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

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

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

Nicola Allieta, the jackpot winner

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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..

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!