Leaning Tower of Debt - to History

It seemed like I would never meet an Italian who was entrepreneurial in a BIG way.

Seems like most everyone I come in contact with in my day-to-day life in Florence has a Small Business, Smallish Personal and Financial Goals, a Defeated Before I Try aura. Lots of excuses, or complaints, or arguments why things will never change.

Fatalistic even. This is life. I’m living, so things are fine.
“Come sta?” I ask one Florence card shop owner in rare confidence of my basic Italian. She looks up slowly from her book, and replies, “Bene, bene. È quasi tempo di siesta!” referring to the fast-approaching siesta hour, when most businesses close for two or three hours.

A few weeks ago, three friends and I stayed at an Umbrian B&B compound with luxury appointments and breakfast, noteworthy landscaping and a divine pool above Lake Trasimeno. The owner, Nadine, who grew up in Interlaken, Switzerland, clearly has a vision and passion.

But then she mentioned that her Italian husband, whom she met while a student at university in Perugia, worked during the week as a meter money collector, emptying coins from machines in towns near and far. “It is boring, but it is a job,” Nadine says, with a shrug.

This entrepreneurial inertia in Italy has been perplexing to me, the American.



It reminds me of a conversation I had not long ago with a young Cincinnati, Ohio, CEO who was bewildered about why his brother – a business partner – wasn’t as passionate about their company as he was. The brother preferred 9-5 hours and responsibilities, so he could go home to his wife, dog, TV.

“Why doesn’t he want to work 24/7 on this company, like I do?,” the boyish ball of fire asked, frustrated. “I can barely contain my energy – we WILL succeed.”

An article in today’s New York Times cemented many of my perceptions about the Italian business climate and ethics. “Is Italy Too Italian?” the headline of Dave Segal’s article about Italy’s devastating debt and business challenges read.

“To understand why (the Carlo Berbera) factory, and so much of Italy, is stagnant or worse, requires a bit of geopolitical history and a look at the highly idiosyncratic business culture here,” Segal writes. “It is defined, to a large degree, by deep-seated mistrust — not just of the government, but of anyone who isn’t part of the immediate family — as well as a widespread aversion to risk and to growth that to American eyes looks almost quaint.”

Basilica di San Miniato, Firenze, Italia

After I read the article this morning, brow knitted, I took a power walk high above Florence to the Basilica di San Miniato, an renowned 1800s church I had never visited. I sat, stunned by both beauty and perfect acoustics, in its nave as the choir sang luminously and the organist did encores.

Afterward, in the shade outside, is when I meet Giuseppe, Super Italian Entrepreneur, who also was inspired by the Mass. Though he is his 70s, Giuseppe says he has no intention of retiring from his investing business. He whips out a Blackberry to show me buy/sell emails he’s just received from a Hong Kong advisor. He mentions that he had a firm in Chicago set up – via remote - his online trading system.

Guiseppe is bullish about green energy stocks, and he listens intently as I talk about recent energy reporting I’ve been doing. He makes a note of the New York Times article to read. He mentions that the homily just delivered by a San Miniato monk has got his wheels turning about a new business opportunity – but he’s Not Ready to Share It, he says with a wink.

As we talk, Giuseppe keeps glancing at the spectacular view of the entire Florence valley spread in front of us. People pant up the long flight of stone steps from far below.

When we part, he asks for my business card so he can send me tips – or maybe arrange a lunch meeting to discuss investing. I decide it is not a pickup line.

It is only as I am navigating the stone steps myself that I notice one other thing Giuseppe might have had in view just below as we talked. A late-model, two-seater red Lotus coupe.

I don’t have to turn to see if Giuseppe is following. He has a Lotus frame of mind.