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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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?