Article by Ettore Mieli appeared in the August 2020 issue of Forbes. Subscribe
As with most of the young people who choose to attend a masters in business administration, even the professional ambition of Carolina Montagna, born in 1990, fell on the sector of strategic consulting and investment banking. But, as often happens in life, experience and meeting with certain people can lead you to discover new perspectives. “I always have great satisfaction in looking back and knowingly coming out of situations of working comfort zone, putting myself on the line with ever new challenges. Society, family and school should teach, adopt and promote experimentation and change as a cultural mindset, so that one can find one’s place in the world faster. Which is a bit like what a startup does every day ”, he says. This is how his career in venture capital began, a world where anyone, regardless of their education or background, can carry out their projects. “And you do it with people you respect, at a speed a hundred times faster than normal. And what makes you say: why haven’t I been doing this all along and I’ve only discovered it now? ”.
With a degree in economics from the University of Perugia, Carolina began a consulting career at Ernst & Young, where she played the role of auditor for important national industrial groups with offices all over the world, and then in Pwc the role of financial due diligence. consultant for major mergers and acquisitions. The consulting experience ended with admission to the full scholarship mba at the international business school Collège des Ingénieurs, which opened the doors for an experience in m & a at FCA, with a specific focus on open innovation and startup evaluation.
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But it was in 2018 that he found his true calling by joining the team of venture capital firm focused on startup investments, Boost Heroes, in the role of investment manager. He has collaborated in investing in more than 30 startups and contributed to the development of the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem by encouraging the contamination between entrepreneurs and investors in more than 50 networking sessions that involved over 3 thousand people throughout Italy. He currently manages over 100 holdings in the Boost Heroes portfolio. “I believe in continual improvement of ourselves,” he says. “In a market that evolves so quickly and in a sector as fluid as venture capital, no one knows where we will be in five years. This is why my biggest project is my professional growth, having as the sole director the desire and the objective of improving the ecosystem and creating an impact in the real economy “.
Aware that Italy still has a long way to go. And that to grow you need capital, a lean regulatory structure and a lot of patience. “There can be many ideas, but if no one waters the seed, or the startup, it won’t sprout. At this moment it is as if we were sipping the water, that is the capitals, in an arid and dry soil, which should not only be watered but also plowed ”.
What about the future? Continue to be an investor or jump across the fence and try to do business? “The contamination between entrepreneurs and investors should be more rooted in the Italian ecosystem by breaking down this cultural wall. Unfortunately in Italy we have few examples, albeit good, of successful startuppers and entrepreneurs who have decided to become investors by exploiting their entrepreneurial experience for other entrepreneurs with the support of figures with a strong track record in the world of venture. Overseas it is normal for a venture capitalist to gain experience in their subsidiaries to experience the day by day of startupper work to be a better investor tomorrow, not in Italy “. Who knows if one day things will change.
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