Entrepreneurial ideas to resolve a perceived challenge to the environment 

Italy Starts program has just finished. It does not matter whether you are a business enthusiast or a genius inventor, anyone can become an entrepreneur: it's just a matter of mindset and this is the reason why our High School Blaise Pascal participates with our students. With this course held by the American University John Cabot everyone has been challenged to think, analyse and deliver presentations of their very own business idea. 

The objective of Italy Starts, John Cabot University’s Peer-to-Peer Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program, is to encourage cross-cultural learning between undergraduate students who have had some training in entrepreneurship or business, and Italian high school students, within the broad spectrum of entrepreneurship-focused mentoring. 

The participants have been grouped into teams and, for each team, there have been two Mentors (university students) to guide and support them, week by week organizing meetings, in order to review the work prepared, to introduce a new topic, to walk through the assignments and finally to  develop a business idea and create the presentation delivered on Friday, June 25, 4:30 pm. 12 Teams presented their entrepreneurial ideas to resolve a perceived challenge to the environment, developed during the 5-week program. The teams were composed of 4-6 Italian high school students (Mentees) and 2-4 American University undergraduate students (Mentors), for a total of 100 participants. Unfortunately Liceo Blaise Pascal is not the winner of the First Prize, but 4 Teams received a Special Mention, in recognition of the originality, potential impact and sustainability of their ideas. Those teams will have the opportunity to be “adopted” by a student team or class at John Cabot University to further develop their idea and devise a go-to-market strategy. 

Among the four teams there is the one concerning a New Product Development:  

• Team 12 PowerCtrlfor sustainable living, from Liceo Scientifico Statale Donatelli-Pascal, Milan and Liceo Blaise Pascal, Pomezia. Their Mentors are from The American University of Nigeria and San Diego State University. Their proposal helps the environment by reducing “idle charging time”. 

Team 12 was composed by the Mentees Gabriele Caruso 2LcC Liceo Blaise Pascal, Pomezia - Manuel Garzia, Liceo Scientifico Statale Donatelli-Pascal, Milano and Pietro Andrea Montelatici, Liceo Scientifico Statale Donatelli-Pascal, Milano supported by the Mentor Amarachi Chukwu, American University of Nigeria. Their idea has achieved the following feedback from judges: cool idea, great graphics, going forward:

1) Is the technology already available? Convince the audience that it is technically feasible.

2) Stress more the benefits to the customer. Work on practicing the presentation without reading for better narrative impact. 

A great success! Congratulations to the three mentees invited to work with students in Professor Paganini’s New Product Development class and jointly present the project at JCU’s Weekend of Startups in November remaining involved and working to the extent of their availability and interest. 

Gabriele Caruso 2LcC will let us know!

Referente PCTO c/o John Cabot, Prof.ssa Nadia Gabbarrini