2010 Business Plan Competition: the race is open!

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!

My Venture Camp. By Massimo Carraro.

An attendance that doubled the expectations. A list of attendees where most names had two lines, driving receptionists (us) mad. Jari, Tito and myself guarding the Gala Dinner door with a lady from Corriere with more cojones than all three of us together.



The startup guys with a special light in their eyes. The 'In bocca al lupo!' and the 'Crepi!'. Beppe Severgnini mixing English and Italian with unrivalled elegance. 334 badges done overnight with the invaluable support of my workmates @MonkeyBusiness. A live FriendFeed report of the Sangiovanni Vincentelli - Beppe Severgnini talk. One and a half day as the doorman of Italian technological innovation. Hearing the mentor of dozens of successful Italians in the Valley saying the only way to teach 'how to be available to people is by example'. Tito talking finance and world markets to me while welcoming attendees at the door. Checking in people online, in real time. Realizing that I'd never met some of my MtB teammates untile Venture Camp day (yes it's unbelievable isn't it?). Marco Marinucci calling the Italian team on stage. Meeting a few known faces. Understanding that networking is what it's all about. Understanding that networking is just another name for that age-old activity called 'human talk'.

Venture Camp mode: on.

The Venture Camp started about 5 hours ago.

The Sala Buzzati at Corriere della Sera is filled up, start-ups are having their 5-minute pitches, and a loud applause follows every speaker.

The atmosphere is really exciting, and we had to prepare a waiting list for tomorrow's session.

We'll catch up later with more, for now, enjoy the first pictures from Milano!

Reserve your seat for Venture Camp, Milano nov. 6th - 7th

November 6th - 7th are Venture Camp days.
In the beautiful premises of our host and partner Corriere della Sera, we will listen to an amazing line of speakers, and will be able to hear from the 14 semi-finalists of the competition their elevator pitches to the members of the international venture capital community who will attend.

We have limited capacity, so, reservations are mandatory.
Please do reserve your seat in advance here, and...


...don't forget the Gala Reception on Friday night!
This is your opportunity to get to know all the speakers, investors and to get the best out of your networking skills... while becoming a donor of the Mind the Bridge foundation.
The best part?
We have rented the entire Pinacoteca Brera for this special occasion.
We'll have a truly memorable, intimate guided tour of one of the best museums in the world...while networking!
A pretty good deal.

Save the Date: Venture Camp @ Corriere

We do what we do because we genuinely believe that our activity can have a relevant social and economic impact in Italy.

To spread the word and the insights of our outstanding network, we have always been striving to find the right media partner.

Today we are happy to announce that our media partner is il Corriere della sera.
Il Corriere will be hosting the Venture Camp event in November, where, among an amazing line up of speakers (stay tuned for more), you'll be able to witness the pitches from the semi-finalist startups. What a great opportunity to showcase your great project to such a large audience!

As last year, the whole event will be webcasted live.