Nowadays we constantly hear of the brain drain, of young people without hope who are forced to leave Italy in search of a fortune they can’t find at home.
But this is not the case of Lorenzo Thione, native of Como and now living in California. He is 35 and the creator of Bing search engine. Interviewed by Roberto Bonzio, journalist and author of the multimedia platform Italiani di Frontiera (Frontier Italians,) in the headquarters of Unindustria in Como, Thione says: “I left this city fourteen years ago, but not due to despair or disillusionment. Simply, I was curious. I wanted to see how things looked on the other side of the world. I was very young, not yet a graduate, and I was willing to explore, to experience, to learn.”
Lorenzo Thione smiles with satisfaction at the results he has achieved so far, yet he is still eager to push himself further. “Life is made of challenges. When I moved to Palo Alto right after graduating and started to work for Xerox Parc I felt out of place”, he recalls. “It seemed to me that the masters I was working with would never consider me, but as time passed I realized that I was learning a lot of new things about myself. And this is the most important challenge, the one against yourself.“
Also important is never to bail out: “At some point, what makes the difference is being able to seize the opportunity, to understand that it won’t come again, and to turn it into something unique without any fear of failure”, states Bing’s inventor. And he firmly believes that Italians are particularly good at that: “The entrepreneurial drive is the creative drive par excellence, allowing to create something out of nothing. We are very creative people, but we need to believe in values and heroes again. This is the only way young generations can regain hope and confidence in themselves.”
Indeed, besides his main field of interest – that is information technology combined with logic analysis of language – Lorenzo Thione is also fond of theater and a stage performer on Broadway, which he sees as a natural evolution of his creativity.
But what about the fear of failure? “When I started this new adventure, I was afraid that I wouldn’t make it. Then I understood that there is no reason to be afraid: failure is an important experience, and people who have never had it should not be trusted”, says the 35-year old entrepreneur.
As journalist Roberto Bonzio remarks: “Lorenzo’s story is like surfing: the wave that could crush you, must instead push you to go faster and to fly higher.” His story is also unconventional, based on a strong passion and humility, both essential – according to Bing’s creator – to start a productive dialogue and to move forward in life.
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