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

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

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

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.

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

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.

MtB Italy Tour: the agenda for the incoming week

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

Where you can meet MtB this week

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)

Good feedback from Milano Bicocca

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

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.

Mtb Italy Tour: feedbacks from the yesterday date in Pavia

Yesterday, Mind The Bridge Italy Tour 2010 stopped in Pavia, hosted at the School of Economics. We presented at the Course of International Business, held by Prof. Antonella Zucchella. 80 post- graduate students attended to the presentation.

We drove them into the start-up world, talking about business plans, business angels and venture capital. A lot of students were excited about the opportunities provided by the 2010 MtB Business Plan Competition and the MtB Call for Ideas we started this year thanks to Cariplo Foundation.
Hope to get some innovative proposals from these guys!

MtB Italy Tour: this week in Pavia and Milan

This week Mind the Bridge will hit the road in Pavia and Milan, both dates on March 4th.
In Pavia we will be hosted by the Business School, while in Milan we will present during the event "Giovani talenti cercansi" organized by UNIMITT.

In Pavia the MtB presentation starts at 11am. The venue is the Faculty of Economics, via San Felice 7. The presentation is hosted by the Course of International Business held by Prof. Antonella Zucchella. Alberto Onetti introduces the post-graduate students into the start-up world (from business planning to fund raising),describing the unique characteristics the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial eco-system is based on. We provide you with insights re: the 2010 Business Plan Competition and the opportunities provided by the Cariplo Foundation. The event is open, at no charge.
The same day, in Milan, we are hosted by UNIMITT (the Centro per la Ricerca e il Trasferimento Tecnologico of University of Milan). During the event "Giovani talenti cercansi" we present the MtB programm. During the same event you have also the chance to hear from Gaetano Pellicano (Fulbright BEST, Embassy of US in Italy), Tommaso Minola (Fondazione Politecnico di Milano), Gianluca Dettori (D-Pixel) and Roberto Tiezzi (UNIMITT). The presentation starts at 2.30pm in Milan (Aula G12 - Settore didattico - Via Golgi 19). The event is open, registration is required. For more information: UNIMITT (emai: segreteria.unimitt@unimi.it, fax. 02.503.12861).

Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2010: first date is Varese

Varese is the first date of the Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2010, a series of roadshows hosted by universities and incubators across Italy where Mind the Bridge Foundation presents its 2010 MtB Business Plan Competition.

On February 24th, Mind the Bridge will touch base in Varese, at CrESIT, the Centre for Innovation and Life Science Management (CrESIT) of Insubria University (Faculty of Economics, via Monte Generoso 71). The roadshow starts at 2.15pm. During this first event it will be discussed how scientists can turn into entrepreneurs and spin-off business from university labs. The workshop will be introduced by Roberto Accolla, Prorector for Research of Insubria University. During the workshop, Alberto Onetti, CrESIT Director and Chairman of Mind the Bridge Foundation, will dialogue with Ph.ds, researchers, proto-entrepreneurs, students. He will introduce them to the start-up world (for business planning to fund raising) and describe the unique characteristics of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial eco-system. At the end are scheduled snapshots from Massimo Caccia, Director of SiSRIT, the technology transfer center of Insubria University, and Roberta Profeta, Intesa Sanpaolo Startup Initiative. Local incubators and clusters, such as ComoNext and Asse del Ticino, confirmed their participation. Click here to see the complete agenda.
Next date is February 25, in Milan, starting at 10.30am. The roadshow will be hosted by Luciano Pilotti, Professor of Management at University of Milan. Stay tuned for learning about the next dates of Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2010.

MtB Italy Tour is about to start

On Feb 24 the MtB Italy Tour 2010 hits the road. We organize roadshows hosted by universities and incubators for presenting the MtB Business Plan Competition across Italy.

We aim at opening a dialogue with Ph.ds, researchers, proto-entrepreneurs, students. During the roadshow we present to them the start-up world (from business planning to fund raising) and describe the unique characteristics of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial eco-system.
The MtB Italy Tour 2010 starts in Varese on February 24th (at 2.15pm). The location is the Faculty of Economics in Varese (via Monte Generoso 71). The host is CrESIT, the Centre for Innovation and Life Science Management (CrESIT) of Insubria University (Varese).


During this first event we will discuss how scientists can turn into entrepreneurs and spin-off business from a university lab. We got a enthusiastic response from Insubria University (3 pro-rectors on the stage) and local incubators and clusters (ComoNext and Asse del Ticino confirmed their partecipation).
We invite you to join us in Varese for a lively discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing entrepreneurs and innovators. The participation to this event is free of charge. For more deatails about the Varese evernt please refer to www.cresit.it.
Stay tuned for knowing the next dates and locations of the MtB Italy Tour 2010.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested to host a Mind The Bridge roadshow information@mindthebridge.org).