Embarcadero? Yes, it’s possible! Get lost in the middle of nowhere with a bike just bought and biking for 5 hours trying to find the way back? Yes, that’s also possible. But our guys love relaxing as well. Just today someone discovered there’s a SPA center at our residence. Do you want to know how many startups we will see at the office starting from tomorrow?

I have a guess but let’s wait for the second week highlights report to know it!

10 more startups flying to San Francisco

2011-02-27T18:01:00.001-08:00

The time has come!
10+ more reasons to add a direct flight Italy-San Francisco...
Today, 10 Italian startups are in the midst of their trip that will take them to the Silicon Valley.
From March 1st through the end of the month (or more), you'll find them @ Pier 38, guests of the MTB GYM.
7 finalists of the MTB Business Plan Competition (Xapio, Minteos, Smania, Risparmio Super, Eralos3, Mopapp, Porco Vino)

this year will be joined by 3 startups coming from the Intesa SanPaolo Startup Initiative (Agroils, Glossom, Skipso).

You can find the full description of the startups activity here.

The startups will go through a pretty intense 4 weeks of activities, filled with training modules, meetings with 1:1 mentor, group presentations and networking events.

If you are in the area, come and say hi to the founders on Friday, March 4th, we are hosting a welcome party for them (=drinks @ MTB GYM).

Since you are there, pencil down another date: March 31st.

They will present in front of a large audience @ Stanford University during the so called

Italian Innovation Day event (more to come on this one :-) )

The Italian flag is flying higher in Silicon Valley these days... let's keep it up!!

The GYM is open!

2011-02-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen... you can come in!

It all started as the natural extension of what Fabrizio Capobianco was pitching a couple of years ago: let's create the conditions to accelerate the development of hundreds of Funambol...and learn from experience!

A dedicated 1:1 mentor, a set of training modules that help the entrepreneur go straight to core of the practical issues he is facing every day. Particularly in a competitive environment as the Silicon Valley, timing is at the essence.
People don't have time to fool around: more often than not, you have one chance to impress your potential investor, one chance to set up your company with the right legal framework, one chance to mess around with your Visas to come and work in the US.
From every misstep you make, you can be 100% sure that some other similar startup in Silicon Valley has gained more momentum than you.

This is the idea behind the Gymnasium: do not waste energy, focus on what really matters develop the right product!
Take advantage of the knowledge that a network of mentors can provide you (they did learn from the same mistakes!), and use a friendly environment to build your (business) muscles.

You present the key component of your project regularly to a changing group of "experts", that is, people with relevant experience in your area that is willing to give you some constructive feedback.

Hey, better being "killed by friends" multiple times if that means being able to survive in the real world!
That's what the GYM is all about.

We tested it in a condensed version with some of the finalists of the 2008 and 2009 business plan competitions. Passpack had Fabrizio Capobianco as a mentor, Prossima Isola had Matteo Fabiano, and so forth.

Condensed (just a few weeks), but yet impactful (according to the startups!).

We decided to open the incubator to "affiliates" that could sponsor a few months of a limited number of startups. Since 2010 we hosted 4 startups (all from the Politecnico Milano).

The results in their 3 month incubation are remarkable:
- Neptuny: acquired by EMC (large US based corporation)
- Spreaker: additional round of funding
- Genefinity: hired their mentor as their US CEO
- Hyperfair: still incubated, significant commercial breakthroughs

Experiment successful, no doubts. In fact in the last year we have experienced a flourish of this very similar models across the US (500 startups program is the last one the bunch...)

What's the news today? We decided to open the doors to a more significant flow of companies to our space in the one-of-the-kind creative space @ Pier 38, in the (startup) heart of San Francisco.

All you have to do to participate is to sign up here.

We start a new cycle every 3 months (4 intakes per year).
We have a group of 10 startups that will be there until the end of March.
We still have some availability for the sessions of April-June and July-September.

And we'll also have some interesting plans in mind for the second semester...
Once more... stay tuned!

$50K for best graduate to join us

2011-02-03T00:07:00.000-08:00

Have ever dreamed of landing in Silicon Valley for the opportunity of your life time? If yes, read on...

The Mind the Bridge Foundation, with the support of CRT Bank, is offering to sponsor the best graduate from Piemonte+Val D'Aosta universities.

The winner of the selection will have the opportunity to spend 12 months in San Francisco as an associate of our GYM incubator, on Pier 38.

Prerequisites: 24-27 years old, you need to have graduated in the last year and you need to be the best at what you do. In particular: you need to be hungry and fool (ring a bell??)!

If that's you, hurry up! Deadline is Feb 28.

Full info here (we are at pag 69)

Good luck, this feels just like winning the jackpot to me...

MtB Italy Tour 2011: we hit the road again

2011-01-23T22:57:00.000-08:00

The Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2011 is about to start.
We have not yet defined all the dates and venues of the tour, but we know where and when we start: Rome, February 11th, at 10am.

During the Social Media Week (SMW)in Rome, Mind the Bridge organizes(in partnership with Augmendy)the Startup Lab, to be hosted in a really special venue: the Ministero della Gioventù (L.go Chigi 19).
An amazing line of speakers (including Alexis Ohanian, Reddit cofounder, Euardo Carlos Espinal, Seedcamp Partner, Alberto Onetti, Mind the Bridge Chairman) will discuss how to create successful web startups and provide hints to launch great companies. Giorgia Meloni, Minister of Youth, will join the discussion moderated by Marco Montemagno.
At the end a Gym sessions, with 5 startups lining up and presenting their business idea and plan.
See you there and stay tuned for more information about the next dates!

Genefinity graduates from the GYM

2011-01-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

[written by Stefano Maggiolino]

I am Stefano Maggiolino Managing Director of Genefinity Srl of Trieste, a company that, as we say here in the U.S., is defined as "Applied Research Company".
In other words we develop technologies to prototype, pilot plant and then we analyse if it better to enter in the market directly, sell patent, license the technology or create a spin off to develop the business. These opportunities depend on the technology, the market or the investment needed to start the projects.
We have already created a spin off to developed a new technology for photovoltaic panels and we are in the market directly with a fashion product: 2D jewels.

I arrived in San Francisco with the prestigious victory of "the Start Up of the Year" awarded in May 2010 in Naples.
The prize was a small amount of money and the chance to reach San Francisco and Silicon Valley with the help of the Mind The Bridge foundation. We are a company that operates in thin films with different fields of application as you can see from the first few lines, one in particular is a novel technology to deposit the circuit sensors for glucose analysis, biotech / medical devices field.
My first time here in the U.S., honestly, was kind of hard!
I thought and acted too often with the mentality of doing business with "the Italian style".
Eventually I realized that, if we wanted to "play" here, we have to do it with the rules of the game of the "far west".
So I started to envestigate, analyze and try to understand how the US the business world really works and learn the rules of the game. Here Mind The Bridge help was crucial.

As a first rule that I feel I communicate to others is to "Americanize" the company you want to build here because the different cultures, the way we do business and approaches with other Americans are rather simple and linear between indigenous and between foreign and indigenous.
For this, the the mentor assigned to us by MTB, Charles Versaggi, was crucial. Our mentor is an experienced communications and marketing professional in the biotech sector with decades of experience.
Although he could easily be my father (sorry Charles!) there was a harmony and complicity in a collaboration that would probably be very difficult to obtain in Italy with mentors or other consultants.
The thing that gives us confidence to continue this experience (although now I'm about to leave US), is that Charles himself believes so much in investing in us.
My second humble advice is to analyze well throughout patterns of investors and present the project in a way that is, at the same time, simple but compliant with their schemes.
In our case, we are now looking for seed funding to continue our pilot.
Soon, we'll have to switch to mass production, and there, we'll need to raise real money (a few millions).
In addition to the technology, we have developed strategic plans to approach the market and we have a couple of customers in China and Korea that are at the validation stage of our process for their sensors.
Our vision is more ambitious than ever. But didn't someone said "you have to dream make big dreams"?
That's what we are doing.

Thanks Mind the Bridge!

See you soon guys!

- Stefano

2011 here we come!

2010-12-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

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???

Prizes and Winners

2010-11-19T22:11:00.000-08:00

Training, mentoring and being plugged into a world of opportunities have always been at the core of what we do.
However, financial support if not bad either!
Thanks to our partnerships, for the first time, we are happy to distribute some prizes to a few startups.
The prizes consist of a mix of support for your trip expenses.
The details will be communicated directly to the winners.

So, here are the sponsors and the winners!

FONDAZIONE CARIPLO:
* eRALOS3
* Smania

TOP-IX:
* Risparmio Super
* MopApp

GENOVA HIGH TECH:
* Xapio

Congrats to all. You'd better start packing your things.
March will be California dreaming.

The WINNERS 2010 are...

2010-11-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

... find out in this video clip...

Here is the full list:
-GetConnected MopApp
-Risparmio Super
-Eralos 3
-Smania
-Fubles
-Porco Vino
-Minteos

In addition to these 7 finalists we also issued a "Popularity Prize".
The MTB Community has voted:

with 457 votes (to-date) the winner is
Xapio.

So, congrats to them, but also congrats to all the participants.

Let's keep working together.

Shortly, we will announce the prizes supported by our sponsors. Right here.

Announcing the finalists: Nov 18

2010-11-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

MTB People, we are almost there.

Following the presentation during the Venture Camp, the selection committee has deliberated and we did pick the finalists.
Yes, we are done with our selection... but we are not sharing it quite yet!
The full list will be made public just on Thursday (Nov 18). As tradition, we picked one of the main events taking place in Italy during the Global Entrepreneurship Week.
This year, we will show a video during the event: Firenze Crea Impresa (Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze)
If you still don't think that's a good enough reason to spend the day in Florence, fear not!
We will post it on this blog, and, likely, you'll find the news in the mass media...
In addition to the finalists, we'll communicate the several prizes sponsored by our partners (CARIPLO, GHT, TOP-IX)...
one more reason to stay tuned!

Torino, 16 Novembre 2010: UK-Italy Springboard

2010-11-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

UK-Italy Springboard is a business plan competition addressed to Italian startup dealing with ICT, Cleantech, E-Health e Advanced Engineering.

To take part in it, a preliminary selection is needed and will be performed by UK Trade & Investment e Jstone according to the following issues:

Team and skills
International market strategy
Innovation / short time to market
Sustainable business strategy (unique selling points)

On November 16th, selected projects will be pitched in front of a judging commission composed by members from UKTI, Jstone, SETSquared, un Business Angel UK, Finmeccanica and other expert professionals.

The winner will have the opportunity to test the UK market for 6 months being introduced into one accelerator of the SETsquared Partnership at the University of Bath, Bristol, Southampton or Surrey.

The prize includes:

Mentoring by senior entrepreneurs
3 reviews of the business plan
Networking and funding events
Services
Support

If you are interested, send an English version of your business plan to ukitalyspringboard@gmail.com

I-REALIZE: Lean Startup Hack and Google Site-Clinic

2010-11-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

The third episode of I-Realize saga focuses on the new entrepreneurial approach called Lean Startup. It will be on November 17th at the ToolBox Headquarter - Via Agostino da Montefeltro, 2 10134 Torino, Italy.

The background is again the Global Entrepreneurship Week, a special occasion to deal with the entrepreneurship theme.

Google, which will be involved as the main collaborator in the event organization, is probably the best interpreter of "beta release" and therefore there could be no better player to show in practice the Lean approach based on the "build", "measure" and “learn” cycle.

The event consists of a panel to go into the details of Lean Startup and a site-clinic powered in collaboration with Google, the right opportunity to put in practice the lesson learned.

In the panel there will be entrepreneurs, investors, bloggers and experts, which will try to define the picture of Lean Startup and adapt it to the Italian case.

Site-clinic rules: a number of startups will be pre-selected and their web sites will be inspected by Google team in their compatibility with search engine guidelines.

In the afternoon entrepreneurs could have one-to-one meeting with Google Adwords Team in order to understand how to improve the ROI using an appropriate Adwords campaign.

The event is free but you have to register yourself: startups can apply for site-clinic and Adwords one-to-one meetings through the registration form and the dedicated website.

You can find more information here: http://www.irealize.eu

Vote for your favorite startup!

2010-11-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

The crowd matters.

Venture Camp '10 finalists are now under review by the entire Mind The Bridge Community, not only expert investors and tech gurus as standard, but also all the common people visiting our website.

In the "era of 2.0" people's ratings rule: that's why we introduced and set up a simple mechanism to collect crowd preferences about the 15 startups running the last mile of the Business Plan Competition and taking part in the MtB Venture Camp in Milan.

At the end of the event the startup receiving the higher number of preferences will be assigned the 1st MtB Crowd Prize.

During the event go to http://venturecamp.mindthebridge.org/presenting-startups,

read the short profiles and click the "FB Like" button under the startup profile you prefer to give your vote!

Preparing the Venture Camp - Go early birds!

2010-10-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

-16 days to the opening of the MTB Venture Camp 2010. The heat is on!

The agenda is almost final, and it includes an amazing line up of speakers.

The event will unfold around three axis:

Policy: removing the roadblocks that are in the way to develop more innovation in Italy
Role models: learn from the success stories
The new talents: our semifinalist startups

From US we'll have several personalities, starting with Steven Koltai and Richard Boly, both representatives from the Obama administration. Together with Shuly Galili (executive director of the California Israel Chamber of commerce) they will participate to the panel focused on how to learn from other countries that developed successful innovation policies over the last decades.

From the industry, we'll have Vittorio Viarengo, Giacomo Marini as representatives of the Italian Gold in Silicon Valley, Bernardo Hernandez, Head of Consumer Marketing at Google and angel investor, Javier Olivan, head of Facebook international development, Tony Espinoza, serial entrepreneur, super-angel and now head of MTV social gaming.

On the Italian policy front we expect the On. Alessia Mosca (parliament member) and, likely, On. Brunetta, our Minister of Innovation.

And many, many more...

During the evening, we'll have the pleasure to mingle and meet all these amazing guests.

So, you'd better hurry up and get your seat!

Today is THE LAST DAY to enjoy a substantial "early bird" discount.

We also offer a 40% discount per people under 30 (ID required). The discount code to use for this week is: 30less

Last year we got fully booked several days before the event (we have just 250 seats available), so you'd better hurry up if you are serious about getting inspired!

The other Italy

2010-10-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

I just received this message from our friend Charles Versaggi that I thought would be interesting to share. It gives a good prospective on how second/third generation Italian-Americans are perceiving what's happening in Italy. It follows a pretty interesting debate raised a few days ago during the BAIA event "Transplanting start-ups in Silicon Valley: does it work?"

Buongiorno Marco,

As I work more closely with the Mind the Bridge Foundation and the Italian business sector, I'm learning more and more about the "other Italy."Underneath the romanticism of Tuscan villas and La Dolce Vita, lies another Italy I'm only now beginning to comprehend and understand. Starting with the enigma of Berlusconi and the 'sclerotic gerontocracy' he oversees, to the mass exodus of its educated youth, I can't help but conclude Italy is undergoing a socio-economic crisis that threatens its future stature as a 21st Century world player — and I'm not talking about the World Cup.

I appreciated the thoughtful comments you and the other panelists provided at last Thursday's BAIA event. Sensing you and others were only scratching the surface of an ongoing dilemma, I dug deeper and read your recent blog http://siliconvalley.corriere.it/2010/10/italia_si_italia_no.html and the string of TIME links that gave me an eyeopening overview of Italy's growing dilemma.

I agree with your three points recommending a global view. Indeed, we are all citizens of the world and participants in a global economy. But as an Italian-American who was conceived in Italy and born in the U.S., like a salmon that moves relentlessly upstream to its spawning grounds, I still have an instinctive yearning for my homeland. The dilemma of this first-generation Italian-American is that sometimes I'm not sure where home is. For today's bright Italian youth attempting to embrace a world view, I suspect the conundrum is all the more frustrating.

All the best,
Charles

IAG invests in Spreaker

2010-10-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

It's finally official.

We are really glad to report that IAG (Italian Angels for Growth, the main Italian angel investment group) has agreed in investing in Spreaker.
We are talking about a seed investment (250K Euro), but still, I'm sure that Francesco & Co will go a long way with that.

That's a good testament of the impressive work that Francesco has been able to accomplish when still in bootstrapping. During its 3 months at the GYM, Spreaker built up a pretty solid reputation, coming up as one of the most interesting new kids in town.

Congrats kids, that's another important step forward.

I'm sure, we'll see you soon around here...

Interview to Francesco Baschieri

2010-10-05T01:30:00.000-07:00

Today we want to introduce our special friend,Francesco Baschieri. He is the founder of Spreaker, the first start up that has joined the Mind The Bridge GYM this summer in San Francisco.
Francesco is a serial entrepreneur, passionate about new technologies and business models and always interested in the next innovation that will change the world.
Spreaker, his last adventure, is a true Web Radio 2.0 where every show is created by the audience itself. Spreaker has shifted the paradigm from creating a complete radio stream to producing a single show. Radio stations are then created by assembling single pieces (one after another) into a continuous stream of audio.
“Creating a show is easy and does not require any technical expertise: all the necessary tools that users might need are available online at www.spreaker.com. The DeeJay Console TM allows users to mix live audio input from their microphone with music tracks and sound effects which are available online as part of a large user-friendly library.

The entire service is free of charge for the user: it is Spreaker that manages the whole infrastructure and pay for music royalties.”

At the well-known Pier 38 Francesco has spent 3 months trying to bring his start up to an international dimension: he has participated to numerous events, business meetings and social happenings and was actively participating to the entrepreneurial life of the city. For this reason we thought to realize the following interview in which he presents his company and tell us his experience in the Silicon Valley.

For those that might join our crew in the future, take into consideration all his suggestions.
Ciao Francesco, It was a pleasure to work with you!

It was a great Boot Camp!

2010-10-04T04:31:00.000-07:00

In Varese we welcomed the 32 startups selected from our 2010 MTB Business Plan Competition. We opened them the doors to our Boot Camp, a 3-day training and coaching program, aimed at helping startups to clarify, create, and communicate their entrepreneurial vision into a viable business plan worthy of financial support. During the workshop, we continued our selection process, extracting the short list of 15 semi-finalists that will present @ Corriere della Sera in Milan on November 5th-6th.

The Boot Camp kicked off with a workshop and public forum designed to address the challenges and opportunities of Italian entrepreneurship. It was hosted at the Faculty of Science. During the Open Workshop Alberto Onetti presented some data about Italian startups and highlighted the main issues entrepreneurs face in Italy while starting up a company (here is the link for the slides). Charles Versaggi, the Boot Camp Program Director, explained how to tell your business story. At the end of the workshop Elizabeth Robinson (Co-founder, NicOX), Marco Asquini (Co-owner, General Manager, SUPER/FLUO) and Maurizio Liverani (Baryon Capital) told their own entrepreneurial story. Francesco Baschieri provided some feedbacks from his recent stay at the MtB Gym in San Francisco. You can access the videos from our MindtheBridgeTv channel on You Tube.

The remaining part of theBoot Camp was held in the gorgeous venue of Villa ToepliTz. The Program was run by top notch instructors and included the following topics:

- The Story: Articulating the Value Proposition (by C. Versaggi)
- Business models and strategy — understanding the value chain (by A. Onetti)
- Project, product or company? How to assess and qualify technologies as a basis for starting a company (by A. Onetti)
- Legal considerations in forming a company (by T. Cherubino)
- Financing: the capitalization process and financing strategies (by C. Maifredi)
- The capital raising process - Pre-money/post-money valuation, the term sheet (by M. Liveerani and A. Onetti)
- Anatomy of a Business Plan (by C. Versaggi and A. Onetti)

It was a great Boot Camp as you can perceive from the comments some participants posted on our Facebook Wall. You can feel the energy and passion we experienced during the 3 days we spent with the startups in Varese.

"Hello guys, I'm really happy to attended the Bootcamp, one of my best experiences. I met very smart people, from whom I learned a lot"
"Great BootCamp! All tutors where really top level. Charles was en-lighting. MtB organizers and Onetti have done a terrific job! Thanks all for the great experience and good luck to all partecipants"
"Thanks all for amazing experience. Thanks to MTB team and to Charles, that he sent us the right enthusiasm to take forward our plans well...See you all in Pavia soon"
"Thanks to all of you Folks! Continue in this direction with enthusiasm, passion and a vision to realize your business dreams!"

Introducing the Italian MtB Team

2010-10-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

Together with our activities, the MtB Italian team is growing quickly, with the arrival of 2 new MTB members, Federica and Simona, and the external support of 3 members from the CrESIT reseach centre (Alessia, Marco and Manuela).
Some of you met them in Varese @ the MtB Boot Camp (the pic on the left was taken right there, at Villa ToepliTz). It is now time to introduce them, one by one.

Federica Pepponi has a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance from Bocconi University. During this summer, Federica was able to manage the hundreds of business plans and ideas we received and coordinated with the Selection Committee members. "Most of the startups submitted the very last day ... July 31st was quite a day (and night), I needed 3 days to recover".

Simona Bielli graduated in Economic and Management from Insubria University. She spent the summer (without enjoing a single day of sun, but meeting "genial minds and delicious people") in San Francisco and now she's back in Italy as part of our team. She coordinated all the logistics of the Boot Camp, chasing the partecipants one-by-one.

For the main events the MtB team is supported and integrated by 3 members of the CrESIT Research Centre (University of Insubria).

Alessia Pisoni holds a Ph.D. from the University of Insubria in Economics of Production and Developmenic and coordinates the CrESIT Research Unit.

Marco Talaia is member of the CrESIT Research Centre and Ph.D. candidate at University of Pavia. He has been Visitin Scholar at San Francisco State University in 2007.

Manuela Menegotto is member of CrESIT Research Group, where she manages activities in the areas of innovation and international business.

All of them are young people. They bring a fresh breath of enthusiasm and passion, and, most importantly, they share our vision: to promote a new Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem that is ethical, highly professional, internationally focused and excellence driven
Thank you guys for the good work you did and will do!

Living the MtB Social Community

2010-10-03T08:30:00.001-07:00

[Published by Leonardo Ratti, MTB Community Manager]

There is something new going on in these last few months within the Mind The Bridge world, beside the terrific success of our summer special events in Torino and Cagliari and the MtB Boot Camp just terminated in Varese.
An entire new wave of friends, fans, followers or people simply interested in the subject are joining our online community bringing enthusiasm and passion but also precious comments and feedback on our activities and future events.

Born with the MtB blog on our website and the Silicon Valley blog @Corriere.it , the MtB Social Community has been experiencing in the last two years a tremendous increase in terms of followers and tools used with the introduction of the MtB Facebook page, the MtB LinkedIn group, the Mind The Bridge Tv Channel on Youtube and the Twitter profile.
But there's something more than a simple increase of attention on our social media profiles.
The Foundation has a strong awareness that building a social community is crucial from different perspectives.
On the one hand, being involved in these channels means being part of the social network, the space where, for the most part, our start-ups are promoting their projects.
On the other hand, this allows us to collect "the buzz" on entrepreneurship, new ventures and innovation in Italy and to take advantage of these inputs to leverage our strategy and better help all the stakeholders involved in the process of innovate the Italian eco-system.

We have a dedicated team within the Foundation that will be in charge of exploiting each communication channel in the most effective way. Obviously the most important resource to reach this goal is the contribution from our start-ups, Alumni, followers and friends. In one word YOU!
This movement will really spearhead the backbone of the MtB community. Let's get started! Take a look at the videos just uploaded on our MindTheBridge TV on the latest BootCamp and start posting your comments and feedback.
We expect to have special promotions, prices, etc. for our active online community members.

See you on-line!

Leonardo Ratti, MtB Community Manager.

Lost in translation

2010-09-29T21:56:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-14T18:25:00.001-07:00

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 ...

2010-09-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-02T16:59:00.001-07:00

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.

Italian Parliament member visiting the GYM

2010-08-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

August 26th has been a crowded day here at Pier 38. We had numerous guests intrigued to visit our new location in San Francisco. At 3.00 pm we received a special visit from honorable Alessia Mosca, member of the Italian Parliament along with the Italian Consul in San Francisco, Fabrizio Marcelli.

Alessia Mosca (www.alessiamosca.it), is the current secretary at the Labor commission of the Italian Parliament. She has been the protagonist of numerous petitions for women’ equal opportunities and has a special interest for the dynamics that affect the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem. Alessia was supposed to be in San Francisco on vacation but she carved some time to meet the MtB factory.

“This place is marvelous”, she said once entered our old-navy-style open space, perfectly fitting the in her jeans and T-shirt. After a short tour of the premises, meeting the start ups and incubators that are based in the Pier, we moved to our favorite meeting room (also used for after-hour video games competitions).

Here we met Marco Campanari, CEO and founder of Hyperfair, and Andrea Ballarini, (COO) responsible for leading the strategies and setting up the company operations in the U.S. Hyperfair is the typical example of an Italian Company managed by talented professionals that intend to take all the chances offered by the market at a global level. Marco gave us a brief introduction about the story of the company and the plans for the future, while Andrea showed us a demo on how they organizes and manages virtual trade fairs on the web. “HyperFair reproduces the trade fair environment just as we all know it: pavilions, booths, workshops and conferences. Inside the virtual fair people are moving around and interact through their avatar (virtual alter-ego), communicating in real time via chat and videocall”.

Coming back to reality we discussed about the major drivers of the innovation process and the problems that a young Company have to face in the actual Italian contest. Alessia was particularly interested in the subject as she is working on future reforms that the Italian Parliament should introduce in Italy to promote the Venture Capital industry. It was 5.30 when Alessia left us to spend the rest of the day in a sunny San Francisco.

We thank our guests for the visit and we hope that our experience in Silicon Valley will contribute to produce significant changes in the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Silicon Valley Study Tour visits Mind the Bridge at Pier 38.

2010-08-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a group of about 20 leading students from Italy visited Mind the Bridge office at Pier 38, San Francisco. They are participating to the 6th edition of the Silicon Valley Study Tour, one of the first initiatives aimed at introducing young graduates from Italy to the Silicon Valley, creating useful links with Italian "insiders" working here and giving awareness of the opportunities in the Bay Area.

After meeting Elance and the theme-park-looking headquarters of Yahoo and Facebook, it's time for them to enter Pier 38, the funky place in which more and more fledgling Web 2.0 startups are renting desks to stay plugged into the ecosystem.

It's 6 P.M. and a chaotic and crowded meeting of "Hackers & Founders" has just started in the open space where MtB works. The first impact of the group is a bit unexpected:
"How can people work here with this noise?" asks Roberta Martelli, studying business at the University of Piemonte Orientale and one of the few girls in the group. A hundred geeks and want-to-be entrepreneurs are in fact having a beer and some pretzels and talking about shiny technologies, new projects, sharing ideas and looking for co-founders. Even if during the day people work hard and are mainly silent, it's routine to have some social events in the evening. Everyone enjoys the atmosphere and starts to meet other interesting people, so that it becomes nearly difficult to start presenting our activity.

"Environment and people are so smart here that you immediately would like to join them and create a startup!" says Enrico Cinquini, a student of the University of Genova interested in criptography.
Nonetheless, the visit goes on and sitting on couches we listen to Marco Campanari, CEO and founder of Hyperfair, one of the 2 new startups that will take part in the MtB Gym program. The audience looks very interested: finally an Italian promise in the Silicon Valley!
After that, we invite our Spanish friend Pedro Moneo to present Opinno, an open innovation network of entrepreneurs and investors, working just beside us, in the same "Mediterranean branch" at Pier 38. People continue to interact, exchanging business cards and eating popcorns. We finally ask Roberto Fonti, a smart Italian guy who founded Buzzbox - a web startup developing Android ad iPhone applications to filter news - to tell his experience as Italian in the Silicon Valley.
Even if tired due to the intensity of the day, students are very glad to meet these people really living the American dream.
What if one day they become the next Zuckerberg...?

Introducing Marco & Danilo @ Team MTB

2010-08-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

The desks at our new creative space on Pier 38 are getting filled up quickly.

Since the beginning of the summer, the Pier speaks more Italian with the arrival of 2 new MTB members, Danilo and Marco.

Here how they introduce themselves:

Danilo Cardascia is the founder of Human capital (www.hcapital.it), a Company based in Bari with the mission of promoting entrepreneurship and venture investing in the Apulia Region. Human Capital supports talented young entrepreneur by providing them with funds and other consulting services during the start up phase. In July Danilo moved to San Francisco to collaborates with MTB at Pier 38. After a couple of weeks spent dealing with the airline company that lost his bag, he is ready to discover the reasons that have made the Silicon Valley, the home to many of the world's largest technology companies.

Marco Rizzone is a PhD Student in Technology Management at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy (www.sssup.it). His research is focused on Web X.0 Business Models and startup creation: nothing could be better than getting plugged into the Silicon Valley network! After investing 4 months in a venture capital fund to learn how the world of innovation financing runs, he decided to elaborate a plan to get in touch with a number of web entrepreneurs and collect data for his PhD thesis.

Collaborating with Mind The Bridge, he has the chance to act into the heart of the ecosystem.

At Pier 38 Marco can interact with incredible startups and creative minds: "it's very cool here - he says - I was studing the Hi5 business model and just two desks behind me I meet the founder, a serial entrepreneur who has now started Buzzbox... or you sit on the couch to post something in your Wordpress-made blog and the person in front of you is just writing... Wordpress code!" (Wordpress is also sharing space with us).

Despite his picture here, Marco seems to be enjoying his new life: social networking at day, social dancing at night!

You'll hear more from Marco, Danilo, our startups hosted at the GYM and their (ad)ventures in the next few days...

Business Plan Competition: Selection is ongoing

2010-08-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Deadline for Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition is over.
This year we received hundreds of Business Plans & Call for Ideas. Really a lot, better than any other previous Mind the Bridge (which is definitively a great sign).
Now it's time for our Selection Committee to start its job (actually they already have). It is quite a challenge given the high number of submissions we received. But we are committed to complete the selection by the end of the first week of September. And we are not going to miss it.
Below you can find the list of the components of 2010 MTB Selection Committee, that is coordinate by our Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol CEO: they are all top-notch Italian and international venture capitalists, business angels and professionals. Thank you to all them for their continuous help and support!
Their goal is to select the best 30 proposals. The selected top 30 entrepreneurs will be admitted free of charge to our Bootcamp (that will be held in Varese on Sep 23-25) and Coaching (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 who will be admitted to present at the Venture Camp in November (on Nov 5-6 @ Corriere della Sera in Milan).
If you are confident that you business plan is good enough, please save all these dates.
Stay tuned to check the list of admitted startups.

MTB Business Plan Competition
2010 Selection Committee
Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol (coordinator)
Alessio Beverina, Sofinnova Partners
Claudio Giuliano, Innogest
Fausto Boni, 360 Capital Partner
Leonardo Camiciotti, Top-ix
Gianluca Dettori, Dpixel
Pietro Dova, XG Ventures
Lorenzo Franchini, IAG
Ruggero Frezza, M31
Maurizio Liverani, Classfinance
Massimiliano Magrini, Annapurna Ventures
Nicola Nicoletti, Pricewaterhouse Cooper
Stefano Peroncini, Quantica
Maurizio Petitbon, Kreos Capital
Mauro Pretolani, TLCOM
Nicola Redi, Fondamenta
Elisabeth Robinson - NicOx/Fulbright BEST
Carol Sand, The Angels' Forum, The Halo Funds
Giuseppe Serazzi, PNCube
Maria Silva, Genova High Tech
Pietro Strada, Centerboard Partners
Alberto Trombetta, Finlombarda
Davide Turco, Atlante Ventures, Intesa San Paolo
Luca Ungarelli, Golden Mouse
Charles Versaggi, Versaggi Biocommunications

MTB Summer BBQ 2010 - Pics

2010-08-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year.
San Francisco is getting flooded by ords of turists, in particular Europeans. How can you tell? They are the ones in shorts and flip-flops (Italians have some fancy ones) freezing while walking the San Francisco Fisherman Warf, immersed in the cool thick fog (dudes, ever thought about checking TripAdvisor before leaving??)

And in this time of year around "ferragosto" the MTB BBQ for friends and families has become a tradition.

This year we moved South, to the warm Woodside, where, in fact, there is a summer.

A great gathering for the startups hosted at the MTB Gym, the full MTB team (including the freshly arrived reinforces), mentors, and MTB aficionados that included startups from the 2009 competition (Francesco Inguscio, VRMedia) and even a witness (and finalist) of the 2008 competition (Michele Aiello, Eris 4).

Drinks, burgers and an illegally imported Italian "coppa" made the rest.

From lunch to dinner, it was a real Italian "festa".

The GYM @ Pier 38

2010-08-07T22:52:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of July, the MTB GYM has a new home: Pier 38, in San Francisco, right at the beginning of the Embarcadero promenade, past the Giant's AT&T Park.

The highly stimulating open space of Pier 38, hosts several incubators (the most famous are The Dogpatch and Opinno) for a total of ~ 60 startups. Among them, some famous success stories such as WordPress and a couple of others recently acquired by Google.

View Larger Map

Or the recently arrived GYM startups that have started populating Pier38.
Starting from Spreaker, Francesco Baschieri's creature, that is quickly gaining popularity in the Bay Area with its web radio broadcasting.

Pier38 is also home of Mashape, the web tool startup founded by Augusto Marietti, Marco Palladino and Michele Zonca and one of the TechCrunch's favorite.
Since the beginning of the month the Gym is also home for Danilo Cardascia and Marco Rizzone, our new entries in the MTB family. You'll hear about them soon...

-10 days to MTB 2010 Competitions deadline

2010-07-22T01:51:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
this is a reminder that the deadline to submit proposals for the 2010/11 edition of the Mind The Bridge
- Business Plan Competition and
- Call for Ideas
is fast approaching: JULY 31 is the last days for submitting your executives summary!
This year competition is accompanied by a number of highly stimulating prizes, on top of the usual goodies (training, presenting at Venture Camp event @ Corriere della Sera, incubation in Silicon Valley).
We would appreciate if you can give visibility to this opportunity to your network through your highly effective communication tools.

Feedback from ESOF 2010 in Turin: video interviews

2010-07-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

We were invited to present last week in Turin at ESOF 2010. We sit in a panel organized by JSTONE.
The goal was to discuss about new models of innovation and ways for effective networking knowledge, finance and entrepreneurship.
Among the speakers: Alberto Onetti (Chairman, Mind the Bridge Foundation , US), Ilana Gross (Program Director Matimop, Israeli Industry Center for R&D , Israel), Reshma Sohoni (CEO, seedcamp, United Kingdom) and Gianluca Dettori (Chair, Dpixel , Italy).
In this video (kindly provided by Top-ix) you can get some insights from the speakers. Enjoy!

Mind the Bridge Business Plan Competition 2010: deadline is approaching!

2010-07-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

July 31st, 12am CET: this is the final deadline for submitting your Executive Summary and Business Plan and try to start your own way to Silicon Valley.
We have a lot of news this year.
Firstly, we have Prizes for the best startups. Not money, but grants to cover the costs the startups have during their period of stay at our Gym in Silicon Valley. Stay tuned for more details. Meanwhile don't miss the deadline for submitting your idea. Late comers are not adimitted.
Secondly, besides our mainstream Business Plan Competition (BPC), we have launched a new program, named Call for Ideas (C4I), dedicated to proto-enterpreneurs with an idea at the very early stage. Check the website to understand which competion does fit best with your idea.
Don't miss the opportunity! Less than 20 days to the final deadline...

Cagliari: here we come. This Friday Special Event of the MtB Italy Tour

2010-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

This week, on Friday (June 25th) we are in Cagliari, with the second of the Special Events of our Mind the Bridge Italy Tour. The venue is the Auditorium of Sardegna Ricerche in Pula (Edificio 2, Località Piscinamanna).

It is a full day program. Startup School in the morning (with Alberto Onetti and Marco Marinucci on the stage) and a session of our MtB Gym in the afternoon. In the evening we organize - with the support of our local sponsor Hosteras - a cocktail event at Villa del Borgo Relais in Santa Margherita di Pula: a dreamplace where to relax and networking. Please remember to reserve your ticket: it is free, but admissions are limited. Here is the link for RSVP (remember you have to register twice, both for the day program and evening event).

As you know, in the afternoon we are going to replicate here in Italy our Gym, i.e. the mentorship activity we regularly do in Silicon Valley with our startpus admitted to the program: companies presenting their business plans in front of a panel of venture capitalists and seasoned entreprenuers. Open discussion, comments, honest feedbacks. Ultimate goal is fine tuning the business idea (what and where it works, where and what doesn't) and making the value proposition more effective.
We got a terific feedback from Sardinia: we received over 20 applications for the Gym session in Cagliari!
Our Selection Committee worked all over the weekend for deciding the short-list of startups admitted to the Gymnasium in Cagliari. Not an easy task since we received a lot of plans, all of them quite interesting.
Anyway here are (in alphabetical order) the startups we selected for the Gym next Friday:
-MYOT
-NEURESAR
-PHILANTHROBUSINESS
-PORCOVINO
-TZENTE

As we always point out, not being in the list above does not mean that there is no potential in your plan. Thus we are looking forward to meeting all the startups (not only the selected ones) in Pula, where to share insights and provide some feedback.
We strongly suggest to take part to the whole event with your entire management team (please register with all the members if you haven't yet done).
Startups admitted to the Gym session have 10 minutes for presenting their idea (we will send you a template for helping you in structuring the presentation). Presentation will be followed by 20/25 minute time of Q&A.
The key word of the Gym is open discussion and honest feedback. Then partecipating to the Gym session is a MUST for all the startups, not only for the ones we selected to present. Everybody can largely benefit from the discussion of all the business ideas as well as the education program in the morning.
See you in Pula!

Here are the startups selected for the Gym in Turin

2010-06-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

This Thursday (June 10th) our Mind the Bridge Italy Tour stops in Turin, with the first of our Special Events.
It is a full day program. Startup School in the morning, a session of our MtB Gym in the afternoon.
In the afternoon we are going to reproduce here in Italy what we regularly do in Silicon Valley with the startpus admitted to our mentorship program: startups presenting their business plans in front of a panel of venture capitalists and seasoned entreprenuers. Open discussion, comments, honest feedbacks. Ultimate goal is fine tuning the business idea (what and where it works, where and what doesn't) and improving the presentation.
For the event in Turin we have received a lot of applications and we are really excited about this.
Here are the 5 startups our selection committee admitted to the Gym session in Turin:
- Intervieweb
- Makoo
- URLi.st
- Visual Sport
- We-Sport
All the other plans we received do still sound interesting. Time contraints forced us to pick-up only 5 startups. Not being in the list above does not mean that there is no potential in your plan. Then we are looking forward to meeting all the startups (not only the selected ones) in Turin, where to share insights and provide some feedback.

We strongly suggest to take part to the whole event with your entire management team (please register if you haven't yet done).
Startups admitted to the Gym session have 10 minutes for presenting their idea (we will send you a template for structuring your presentation). Presentation will be followed by 20/25 minute time of Q&A.
The key word of the Gym is open discussion. Then partecipating to the Gym session is a must for all the startups, not only for the ones we selected to present. Everybody can largely benefit from the discussion of all the business ideas as well as the education program in the morning.
See you there and stay tuned!

MTB Italy Tour: Special Events in Torino and Cagliari

2010-05-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

We have two special dates this month: on Jun 10th we are in Torino (@I3P - Incubatore Imprese Innovative Politecnico Torino) and, on Jun 25th, in Cagliari (@Sardegna Ricerche, Pula). They are special dates of our MTB Italy Tour 2010: two full-day events that offer terrific opportunities of learning and networking.
Check our website for information about the format of these special events and details about the program. Partecipation is free, pre-reservation is required

Why these special events? We receive every day a lot of requests about how to prepare a business plan, how to talk with a venture capital, and so on. Many of you ask feedback about his/her business idea. The MTB Italy Tour is going to provide some concrete answers to these requests.
The morning session (MtB Start-up School) is aimed at providing education re: entrepreneurship, business planning, venture capital market and Silicon Valley eco-system. Business school style, with a pragmatic approach (we give you the "nuts and bolts"). The modules are provided by Alberto Onetti, Chairman of MTB Foundation, and other top notch experts.
In the afternoon we replicate a session of our MtB Gym, the mentorship program we run in Silicon Valley. A panel of investors and entrepreneurs provide comments and feedbacks to selected start-ups that present their ideas. If you want to be considered for the MTB Gym, please send your executive summary to the following email address: torino2010@mindthebridge.org (for Torino) and cagliari2010@mindthebridge.org (for Cagliari).
And, during lunch time and in the evening, plenty of time for Networking.
Don't miss the opportunity. We are looking for seeing you in Torino and/or Cagliari. Check the website for details and reserve your seat.

2010 Business Plan Competition: the race is open!

2010-05-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of this week, the Mind the Bridge 2010/11 cycle is up and running.
The deadline to submit your business plan is July 31st.

You know the rules of our Business Plan Competition (BPC). We are looking for highly innovative startups, focused on a global market, with high growth potential.
A dozen of the semifinalists will be invited to present during the Venture Camp event on November 5-6th @ Corriere della Sera in Milan. The selected projects will go through several months of mentoring, including a two days Bootcamp (on September 24-25th in Varese) and Coaching (on October 15-16th in Pavia)
Some of the selected projects will be offered to join the MtB Gym, where our proto-entrepreneurs will be able to build their muscles in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
The business plans have to be submitted through our website where you can find the required formats to be used for the application

Starting this year, also thanks to the support of Cariplo Foundation, we launched a new initiative, "Call for Ideas" (CfI), targeted for students, researchers, scientists, Ph.Ds, who have a brilliant business idea, but not yet a structured and articulate business plan. The finalists of this competition will have the chance to present their ideas at Venture Camp 2010. The format for drafting your executive summary is available on the website.
If you have a business idea, even if at the early stage and not yet fully finalized, the MtB Call for Ideas is the competition designed for you. Don’t miss this opportunity!

MtB Italy Tour: this week we are in Milan and Bergamo

2010-05-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

This week you can meet Mind the Bridge in Milan and Bergamo.
Tomorrow (May 18th), starting at 6:30pm we are at Università Cattolica. The venue is Aula Luzzati (Largo Gemelli 1).
On Wednesday (May 19th) our Italy Tour stops in Bergamo: we are hosted by the local university. The presentation starts at 10:30am (viale Marconi 5, Dalmine). Meet you there.
Menawhile, if you live in Turin, save the date: we will be there on Jun 10th, for a full day event. Stay tuned for more details.

MtB Italy Tour: next week (May 11th) in Novara

2010-05-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

On May 11th, MtB Italy Tour lands in Piedmont, in Novara.
The event is organized jointly with Università del Piemonte Orientale and Incubatore d'Impresa del Polo di Innovazione di Novara.
The venue is the Faculty of Economics (Aula 204, Via Perrone 18, Novara). The event starts at 4pm.
We are looking forward to meeting students, Ph.Ds., reseachers and everyone is interested in understanding how to start-up a new business. See you in Novara!
Yesterday (May 3rd) over 150 students crowded Aula Manzoni (one of the most famous university places thanks to a well-known commercial)at Politecnico in Milan. 10 students stopped us at the door right after the conference for presenting their own ideas. This is the feedback we are looking for. Guys, we wait for you submitting your plans to our Business Plan Competion or Call for Ideas.
A special thank you to Professor Moramarco for the hospitality and for supporting us throghout the presentation.

Post Gran Finale: startup interviews and pics

2010-04-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

New York:

From Sausalito, with San Francisco in the background:

MtB Italy Tour: the agenda for the incoming week

2010-04-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Quite intense program for the incoming week.
On Wednesday 13th, 3 presentations are scheduled at Politecnico of Milan, while on Thursday 14th we are at Parco Tecnologico Padano, the agri-food cluster that is located south-east of Milan.
See below for the details.

April 13, 10:15am
Politecnico di Milano
Corso di Impianti Informatici, Prof. Giuseppe Serazzi
Aula EG2, Milano Città Studi,
Via Golgi 39

April 13, 10:15am
Politecnico di Milano
Corso di Sistemi di Elaborazione dell’Informazione, Prof. Paolo Cremonesi
Aula EG3, Milano Città Studi,
Via Golgi 39

April 13, 4:00pm
Politecnico di Milano
Corso di Energie Rinnovabili, Prof. Paolo Silva
Aula CT 38, Milano Bovisa,
Via Lambruschini 4

April 14, 2:30pm
Parco Tecnologico Padano
Sala Convegni, Lodi,
Via Einstein-Loc. Cascina Codazza

MtB Italy Tour: next week dates

2010-04-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

The week after Easter we have three additional presentations, all scheduled on Wednesday (Apr 7th). The venue is the Politecnico of Milan, where we will be hosted by Prof. Frattini (Corso di Impianti Industriali, starting at 9:45am, Aula BL 27.0.8, Via Lambruschini 4),Prof. Mainetti (Corso di Tecnologie Applicazioni e Servizi Internet, at 3.15pm, Aula BL 27.1.4, Via Lambruschini 4)and Prof. Colombo (Corso di High Tech Entrepreneurship, at 3.30pm). Thank to all of them for welcoming us (and obviously to our speakers, Giuseppe De Giorgi and Tommaso Minola).

Where you can meet MtB this week

2010-03-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

MtB Italy Tour is on the road also this week. 3 presentations are scheduled in Milan. See below for the details

Tuesday, March 30th, 10am
Politecnico di Milano
Ingegneria Energetica
Corso di Impianti industriali (Prof. Chiaroni)

Tuesday, March 30th, 2:30pm
Politecnico di Milano
Ingegneria Gestionale - Corso di Finanza immobiliare (Prof. Colarossi)

Wedesday, March 31st, 4:30pm
Università degli Studi di Milano
Corso di Economia e gestione dell'innovazione (Prof. Ganzaroli)

Gran Finale Stanford: videos available

2010-03-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

You can find the full event here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mindthebridgeTV

Special thanks to Gabriele, for another sleepless night.

Mtb moves to the East Cost: on Thursday we are in NY

2010-03-23T14:12:00.001-07:00

After the Gran Finale at Stanford, we replicate on the East Cost.
On Thursday (Mar 25th) we are in New York, hosted by Consulate General of Italy (690 Park Avenue @69th Street) and in collaboration with ICE (Istituto Commercio Estero).
Join us and meet the selected finalists from the Mind the Bridge business plan competition. Click here for the full program.
The event is close to be sold out. Registration is required. Click here for reserving your free ticket.

This week the Mtb Italy Tour is again on the road. On Thursady we are in Milan, at Politecnico (Campus Bovisa). We present at the Corso di Sistemi per l’energia e l’ambiente (starting at 2.15pm). Thank you to Prof. Manzolini for the accepting to host our tour
On March 26, we are at Corso di Sistemi per l’energia e l’ambiente held by Prof. Silva, again at Politecnico in Milan.

VRMedia is the 2009-10 winner!

2010-03-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, you must have heard it already... VRMedia (augmented reality for industrial maintenance) is officially the winner of the 2009-10 MTB Business Plan competition.

But I'll take you there step by step.

It's been an intense week of meetings, presentations and set up with one main objective in mind: the Gran Finale event!

As the name suggests, this is virtually the equivalent of the worldcup final for our participating startups. Almost one year of building the right strategy, plans, presentation gymnics and much more, go into a mere 7 minutes of passion in front of 5 members of the selection committee (the best of class of investors), 150+ people watching you live in the room, but many, many more watching online.

We've been raising the bar constantly for our startups. The first edition of the Gran Finale 2008 took place in a San Franciscan art gallery, followed in 2009 by a presentation in the renowned Plug and Play center, where our startups spend a few weeks, from time to time.

This year, following the already memorable Venture Camp event @ Il Corriere della Sera, we decided to include Stanford University in our plans.

In addition, we added a keynote focused on the Israel case study, the keys to replicate a successful model of bridges between the country of origin and the Silicon Valley.

So we started, putting up a very full program, mixed with some good Italian food & wine, with very high expectations on the results.

And, in fact, the event, didn't disappoint anyone (nor did the food&wine).

We'll add a few videos shortly (once we recover), but let me summarize my personal highlights before my memories begin to blur:

the work done by a passionate community, that strongly believes in good faith in a project, can make wonders
Italians are generally unreliable, mostly unprofessional, unequivocally whiners ... but most of all, Italians are good people. When you put them together, their ability of mixing and matching, of being affable and deeply warm goes unsurpassed
a country can change its corse of history in a very short time for the better if (that's a capital IF) it's able to produce, retain and nurture its best talents. Exactly as a company.

But this will be the topic of future posts.

For now, let's raise our glass of prosecco to the winners.
Chapeau to them, and chapeau to all the other talents. Go back and show what you have!

Selection Committee for Gran Finale

2010-03-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased to announce our Selection Committee for the upcoming MTB Gran Finale 2010 event @ Stanford:

Fabrizio Capobianco - Funambol (Coordinator)
Alessandro Biral - KeyNote Ventures
Dino Vendetti - Formative Ventures
Michel Wendell - Nexit Ventures
Hashul Sanghi - Motorola Ventures
Yoav Andrew Leitersdorf - YL Ventures

This group of top notch Silicon Valley investors will have the hard task of selecting the "best business idea" among the 5 participating startups.
The startups have been mentored in the last few weeks by: Alessandro Zago, Matteo Fabiano, Maurizio Liverani and Elisabetta Ghisini.

Now, we really look forward to hearing their pitch!

Mtb Italy Tour: this week program

2010-03-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

Also for this week the program of our Tour is quite intense.
Today we presented at Politecnico of Milano (Aula D2.2, Via Golgi 40) hosted by Prof. Baresi (Corso di Tecnologie dei Servizi).
On Thursday (March 18th)two presentations are scheduled: in the morning (starting at 9.30am)in Milan, again at Politecnico of Milan (this time we present at the Course of Corporate & Investment banking held by Prof. Giorgino), and in the afternoon (at 4pm)in Pavia (at the Facoltà di Economia, via San Felice 5), where Prof. Stefano Denicolai hosts our Tour within his course of Innovation Management.
On Friday (March 19th, starting at 930am) we are back to Milan, this time at Università degli Studi di Milano (Aula 13, via Conservatorio 7): we will be hosted by the Course of Comunicazione d’impresa held by Prof. Guzzi.

We are still waiting for confirmation of a presentation in Como at the Design School. Stay tuned for further details.

Good feedback from Milano Bicocca

2010-03-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

We were today in Milan, at University of Milano Bicocca.
We had the chance to present the 2010 MtB Business Plan Competition to the next generation of software developers.
The feedback we got is really exciting: 2 and half hours of discussion, with a lot of practical questions asked.
A special thank you to Prof. de Michelis who hosted the presentation and animated the debate. Stay tuned for being informed about the upcoming dates.

50 ph.ds and lecturers attended the Pavia date

2010-03-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Today MtB Italy Tour stopped today in Pavia, at the Engineering School.
Alberto Onetti introduced the attendants to the challenges of starting-up a new business idea and the issues in spin-offing research.
Over 50 ph.ds and lecturers attended the presentation. It looks really promising: the innovation potential in Italy comes from the university labs. Hope to receive some good proposals from some of them!

Thank you again to University of Pavia (and particularly to Prof. Gianni Danese) for supporting us in organizing this event.