Serial and Social Business entrepreneur (my LinkedIn profile).
- 20 years of experience in Internet Marketing, international business development and sales
- Co-author of the book "Selling and buying on the Internet" (Sperling & Kupfer)
- Winner of the Microsoft Italy prize for the most innovative Internet solution
- Cited in the book "Building Social Business" of the Nobel Prize Prof. Yunus
- Speaker at Grameen events
- Cure Thalassemia co-founder & chairman
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", a Chinese proverb says.
When in 2006 Bill Gates announced that he was going to leave Microsoft to spend most of his time in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, I started to further think about life priorities.
I first heard about Social Business in 2009, when I accidentally read the book "Creating a World Without Poverty" by Prof. Yunus. I was immediately extremely fascinated by this new idea, and, even if I still don't know why I did it, one night I sent him an email, and he replied to me from his blackberry the following day. I was very surprised, if not shocked, and that was the beginning of my journey in the Social Business world!
I went to Dhaka in Bangladesh to meet him, togheter with my friends doctor Pietro Sodani and Lawrence Faulkner. That day has changed my life.
Health-care Social Business
Since then many things have happened, and I'm now personally involved in 3 health care Social Business in Asia and Africa:
- Grameen-Cure2Children, to cure Thalassemia in Bangladesh
- Cure Thalassemia, to cure Thalassemia in India
- Andare Oltre, to cure Club foot in Burundi
Grameen events
I've attended Grameen events (in 3 cases as speaker) in:
- Bangladesh (Social Business Day)
- Germany (Grameen Global Meeting, Global Social Business Summit, Klassentreffen)
- Scotland (Grameen-Caledonian Glasgow Global Assembly)
- Italy (Grameen Creative Lab @Bocconi, Prof. Yunus' speach @Teatro Dal Verme).
I've spoken face-to-face with Prof. Yunus a number of times.
I've been cited in Prof. Yunus' new book "Building Social Business", whose chapter 4 is entirely dedicated to Grameen-Cure2Children.
Interviews on social business
I've been interviewed by Il Sole 24 Ore/Nova, BAIA (Business Association Italia America), YourStory.in, Data Manager, Repubblica/Affari e Finanza and TV2000.
My lectures & talks on social business
Global Social Business Summit, Social Business Lab at Bocconi University, Grameen Global meeting at Glasgow Caledonian University, Grameen Creative Lab Klassentreffen, Yunus Social Business Center University of Florence, ASVI, John Cabot University, University of Svizzera Italiana and Innovation Lab.
Books I've read
In the meanwhile I've read more than 20 books on the topic of social business, social entrepreneurship and philantrocapitalism, to learn as much as I can (you can find them on the left side-bar).
Social Business
I think that Social Business is a great idea, and it will have a huge impact in the coming years, and not only in developing countries. It will not magically solve all the social problems, but it will contribute to alleviate (and in some cases solve) some of them, without using taxpayers and/or donors money, but mainly the creativity and passion of social entrepreneurs.
It is a business, but the main and unique goal is to solve a social problem, and not to make money. And this is why it is completely different from capitalism, whose main goal and side effects are not always positive.
I like and love Social Business, and in this blog (also available in Italian) I'll tell:
- the behind the scenes of what I'm doing in the 3 Social Business
- my involvement in the Grameen events
- my thoughts and point of view on this fascinating topic that is contributing in changing the world
My journey in the Social Business world keeps going, welcome on board!
if you have comments, please write here in the blog.
