Startups
The first time I had an idea for a startup occurred while I was studying for the third university exam, it didn't last very long since it would have been a software that, based on the pieces of music you listened to, would have suggested others, not even a hour later I found out about the existence of Spotify.
A few months later, in October 2014, I came up with the idea for a map that had many more functions than what Google Maps offered at the time, and which were then partially developed in today's version.
Since I was going to Copenhagen a short time later, I decided to try contacting Endomondo, a startup that ran a sports tracking app, and there I had the pleasure of speaking with Kasper Brehmer, the company's VP Sales and Marketing at the time , who advised me to work on it, also because what I presented myself with were the twenty handwritten sheets that you can see in the video of the time, below, I never expected that at least another 3000 sheets would follow those.
HereGone initial description - 2014.pdfNot having any useful skills to develop that project, I didn't initially have a better idea than trying to interest the then CEO of Foursquare Dennis Crowley with a video and a document that you can find above and after being able to get me to respond (Dennis, if you're reading this sorry for the insistence) I started sending it via email to anyone I thought might be interested in helping me develop it, monitoring the times the document was read.
I noticed that there was a lot of feedback, also because the project was accepted both in Microsoft Bizspark and in Google Launchpad, so I decided to try to put together a team involving those I knew who knew how to program.
The total immaturity of the project and the team meant that the project foundered in the bud but wanting to continue alone, I started studying programming, first in Java and then for Android.
In the spring of 2016 I decided to try to put the team back together and participate in a contest called Startcup Emilia Romagna, we were selected and in the first stage it was clear how the project needed to be completely revised. So, within a week we revolutionized the whole idea, for this reason we were eliminated from the competition, but we were still able to participate in a parallel called StartCApp which was aimed at startup projects that envisaged an app as the center of their business.
At this point the idea consisted of a chat to get organized in a group and remember the meeting later, and the angel who had organized the meeting liked it, you can find the video of that event below.
He selected us, together with two other projects for an introductory meeting when we were able to produce a prototype, however for work reasons for me and the rest of the team, things went slowly and in the meantime the business angel moved on to other business, the team broke up but I continued to work on it, integrating my skills also in the field of databases.
In the meantime, in parallel with all this, I have always continued my university career and worked every summer, but when I had to write a thesis for my three-year degree on the advice of Professor Alberto Ivo Dormio, I decided that it would be the business plan for that startup.
Until then I had only studied coding issues and started reading the book The lean startup by Eric Ries, immediately it became clear that what I was doing could not be successful.
So I decided to think of something different and the idea of BackPic came up, then I followed the course on Udacity How to build a startup, taught by Steve Blank and read other books like The art of the start 2.0.
In the fall I graduated with a thesis on the BackPic business plan and chose software engineering as my first elective exam, then I deepened the subject with the Software architecture and design course on Udacity and spent the summer listening to interviews with entrepreneurs while working as lifeguard.
Since then I have continued to work on BackPic up to now having all the main screens and the possible states in a high definition prototype and the rest on paper, being now able to determine at least three different initial development guidelines, having in fact hypothesized possible functions for an application of potential size comparable to Facebook.
Having reached the end of the master's degree, after studying project management and investor relations aspects, I finally got to the point where I could put together several prototypes and start looking for people for a team and investors, over the next few months, finally being able to dedicate myself only to my project.
Programming experience
During my studies I developed software on three occasions, the first time was in a very messy way, in 2016, when I threw myself into building HereGone without actually having a project behind me, if you want to enjoy seeing a Java class, rather convoluted and wobbly, but functional that in 1000 lines of code takes care of recovering the contact numbers and comparing them with those in the database on Firebase, and the first gigantic schema for the SQL database that should have moved the app, before thinking about Firebase, you can take a look here:
The second occasion came when at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic I was looking for a way to catalog BackPic views in view of development. I developed a Java application that, starting from an Excel sheet with details on the views and a folder with images, composes the two forming tabs for each screen.
You can find it on the following page and use it if you want!
The third time was on the occasion of the Corporate Information Management exam with Professor Francesco Zammori, my thesis supervisor. The task was to create an application for Microsoft Access, written in Visual Basic for Applications, with the aim of creating a software for managing tables and orders in a restaurant. MS Access automatisms were not used to carry out the task, and if you are interested you can find the details on this page:
During my work as teacher I choose to develop some tools with Excel and VBA to simplify my work and teach the basics of Excel, finance and statistics to my students:
> Oral assessment rating calculator
High scool and ITS teaching
So that I could have funds to work on BackPic I decided to work as a teacher of Logistics and Navigation Sciences in a high school for a year. During this experience I was able to learn a lot about how to teach and how today's 16-18 year olds think. I also developed some tools with Excel and VBA to make my work easier and to be able to teach them the basics of Excel.
I also had the opportunity to teach the project management course at the ITS sustainable logistics post high school graduation course in Parma and in the course "Competenze Digitali" of Regione Emilia Romagna as teacher of an MS Office course, focused on Excel.
3D Projects
If it wasn't clear at this point, I love designing things, even though I've sometimes been asked for by my family's needs.
On this page you can find the project for a bookcase that was built in my parents' house, for an automatic bridge bed and for various recreational vehicles, I usually use Sketchup but I also happened to use Fusion 360.
Photography
Around 2015 I tried my hand at photography and editing and in 2021 I made some videos just to learn, although I realized that both are hobbies that I don't have the time to afford at the moment, in any case if you want to give a look here you can find what I think are my best photos.
Manual works
Since I was a child I have always been used to working with my hands, over the years I have done everything from repairing my kayak with carbon fiber after competitions, to construction work, with wood or electrical systems; partly for pleasure and partly out of necessity since the house where we moved at the beginning of my university period needed major repairs.
Separate mention regarding internal combustion engines, which are all in all a passion, the first time I put my hand to a carburettor I was 8 years old when in the grandmother's country house I managed to start an old Vespa 150 on which I never had the courage to go up, over the years I then fixed chainsaws and lawn mowers, disassembled and modified countless times the motorbike I used to go to school in high school and I still personally maintain my vehicles.
Lifeguard
For 10 seasons, starting from when I was in high school, I worked in the summer as a lifeguard on the Carrara (MS) coast for about 30 different bathing establishments. In addition to knowing how to manage the aspects relating to safety at sea and teamwork, what I think has particularly enhanced me has been the contact with the public, in fact, when you are not in situations of risk, normally during the day you have the opportunity to talk to many people from various parts of Italy and the world and from all social extractions. The number of people I have chatted with is difficult to determine but I think it is around a thousand and I think this experience greatly facilitates my ability to quickly build relationships with other people and have a lot of ease in conversing with them.