Roberto Bonzio and his “Italiani di Frontiera”

“Trust your crazy ideas” is Roberto Bonzio’s motto. Founder of Italiani di Frontiera, or Italians of Border, the Italian journalist once decided to make the bold move to move to Palo Alto with his family in 2008 to pursue a do-it-yourself-project. 

 

As curiosity and serendipity became his engine, Bonzio decided to quit his stable job at Reuters, in Italy, to become an entrepreneur multimedia storyteller touring around Italy as well as abroad. 

 

Invited to TEDx Genoa in Oct. 2015, Bonzio became well known to inspire people following their dreams. Not only does he that through public speeches, but also leading the namesake tour “Italiani di Frontiera” once a year.   

 

We will mainly meet Italians from Stanford, Berkeley, IBM, A3Cube, Google and Bay Area veterans during the Silicon Valley Italian Executive Council (SVIEC) event in Redwood City. As I always say, the real value of these trip is “to connect the dots” between the personal and professional stories of Italian talents living in California. The core of the experience is to gain inspiration from them. Having a look at the professional realities of those who have left Italy, often leads the curious travelers to a cultural shock. As a result, they are forced to rethink the work approaches they are used to have in Italy (no matter the industry.)

 

All entrepreneurs, scientists, managers I have met helped me better understand Silicon Valley, as well as the secrets of Italians talent. Even more inspiration came from stories from the past I discovered. Still, nobody like Federico Faggin, a physicist among the fathers of microchip, pushed me toward the right direction for my project. One thing I have learned is to explore different ecosystems and cultures in order to better understand yours. 

 

At the beginning of my tours, I always remind people that not only San Francisco is a city of innovation and utopic thinking, but also a place where people fought for civil rights. I find quite impressive the way money, coming mainly from the tech industry, has changed the city forcing many to move out. Social justice is still a cause to fight for.

 

I believe that the first thing is to manage the cultural gap. Even though the Silicon Valley can be seen as a land of opportunities, it is important to consider the strong competition. Therefore, it is key to understand the rules of the game and learn the different way of thinking. Once adapted to the new environment, Italians may start using their cultural assets as a card that could help them leading to success. Last but not least is to survive, while finding the right type of Visa.

 

First, we must learn to reward talent and see other people’s success not as danger, but as an opportunity of growth. We must improve with teamwork and manage what I call the “Palio di Siena Syndrome,” which is the philosophy of “no matter if I win, I am happy you lost.” Italy is still privileging the familiar and known. 

 

The story of Amadeo Pietro Giannini, founder of Bank of America, had a great impact on me. Also Carlo Gentile’s inspired me. He was a photographer passionate about capturing the American West. As an innovator, Gentile even adopted an Indian child and named him Carlos Montezuma. Thanks to the adoptive father, Montezuma was the first Indian to graduate in Science and Medicine. He became a pioneer of Native American Civil Rights and an historic character. I find this story to be touching. It was my friend Cesare Marino, anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution that discovered it. He even wrote Gentile’s biography and we have planned on working together on a big multimedia project, which is dedicated to Gentile’s life and is going to be showcased in Italy, as well as abroad.