Startups admitted @ Gym Session in Firenze

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

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

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

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:

1. you'll be able to setup your avatar (not quite Wii style, but you can decide to wear your Arabic look...)
2. 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.
3. you can download all the relevant information you expect from a trade show. For every exhibitor that means business cards, marketing material, videos, etc
4. Watch the videos of the entire conference who took place @ Stanford (hint: do not miss the investor panel)
5. 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

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

Italian pearls, today @ Stanford

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)

[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

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

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..