This post originally appeared on Jesper’s blog, he is a danish Bocconi graduate, who is in the process of launching his own TLC startup in Italy.
Following the interesting and lively debate about the Italia startup environment kicked off by he founders of Mashape and followed up by Stefano Bernardi, I want to add my point of view of the startup environment in Milan as I have experienced it. Particularly, I like a lot of the ideas and comments to the two blogs about an Italian eco-system and how we can improve the conditions for startups and entrepreneurs in Italy.
My perspective is after finishing a graduate degree at Bocconi and working on a startup idea in the Italian ICT sector for the past year. After two years at Bocconi it is hard to come away with any other conclusion that it is every young Bocconi students’ wet dream to either work in fincance, consulting or for a huge multinational corporation. That can be fine as well but it means that you’re an outsider if you want to start a business and while the US celebrates failure, it is scorned upon in Italy.
It is true that a major problem in Italy is the culture, and most Italians never fail because they never try. I had no contacts in the industry we’re trying to start a company in and yet I have received advice and help from Italian top executives and successful Danish entrepreneurs as well as been introduced to Italian VCs and angels. My experience has been that people are extremely helpful when you approach them as well-prepared and with an open mind.
First of all, there is only one elective in English at Bocconi focused on entrepreneurship and having taken that elective it leaves a lot to be desired. The ideas people had for startups and business plans were mostly very poor and showed the classical mistake to focus much more on the idea than the execution (Italian restaurant in Dubai anyone? Also we have no competitors were often considered to be a good thing).
The problem as Stefano pointed out, is simply that the pool of potential entrepreneurs is extremely small. Therefore the ideal strategy is to bring as many of these people together as often as possible.
What really disappointed me in my experience with the University here is the complete lack of interaction between the different universities. Why aren’t there common classed for CS students from Politecnico, business students from Bocconi and the Design students from Marangoni for example? Interesting things happen when people who think differently meet and I think this is vastly misisng in Italy! In a similar vein, the startup scene in Italy has seemed very un-international to me. Although it is silly and a waste of energy to dream of a Silicon Valley like eco-system there are nice things about Italy: people are friendly and helpful, the weather and food is good and the living standard is high compared to many countries. Certainly, Italy could leverage this to do much more to attract e.g Eastern European and South American talent but for that to happen the culture has to become more international.
Finally, Bocconi like many European business schools suffer from the problem that they view entrepreneurship from a very academic perspective and except for the interesting guest speakers students would be better off reading the list of popular startup and VC blogs. Instead of these courses being taught by accomplished entrepreneurs they are often taught by dry academics and it is easy to lose your hope if you only listen to this type of people. Our professor hated our idea and since it was the only idea that would require VC he also considered it far to risky and big for us to undertake.
This in many ways sums up my experience with entrepreneurship at Bocconi: An Italian restaurant in Dubai is considered a better idea than a business model with several successful exits in other European markets.
p.s a great and much needed initiative to encourage more startups is also to reduce bureaucracy. David Welton’s initiative to reduce the costs of creating an SRL. Read about it here and sign the petition here.
Well, if there is something I can ascertain reading your article is:
- Don’t open an Italian restaurant in Dubai (1),
- Don’t open an Italian restaurant in Dubai (2),
- People are friendly in Italy,
- People in Italy have no initiative.
Besides the first three points, for which I promise to document myself, I think the fourth point should be seen in a wider context.
My point is: Is Milan so much different from Paris or Bruxelles? With some notable exceptions (I will consider here EU being a continental entity, I leave our British friends out of this, they are much more prone to risk than us and entrepreneurship is well radicalized in their culture), there is not much more Silicon-Valley mentality in Europe than in Pianura Padana.
I agree that Italy suffers of what I call the “Alps-isolation”, we, Italians, are slower to react to change, that’s a fact. Not necessarily a bad one however: our slowness is partly dictated by an experience of surviving the worst.
But, to give you an example: I speak from where I live: the Flemish part of Belgium.
This is a region that trails Europe for indigenous initiative. There are far less private companies for active population in Vlaanderen than in Italy. Not to speak about innovation. Nonetheless we perceive Vlaanderen as a technologically advanced pole: might be true for services, not for bringing new blood to EU competitiveness. And people are friendly here as well (perhaps less tanned).
Furthermore, I agree that when you speak about personal initiative you better not look at what University produces, I look at the extremely dense lattice of SMEs we have in Italy (from where ideas come) and there is almost no link with University or research. In this sense I want to contradict you because Bocconi and their EntER initiative are as rare as hen’s teeth in being there to try to nurture such a link.
I heard too many times that education buys you a job somewhere, this is a common misconception in Italian, French, Belgian and, why not, Danish society as well. Perhaps 50 years of social economics policies have left a sign and is a scar that runs along all Europe.
I have never been in Dubai but if I will I certainly go and check how the local Italian Restaurant do.
@Gabriele Bozzi –
Hi Gabriele,
Thanks for your comment.
I don’t know if Milan is so different from Paris or Bruxelles, but I think that the problem might also be a European one, however since I live in Italy and am trying to start a company here it is easier for me to describe the reality as I see it here.
There is nothing wrong with starting a restaurant somewhere but the problem is that the emphasis is on the idea and on writing a great business plan instead of execution and on the abilities of the team.
Also, let me clarify one thing. There’s lots of entreprenuership and SMEs in Italy and there are also well-functioning clusters. They are just not high-tech clusters and it is not high-tech entrepreneurship, and that’s my focus in this kind discussion. (EntER at Bocconi is a good initiative but do you think many SMEs know about and benefit from this research?)
And here a major problem is that people simply have very little imagination and very poor ideas. There is an un-reasonable belief that if anything can or should be done some major corporation will do it better than you.
Here is the one message every Italian student should be aware of: Firms don’t survive for ever! Out of the 100 largest US companies in 1917, only 39 were left in 1987 for example. Lots of companies that are rocking today did not exist 10 years ago. Large corporations get cluttered up in politics and bureaucracy so there are lots of possibilities to do something even if you’re competing against X/Y/Z large corporation.
I am a dual (Italian-US) citizen living in New York (where I was born). I have often contemplated moving back to Italy since most my family is there and I love the culture, but the quality of jobs is not the same as they are here in the US.
I am not a big corporation type of person. I enjoy working at smaller companies where I can see a tangible and immediate difference from the work that I produce. Even at startups in Italy, from what I have heard, the environment tends to be similar to bigger companies in terms of how they are run.
I do not think the university system is at fault. Here in the US, most CS degrees (at least when I attended) teach courses about CS in the workplace outside of general software engineering practices. The entrepreneurial spirit is more prevalent in the US. It might have to do something with the tax-structure/economic policies.
First, thanks for you “non-italian’s” perspective. Being an italian who decided to leave Italy a few years ago, I tend to be not always objective (maybe too pessimistic? angry? disillusioned?) about the situation of the country.
What you say is absolutely correct, and I agree in particular with the poor quality of entrepreneurial education in Italy. From the outside, there seem to be some encouraging signals (Stefano for instance is doing a good service with this blog and his activities) but certainly nothing to be too satisfied.
However, I think it’s pointless (and doomed to fail) any attempt to find “an Italian startup way” (same for “a Belgian startup way” or any other) to create new silicon valleys in Europe. That’s politician mumbo-jumbo.
The reality is that there are startup hotspots in Europe; London and Amsterdam are certainly the two most important, but also Paris (dailymotion, viadeo, deezer just to mention a few random names), Berlin and, why not, Milano. And if you meet entrepreneurs in these hot spots, you won’t recognize them as English, Dutch, French, or German, but rather as European-type-of-guys who try to pick the best of all the resources and experiences worldwide and to apply them in local (or global) markets.
So my opinion trying to improve the entrepreneurial situation in one particular country/city is the wrong problem to solve; the right problem to address is connecting the European hotspots to make all the entrepreneurs there feel like part of a likeminded group of people. And luckily with events like Seedcamp and startup weekends we can see this idea in practice.
Greetings from Austin, Texas!
Hi Jesper,
I feel you on the pain of not having any interaction between Computer Science, MBAs, engineers, designers, communication majors, etc. This is true not only in Europe but also in most American universities.
I’ve personally found a great way to get students excited about entrepreneurship is through organizing a http://3daystartup.com/. You start to build an ecosystem of students, professors, investors, and serial entrepreneurs that can provide the much needed assurance that it’s ok to experiment, even when faced with failure. Also, it’s heavily focused on cross-disciplinary collaboration. Personally, I’m going to organize one in Barcelona over the next couple of months to get plugged into the startup scene there.
Thomas
@Filippo –
Hi Filippo,
Thanks for your comment. I agree that there are numerous problems in Italy and surely they are not going to be solved by visionary politicians.. But one of the reason why I like Italy so much is the Italians: they are helpful and very friendly.
I completely agree with your point that any talk about Silicon Valley in x/y/z European city or country is completely rubbish and not going to happen. Boston can’t even pull it off, and the only country that has come close is Israel (I’ll save that for a later post).
I think you’re spot on about connecting entreprenuers across Europe, but the language and cultural barriers to market something in each country are still significant, and the world is not very flat in this regard.
Initiatives like Seedcamp are much needed and an overall emphasis on learning (and thus potentially failing) should be taught much more.
best of luck with your company in Austin, I hear it’s a great place to live (and to start a company!)
@Thomas Finsterbusch –
Hi Thomas,
the 3day startup definitely sounds like a cool idea!
Something similar is Startup Weekend http://startupweekend.org/ which is being organized in Milan in mid-october.
Many of the problems in Italy are also not particularly Italian, but there is a general European (as well as in many Asian countries) a bias against failing, which is very difficult to overcome.
Another and different problem in Europe is a lack of serial entreprenuers and more rock-star founders who go on to start VC or seed funds (Gianluca Dettori and probably Massimilliano Magrini provide nice exceptions to this problem in Italy)
Just a little correction on Jesper’s comment above:
Startup Weekend is being organized in Rome (October 29-31) – not Milan in mid-october:
http://rome.startupweekend.org/
@Antonio Orlando –
Actually there are two SW in Italy in October, awesome isn’t it? http://milan.startupweekend.org/
@Stefano Bernardi – Oh, didn’t realize that (so my correction actually had to be an “extension”). Awesome indeed.
Hi Jesper,
Good stuff.
A major paradox re Italian startups is the famous role of the family unit in Italy. In theory, the family would provide food, shelter and even some seed money. This should give young Italians a big advantage over those in cultures where it is normal to kick the kids out of the house on their 18th birthday.
But it’s not happening….
David, I’ll expand on this later, but I kind of disagree with you.
In Italy there’s a lack of VCs an Angels so almost all the entrepreneurial money comes from families.
The difference is that you can ask your dad for money to open a food shop (he would understand what it is) but not a social networking site (he has no clue about that).
Of course there are many issues, but also some interesting benefits.
More later.
Jesper,
Interesting to hear someone voicing the issues with the institutional and academic view Bocconi takes to entrepreneurship, couldn’t agree more. I have myself gone through the trouble of accessing vc’s and angels through the Uni’s networks only to find that to get investors in the tech (SAS) business here, you ought to bring a fully developed and already running project to the table. However, I don’t think the problem lies in the Italian business culture, its in our industry of choice.
As someone mentioned, Italy is full of SME’s and family run business that very well has the potential to take off and become big. These are mainly in classical Italian core industries such as fashion (Leather goods and garment manufacturing) as well as different suppliers of industrial components. In these industries Italian V.C’s and PE are more than willing to take on higher risks, and they do. They are old in the game, know the market and the valuations and got tons of possible exits through their vast networks.
As you say Italy is lagging behind, both in terms of fostering potential innovation in tech and in meeting the growing internal demand for software solutions. I guess now the real question is “how do we get the Italian investor’s out of their comfort zone?” Initiatives such as 3daystartup and startupweekend sounds and probably are great, but in the end investors must realize that tech innovation outside the major hubs is a worthwhile investment!
Last, cool to hear from another Scandinavian, Bocconian and entrepreneur in Milano, Crush it!
First, thanks for you “non-italian’s” perspective. Being an italian who decided to leave Italy a few years ago, I tend to be not always objective (maybe too pessimistic? angry? disillusioned?) about the situation of the country.
What you say is absolutely correct, and I agree in particular with the poor quality of entrepreneurial education in Italy. From the outside, there seem to be some encouraging signals (Stefano for instance is doing a good service with this blog and his activities) but certainly nothing to be too satisfied.
However, I think it’s pointless (and doomed to fail) any attempt to find “an Italian startup way” (same for “a Belgian startup way” or any other) to create new silicon valleys in Europe. That’s politician mumbo-jumbo.
The reality is that there are startup hotspots in Europe; London and Amsterdam are certainly the two most important, but also Paris (dailymotion, viadeo, deezer just to mention a few random names), Berlin and, why not, Milano. And if you meet entrepreneurs in these hot spots, you won’t recognize them as English, Dutch, French, or German, but rather as European-type-of-guys who try to pick the best of all the resources and experiences worldwide and to apply them in local (or global) markets.
So my opinion trying to improve the entrepreneurial situation in one particular country/city is the wrong problem to solve; the right problem to address is connecting the European hotspots to make all the entrepreneurs there feel like part of a likeminded group of people. And luckily with events like Seedcamp and startup weekends we can see this idea in practice.
Greetings from Austin, Texas!Reply – Quote
Jesper,
Is this post about Italian entrepreneurship or about Bocconi?
Or about your idea not being chosen by your teacher, over an Italian restaurant in Dubai ?
Coulnd’t quite figure it out.
If it’s about italian entrepreneurship let’s give this nation a chance and maybe you should write after you’ve been to other cities in Italy and not just Milan. And definitely after you’ve spent more than 2 years in Italy (out of which I understand you’ve spent in university) – it’s just too little.
Sure entrepreneurship doens’t seem as an established concept as it may be in Denmark, or France or Belgium. Perhaps because it hasn’t permeatted the higher education system well enough. Maybe they’re late adopters. They’re lots of factors I’m sure.
Meanwhile, here is a business networking club in milano, might help you: http://www.milanin.com/egroupware/sitemgr/sitemgr-site/index.php
Best
In full agreement with you, Stefano! And it’s not just the U.S. that welcomes failure. Israel does too. Another major difference is that fully 85%-90% of Israelis speak English (and this number goes up to 98% of people in tech)– yet only 4% of Italians do. We were actually thinking of moving our business to Italy but based on the language issue, we decided it was best to stay put.
We’ve worked with dozens of start-ups, VCs, and Nasdaq-traded tech companies — all of it in English — yet when we met with an Italian VC, not one person spoke English.
I’m certain all of this will change some day when Italy starts to teach English to its children starting in the second or third grade. Until then, will a lack of entrepreneurial spirit combined with a lack of skills in what is now the international language of business continue to keep Italia in a back seat?
So as not to sound too critical, in Italia yes, the food, people, lifestyle, and cultural aesthtic can’t be beat. I look forward to a Silicon Valley atmosphere and hope that when it happens, it does so in English, the international language of tech.
Joan from Agency-Select dot com
P.S. We wear another hat: investitura dot com We scout tech for a NYC-based private equity firm. I hope that agritech in Italia is where we might find our next investment.