Being net
Frieda Brioschi
frieda.brioschi@gmail.com
IED
Lesson 7

Course program
1. Italian Startups
2. Set up a startup in Italy
3. I've got an idea. And now?
4. Value analysis
5. Business model
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate
7. Being net
8. Find your market
9. Funding: venture capital, business angel and other
ways of financing
10. Pitch

Today's table of content
1.Community
2.Networking
3.Coworking
4.Incubators

Communicate3
: quick recap
During last lesson we discussed what are my needs
in term of communication and how I can satisfy them.
To reach this goal we investigated the landscape,
starting from Cluetrain Manifesto and going through
some definitions (Social media, in comparison with
industrial media, social networks, networked publics).

Communicate3
: quick recap
Analyzing the social media timeline, we arrived to
outline how to create an effective message: my
benefits, why customize and fix, usefulness of groups
and habits, the importance of immediacy and
schedule, the use of different communication
techniques.

Communicate3
: quick recap
Finally we decided that having rules is important and
we try to outline which rules are essential:
• Conversational and listening rules
• Blurring of public and private
• Storytelling
• Objectives
and how everything is summarized in the editorial
plan.

The launch

Robert Scoble’s recipe /1
“The best launch is if you have a product that other
people like using so much that they tell other people
about it.”
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

Robert Scoble’s recipe /2
“What you want to do is have a story that travels to
the people who are most likely to need your product.
It all starts with a story.
So, the right way to launch is to have a story. Then
try that story out on some early adopters. Do they go
"no way!" Or do they look bored?”
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

Robert Scoble’s recipe /3
Start asking the right question:
• How can I get Oprah Winfrey to see my product
within a year?
• How can I get to be a featured app in the Apple app
store?
• How do I make a product so strategically important
that Steve Jobs buys it within a month.
• How do I make a product that's so sticky and viral
that it gets people to tell at least five other people
about it.
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

Robert Scoble’s recipe /4
Things you need to do to launch a company:
1. Make a blog.
2. Make a YouTube video channel.
3. Start Tweeting.
4. Get a Facebook Page.
5. Get a LaunchRock or KickoffLabs site.
6. List your company on Angel List (and StartupLi.st,
CrunchBase, etc).
7. Figure out the 10 journalists you want to have see
your product before you launch.
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

Robert Scoble’s recipe /5
So, what's your story?
A sizeable part of having a great story is also hitting
the market at the right time.
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

Dissemination
Publish something about you on as many interesting
website as possibile:
• startup directories
• tech magazines
•magazines in your field/market
Have a look to Giuliano Iacobelli's list:
http://www.giulianoiacobelli.com/startup/pianificando-
il-lancio-della-vostra-startup-le-basi

Resources

Useful on/off line resources
• Hangouts and events
• Co-working, Fablabs, Makerspace, social
incubators
• Community leaders
• Media
• Business Plan competition, startup events
• Incubators and accelerators
• Investors, etc.
http://www.chefuturo.it/2013/01/i-primi-100-contatti-e-anche-di-piu-per-chi-vuole-fare-startup-in-italia/

Incubators
Business incubators are programs designed to
support the successful development of
entrepreneurial companies through an array of
business support resources and services, developed
and orchestrated by incubator management and
offered both in the incubator and through its network
of contacts. Incubators vary in the way they deliver
their services, in their organizational structure, and in
the types of clients they serve.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_incubator

Incubator services
• Help with business basics
• Networking activities
• Marketing assistance
• High-speed Internet access
• Help with accounting/financial management
• Access to bank loansHelp with presentation skills
• Links to higher education resources
• Links to strategic partners
• Access to angel investors or venture capital
• Advisory boards and mentors
• Management team identification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_incubator

Certified incubators
Startup Regulation introduces “certified incubators for
innovative startups”.
The startup incubator or accelerator must verify if
specific requirements concerning the startup’s
physical structures, management, facilities and,
above all, its track record, are fulfilled. In this way,
the law aims to identify the structures that are able to
offer efficient incubation services in Italy. Certified
incubators can benefit from some instruments
provided for by the law.
http://bit.ly/11f2mtq

Public incubators
Are supported by public sponsors and are non-profit.
Usually public authorities are the major stakeholders
and play an important part in the definition of the
legal status of the incubators and in their
management, frequently supported by a broadly-
based partnership of public authorities and
institutions such as a Chamber of Commerce,
Municipality, Province, Region, Banking Institutions,
and various business associations.
Typically, they are multi-purpose and the activities of
their occupants span all the traditional-economy
business sectors as well as some hi-tech ones.
http://www.rivistapolitecnico.polimi.it/rivista/politecnico_rivista_9.18.pdf

University incubators
They usually concentrate on promoting hi-tech start-
ups developed by their students, researchers and
professors. Their objective
is to foster the industrial applications of the
knowledge generated through academic research
activities.
They have a strong connection with research labs
and are often focused on the area in which the
founder university specializes.
http://www.rivistapolitecnico.polimi.it/rivista/politecnico_rivista_9.18.pdf

Private incubators
Are usually profit-making.
The number and type of organizations making up
private incubator partnerships varies from individuals
to groups consisting of several private companies
and organizations.
Most of these incubators invest almost exclusively in
one business sector. They contribute to the success
of the start-ups in several ways, including the
availability of specialized professionals who work with
the start-ups own staff.
http://www.rivistapolitecnico.polimi.it/rivista/politecnico_rivista_9.18.pdf

Italian incubators
http://wiki.startupbusiness.it/Incubatori_d%27impresa_e_parchi_scientifici_e_tecnologici_italiani

Coworking

Coworking
Coworking is a style of work that involves a shared
working environment, often an office, and
independent activity. Unlike in a typical office
environment, those coworking are usually not
employed by the same organization.
Coworking is also the social gathering of a group of
people who are still working independently, but who
share values, and who are interested in the synergy
that can happen from working with like-minded
talented people in the same space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coworking

Coworking principles
Coworking is not only about the physical space, but
about establishing the coworking community first. Its
benefits can already be experienced outside of its
spaces, and it is recommended to start with building
a coworking community first before considering
opening a Coworking space. However, some
coworking spaces don't build a community: they just
get a part of an existing one by combining their
opening with an event which attracts their target
group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coworking

Coworking in Italy
http://coworkingproject.com/

http://360.steelcase.com/articles/the-same-but-different-mapping-the-patterns-of-work-cultures/

The Hub
http://www.the-hub.net/

Fab Lab
A fab lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale
workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication.
A fab lab is generally equipped with an array of
flexible computer controlled tools that cover several
different length scales and various materials, with the
aim to make "almost anything". This includes
technology-enabled products generally perceived as
limited to mass production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fab_lab

Networking

Many opportunities:
• Workshop
• Elevator Pitch Competition
• Idea Jam Session
• Speed Pitch Date
• Startup Outing
• Job Posting
http://www.startupsaturday.it/
Startup Saturday

Italian Startup Scene (ISS)
Facebook group for italian startupper, entrepreneurs,
investors, bloggers, developers and anyone
interested in startups and venture capital.
http://it.startupscene.org/

Fab Lab
A fab lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale
workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication.
A fab lab is generally equipped with an array of
flexible computer controlled tools that cover several
different length scales and various materials, with the
aim to make "almost anything". This includes
technology-enabled products generally perceived as
limited to mass production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fab_lab

TechGarage
It’s an italian association which aims to connect
• Grassroot innovation
• business angel, seed funds and independent
venture capital
• companies
http://techgarage.eu/

Next week
Find your market.