Full immersion

printf("Hello world!\n");

This is Paolo, I am an Electric Electronic engineer (a "double E", as they say here in the Valley) who left hardware for software for a PhD in Computer Vision. That is more coherent that it may seem, as my specialization as a EE is in laser optics. So "light" is a constant in my life, as it is its speed in the physical world.

Let's make one point since the very beginning: The experience in the Valley is awesome! Before applying for the Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship I was a bit skeptical. After 5 years of professional R&D and consulting it seemed bizarre to go back to school. Spending hours on books and abroad could actually slow my plans to start a technological company in Italy, so I took my time to decide whether applying for the program.

Now that I am here, I feel stupid I doubted coming. I find that the faculty at Santa Clara University has done a great job in putting together a course focused on entrepreneurship for scientific and technical people. Although there are for certain some things that can be proved in the course (and I understand that they will be improved next year), being at Santa Clara has advantages not limited to the academic curriculum...

There is a whole world out there! I am grasping the opportunity to participate in as many events as possible around the Valley. Earlier this week I have attended a VC TaskForce event (www.vctaskforce.com) where entrepreneurs were pitching for money in front of angel investors. Last week I listened to a talk by Guy Kawasaki, an "icon" of the Silicon Valley, as it has been said. He may be, for his own admittance, a failure as a venture capitalist, but he is endowed with exceptional communication and motivation skills that he directs at encouraging new entrepreneurs to get started. It was a very energetic experience indeed.

And these are only two examples. In the Valley there are entrepreneurs meetups almost every week, new and aspiring entrepreneurs can find infinite possibilities to test their ideas against opinions of other entrepreneurs and knowledgeable professionals. I have met so many entrepreneurs in these months that I cannot count them (my collected business cards stand for over 2 inches thick!).

Another important part of this experience is the internship. I chose to intern in marketing, something every good engineer considers as smoke in the eyes. I am changing my mind, marketing is essential to business and... not that easy either. I work with Hal Steger, Vice President of Marketing at Funambol (www.funambol.com) - a startup doing open source push mail (they are The largest open source project for mobiles worldwide). Funambol has been founded by an Italian entrepreneur, Fabrizio Capobianco (www.funambol.com/blog/capo/), and has a development center in Italy. It is impressive how Fabrizio created such an effective and capable team, and how he runs the business from here and the R&D in Italy. There is a lot to learn in Funambol, apart from marketing...

for(i=0;i<100000;i++) {
printf("Take care!\n";}