THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 3NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

“Trust your crazy ideas” isRoberto Bonzio’s motto.Founder of Italiani di

Frontiera, or Italians of Border,the Italian journalist once decidedto make the bold move to moveto Palo Alto with his family in2008 to pursue a do-it-yourself-project. As curiosity and serendipity

became his engine, Bonzio decid-ed to quit his stable job atReuters, in Italy, to become anentrepreneur multimedia story-teller touring around Italy as wellas abroad. Invited to TEDx Genoa in

Oct. 2015, Bonzio became wellknown to inspire people follow-ing their dreams. Not only doeshe that through public speeches,but also leading the namesaketour “Italiani di Frontiera” once ayear.

April 2016 is the next datefor Italiani di Frontiera to trav-el to the Silicon Valley. What’sin the agenda?We will mainly meet Italians

from Stanford, Berkeley, IBM,A3Cube, Google and Bay Areaveterans during the SiliconValley Italian Executive Council(SVIEC) event in Redwood City.As I always say, the real value ofthese trip is “to connect the dots”between the personal and profes-sional stories of Italian talentsliving in California. The core ofthe experience is to gain inspira-tion from them. Having a look atthe professional realities of thosewho have left Italy, often leadsthe curious travelers to a culturalshock. As a result, they areforced to rethink the workapproaches they are used to have

in Italy (no matter the industry.)Among all Italian profes-

sionals you have met in SiliconValley, who inspired you themost and why?All entrepreneurs, scientists,

managers I have met helped mebetter understand Silicon Valley,as well as the secrets of Italianstalent. Even more inspirationcame from stories from the past Idiscovered. Still, nobody likeFederico Faggin, a physicistamong the fathers of microchip,pushed me toward the rightdirection for my project. Onething I have learned is to exploredifferent ecosystems and culturesin order to better understandyours.

As a big supporter of inno-vation and technology, how doyou feel about the impact theindustry is having on SanFrancisco that now ranks asmost expensive city to leave inAmerica?At the beginning of my tours,

I always remind people that notonly San Francisco is a city ofinnovation and utopic thinking,but also a place where peoplefought for civil rights. I find quiteimpressive the way money, com-ing mainly from the tech indus-try, has changed the city forcingmany to move out. Social justiceis still a cause to fight for.

In your book “Italiani diFrontiera” you tell the stories

of people, who left Italy withthe goal of pursuing personalprojects that they fully believein. Can you tell us about therealities most of them facewhen first landing in dream-land, aka the Silicon Valley,before gaining any type of suc-cess?I believe that the first thing is

to manage the cultural gap. Eventhough the Silicon Valley can beseen as a land of opportunities, itis important to consider thestrong competition. Therefore, itis key to understand the rules ofthe game and learn the differentway of thinking. Once adapted tothe new environment, Italiansmay start using their cultural

assets as a card that could helpthem leading to success. Last butnot least is to survive, while find-ing the right type of Visa.

More and more we are hear-ing about Italian successes inAmerica, such as with gravita-tional waves detections, orRiccardo Sabatini’s latest TED2016 performance. What doyou think Italy should changein order to contain this type ofloss?First, we must learn to reward

talent and see other people’s suc-cess not as danger, but as anopportunity of growth. We mustimprove with teamwork andmanage what I call the “Palio diSiena Syndrome,” which is thephilosophy of “no matter if I win,I am happy you lost.” Italy is stillprivileging the familiar andknown.

Who inspired you and why?The story of Amadeo Pietro

Giannini, founder of Bank ofAmerica, had a great impact onme. Also Carlo Gentile’s inspiredme. He was a photographer pas-sionate about capturing theAmerican West. As an innovator,Gentile even adopted an Indianchild and named him CarlosMontezuma. Thanks to the adop-tive father, Montezuma was thefirst Indian to graduate in Scienceand Medicine. He became a pio-neer of Native American CivilRights and an historic character. Ifind this story to be touching. Itwas my friend Cesare Marino,anthropologist at the SmithsonianInstitution that discovered it. Heeven wrote Gentile’s biographyand we have planned on workingtogether on a big multimedia pro-ject, which is dedicated toGentile’s life and is going to beshowcased in Italy, as well asabroad.

Roberto Bonzo founder of Italians of Border quit his job at Reuters, in Italy, to become an entrepreneur mul-timedia storyteller touring around Italy as well ad abroad

LAVINIA PISANI

Roberto Bonzio and his “Italianidi Frontiera”