“His Excellency Ambassador Ronald Spogli Participated Via Videoconference”

BAIA (Business Association Italy America,) in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Rome, successfully organized and hosted an event on venture capital culture at Stanford University on June 8, 2006. The event connected an Italian audience in Rome with a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in Palo Alto. The purpose of the discussion was to promote understanding of the Silicon Valley venture capital culture and share key elements of its successful business model. The BAIA panel featured Michael Eldredge (Fuzz Elements, LLC), Sean Foote (Labrador Ventures), Colin Weil (Keiretsu Forum), and Massimo Scognamiglio (D-Helix, Inc.), and was moderated by Enrico Beltramini. In addition to Ambassador Spogli, the audience in Rome included Arturo Artom, President of NetSystem, Fernando Napolitano, Partner and VP at Booz-Allen-Hamilton, as well as representatives and guest of Lehman Brothers.

The discussion was centered on how the Silicon Valley model could be beneficial for Italian entrepreneurs and investor, and lead to innovation and a new approach to risk taking and entrepreneurship in Italy. The current interest surrounding these topics in Italy and the opportunities they present for Italian entrepreneurs and investors motivated BAIA to promote a better understanding of the subject.

"The depth of the panel and the participants provided an excellent foundation to develop the topics that were discussed", says BAIA co-founder and primary event organizer Matteo Daste. "The collaboration with the Rome Embassy and with Stanford Center for Professional Development has been outstanding!" adds Giorgio Ghersi, Executive Director of BAIA, "BAIA is available as an independent channel through which this dialogue can be continued".