Going big, how Corporates can work with Startups. Alberto Onetti speaking in Dublin April 25th

By @SimonCocking. Quick chat with Alberto Onetti Chairman of Mind the Bridge, Serial Entrepreneur, Professor, who will be speaking at Going Big – Entrepreneurs Anonymous 6th Anniversary! (get tickets here) in Dublin on April 25^th.  

1 min pitch for what you are doing now?

We at Mind the Bridge are quite busy helping corporates to close deals with startups. And making ourselves ready for the 2017 edition of Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley (SEC2SV). BTW we are looking for the 15 top European scaleups to bring across the Pond. Looking forward to having at least one from Ireland this year… (here if you need more info how to apply  )

What are your plans for 2017?

As said, we will organize the 2017 edition of Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley (SEC2SV). As usual, we will bring a delegation of scaleups, corporates, investors, community builders, ecosystem leaders, policy makers (both from EU and member states) for a week in September. A great opportunity for super high level meetings and networking with Silicon valley stakeholders. In parallel we are continuing to build upon the Startup Europe Partnership platform we run on behalf of the European Commission to foster startup-corporate collaborations. Among the various initiative we have just launched the Europe’s Corporate Startup Stars: goal is to identify the corporates that are more startup friendly (concretely, no marketing bs…). If you know some good ones, it is time to nominate them (more info here )
On the top of all this, we are working pretty hard to support our corporate clients in finding the most interesting startups and initiating partnerships.

What will you be talking about at this event? 

How Corporates can effectively work with startups. And why executing an open innovation strategy for a corporate is no longer an option, but it is a must-have for survival. None excluded. Just talking about open innovation is not enough. They need to have concrete plans and allocated budget and resources. In parallel, startups need to learn how to target corporates and work with them. Pitching a corporate is different than pitching an investor. For them too, making business with corporates is key to scale-up.

What inspired you to attend it?

Who can say no to a pint of Guinness…

How was 2016, what worked well, what didn’t move as quickly as you would have liked?

2016 was ok. I think we helped Europe become a better place for startups. Still a lot to be done. Obviously I would have done more, but sometimes you need to be happy for what you achieved.

Which influencers and websites do you follow to keep up to date with the latest developments?

Beyond the usual suspects in the Bay Area (@paulg ? @wadhwa ? @bhorowitz – though he went silent… -? @reidhoffman ? @TimDraper ?… plus Mark Suster on Snap…), there is a lot of interesting people in Europe as well. For the British Islands, @scoutu and @nesta_uk are a must to get good insights. At the EU level @startupeu (beyond @sep_eu) is a good one-stop shop for knowing what’s happening in Europe.

How can people find out more about what you are working on?

Come and meet me on April 25th in Dublin. In case you can’t, contact me via the socials (@aonetti @mindthebridge …). We’ll get back to you. Promised.

Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley 2017

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