Today's teenagers are growing up in a world that's so different, even from the world I grew up ten years ago. You mentioned you stayed in Rome after you graduated from St. Stephen's; what did you do following graduation?

What came next was the total unknown. I had no idea what I wanted to do. The only thing I knew was that I had to leave Rome, not because I didn't love Rome, au contraire. When I more recently saw “La Grande Bellezza” I felt like Sorrentino hit the nail on the head with managing to create a visual representation of how I always felt about “La citta’ eterna’. That last scene when they’re doing “il trenino” during the party just hit it home for me.  As Romans we have this terrible thing, which is that the people of Rome still think it's the capital of an empire that has been gone for thousands of years, and it gets to you, even to me; you're like, "oh, I live in Rome, “Roma capoccia, Roma caput-mundi…” and you're fed this dream, this romantic lie that Rome is the center of the world. It was, once. It's not now. It's far from it. It's beautiful, it's fantastic, but it's a village. It's a big village with a delusion of grandeur where if you stay there, you will probably remain there for the rest of your life. Again, nothing against that, but I knew that I had to leave or I would’ve had massive regrets from not going abroad and seeing the world. 

I did some university tours in New York, Paris, and London. I ended up going to Brussels because I found this fantastic university that was small but dynamic. Brussels was much more international city; the European Union was in total ferment, the wall had ‘just’ come down, and it felt like it was really the center of the world. I ended up staying there for almost 7 years. I went to Vesalius, a liberal arts college that was a love child between Boston College and the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). It gave me the time to understand what direction I wanted to go in. I eventually outgrew Brussels too and moved to Paris where I lived for almost 20 years, and now recently moved to London. 

When you moved to Paris, is that when you joined your current company, Eutelsat, where you are currently Head of Internal Innovation? I read that you collaborate with global teams across France, Italy, and even Mexico. You also work with start-ups, VCs, and universities as well. I wondered, what sorts of projects does a "Head of Internal Innovation" work on?

I’m actually leaving Eutelsat this month. Because of my recent transfer from Paris to London, it has become more complicated. Working in internal innovation involves working with people, and remote innovation is, Id say, impossible. To answer your question, at the end of the day, my role was accompanying colleagues with dreams and ideas. I would listen to them and determine if it had Value with a capital "v." Did it bring something to the bottom line? That was fantastic. I loved doing that and seeing the ideas that came from all different areas, from our engineers and directors to the stewards at the building entrance who would observe and say, "well, what if we did things like this? What if we did that?" I created guidelines; it was as if we had a suggestion box, and I gave the box structure. I helped accompany people from idea to design and execution and to do so you’d also need help finding internal and external sponsors or clients. I loved that because I love creating.

And what kinds of projects did you support? What were some of the things you helped come into being during your time there?

The good thing about working in something like that is that you have internal budgets, which are usually very meager, so you go and talk to the European Union, you speak to local ministries of telecommunication, to venture capitalists, to investors, and that's the unique part: you learn to cut through the bullshit in a way and see what makes the world tick. There are a lot of politics and behind-the-scenes dynamics that, from the outside, are hard to see. One of the most incredible projects involved some people who took a technology that was twenty years old and repurposed it. They took long-abandoned frequencies that no one else knew what to do with, and they came up with unique ideas. Unfortunately, it's an ongoing project, so I can't go into details.

Absolutely. That's a good point. It's rare to hear anyone positively talk about Facebook, but we must respect them for taking a risk. So, to completely change topics, I wanted to ask you about your latest project, Solaro Gin, which is produced in Capri. According to the Solaro website, it is the only award-winning gin made in Capri and its surrounding region. I was surprised to learn that gin was born on the Amalfi Coast in Salerno. What’s the story behind Solaro, and what sets it apart from other gins?

What makes it unique is it's not only the most beautiful but also most exquisite gin in the world. A combination of factors led me to create Solaro gin. I had been a Co-Founder many times, but I was always joining other people, and at a certain point, I wanted to do my own thing and use the experience I had accumulated over my lifetime to create something unique. This is my passion project and is now being found in the highest-end establishments and locations around the world. We’ve recently gotten a few medals (including a double gold) and glowing reviews keep pouring in (pun intended). 

In a strange way, Solaro was born of my frustration for Italy. I hate that it's one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with so much going for it, and yet we seem to squander our riches, cultural diversity, ingenuity, and the fantastic things we have going for us. I hate squandered potential.  Italy has this constant problem of internal strife, of politics, of people going at each other's throats, a mentality of “mors tua vita mea”, so I wanted to prove myself wrong, in that sense, and create something in Italy. I wanted to create something with the best people I could find and ensure those people would get recognition. While living in France and working as a photographer, doing fashion shoots and other projects, I realized there was so much going on behind the scenes that no one saw. When people are recognized, you can create a great ecosystem. I wanted to be radically transparent with my company; I didn't want anything we did to be a secret. And our artisans at Solaro have gone above and beyond what was required of them and created something beautiful, from the distillers who gather the raw ingredients to the artisans who create the ceramic packaging.

To make a long thing short, part of my family is Neapolitan and Capri, and I've been visiting most of my life. While making limoncello in my uncle's garden, I had all these ideas going on in my head, the “shower thoughts” effect, and I thought, “why don't I make something from Capri?” I thought about making limoncello, and I thought about all the artisans here who make leather sandals, ceramists, painters, poets, etc. There is so much happening on such a small piece of land! So, this idea came to me four or five years ago and I let it brew. I have a Notes application on my phone where I have one note called "Strangeries and Ideas," Every time I have an idea, I dump it there, and this one stuck. I keep the ideas together because it allows me to read through them monthly and realize what's stupid and good. 

So, I started to talk to people. I'm not a big drinker, and I don't come from the food and beverage industry, so this was a completely new, different life from my career in technology and satellites, but I found it fascinating. 

For example, I don't know if you know the story of gin: it was first made in Italy in the 900s, with the creation of the Scuola Medica Salernitana, which is recognized as the foundation of modern medicine (basically the transition from alchemy to scientific-method).  There were three big cultures of the time, the Byzantine, Western and Arab empires. The story goes that three scholars of these Cultures met and decided to combine knowledge. The Arab scholar brought something unknown at the time in the West, a little metal still, an alembic, that enabled one to distill things which was crucial (as it is still today) for medicine. This was a game changer because up until then you could only achieve about 15% alcohol through fermentation (mead, wine, beer…). These scholars took the wine and distilled it. Even back then, one thousand years ago, you could achieve 98% alcohol by distilling wine. These men took everything around them, plants, animals, and objects, and tried to distill them, and because juniper had been used since the beginning of time for medical purposes, they distilled that and made what we call today "gin." And today, at Solaro, our gin is produced in Salerno, the birthplace of gin.

That is very cool. I had no idea gin was born in Salerno. Now that I have heard the story behind Solaro, it seems that this project of making gin was born more or less naturally, not only from your heritage but also from your love of nature and the outdoors. You're an explorer, a nature photographer, and a scuba diver. You co-founded The Outdoor Journal, an international active lifestyle and explorer magazine. Could you share more about this passion and what led you to turn your love for nature and photography into a business?

I think photography and exploration came naturally because I come from a family of diplomats, so moving around and exploring is in my DNA. My mom was a photographer. I have a lot of family members who are artists, architects, painters, mosaicists, anything really, and it's one of these things where you say, "do what you love." And I love traveling, I love discovering new cultures. Anthony Bourdain was a hero of mine. I loved how he presented himself and his philosophy of getting to know cultures through food. The Outdoor Journal was a natural fit because a friend of mine started it, and I was involved from the beginning. It's a fantastic medium that allows me to meet the most exciting people from Cousteau to Mike Horn and visit insanely beautiful locations, up in the mountains or under the sea. And, traveling, you see these unique places, and being able to extract and distill those experiences is fun [laughs]. It seems distilling is a constant theme in my life!

You have started and been involved in some fascinating, unique projects, from the Outdoor Journal to Solaro. I can imagine it's not easy to start ventures on your own or even alongside a partner. What do you love about entrepreneurship, and what has enabled you to persevere when things are difficult?

I love building things and helping others succeed. I think that’s my main drive in entrepreneurship. Being constantly surrounded by ideas and dreams, and once you get into the groove, also find those who will back you financially and emotionally. Those two elements are the most important because trust me, being an entrepreneur sounds sexy but you realize very quickly what your limitations are and you better have the fortitude and persona to be able to be both humble and resilient. You will get your ass handed to you constantly. Look up "startup curve" and that gives you an idea of what you're going to go through. Personally, the thing that allows me to persevere, more than anything, is enough resources (i.e. money) until we get repeat sales and a steady flow of money. You'll find out quickly enough if you're cut out to be an entrepreneur. What really matters is having enough cash to get your company up and running and fumbling along the way. 

With regards to the Outdoor Journal & Voyage, for example, we created a business model where we only work with the most sustainable, safe, and exciting travel operators (we vet each and every one of them) and we only take a small, fixed commission and give the lion's share of money back to the local trip leaders, which is the right thing to do (which most travel agencies don’t do that). So, we created this beautiful thing; we had more than two million in funding, and then COVID came and shut things down, so now we are resurrecting the project with new funding. That was a bit of a "force majeure", but you'll have to eventually deal with things like employees quitting point blank, stealing, insurance scams, customers being upset (ever notice the only feedback you get is complaints, hardly any praise?), or things like staying up at night not knowing how you're going to pay staff at the end of the month, taxes due, legal fees accruing, and that's just the beginning. It's hell and the thought of going back to a cushy corporate job isn't a bad thing, it's sanity and stability.