42N is a benefit corporation founded by Italian professionals resident in the United States, united by the desire to return part of the experience accumulated over the years by helping startups, university spin-offs and Italian SMEs to face the American market or get in touch with US investors. No paid advice, but direct advice, always pragmatic, based on errors experienced in the first person, professional scars and a deep knowledge of the cultural and financial dynamics of the USA. Roberto Dolci and Francesco Rizzo Marullo talk about it.
Let’s start from the beginning: where is the name 42N born and what is the idea behind this project?
Roberto Dolci: “The name may not denote the maximum imagination, but it is very simple: 42N indicates the northern degrees that unite Boston and Rome: the 42nd north parallel connects Boston and Rome and we chose this name to represent a bridge. We are all Italians resident in the United States for years, some have also become American citizens, and we are united by this passion and conviction: to create a link between us and Italy. We are all involved in business and try to help companies, startups, university spin-offs or those realities that want to get in touch with American investors.”.
Boston is the starting point, but today you are much more widespread in the American territory.
Roberto Dolci: “The idea was born in Boston, so the name, but many of us live in New York, others in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles. In fact, we expanded far beyond Boston. What unites us is a very American idea of give back, return. We are Italians and felt the need to do something for our country, and to do so on the basis of our personal experiences. Our expatriation stories are different, but at the same time similar, and from here comes the will to help especially young people, startups, university spin-offs or even small and medium-sized companies, with more years behind, who want to explore the expansion in the United States or get in touch with American investors, who tend to be much more propensity to risk than the Italian ones”.
How much does this different risk propensity affect?
Roberto Dolci: “On equal terms, on average an American investor invests seven times what an Italian investor invests. Therefore, even for the American investor it is useful to get in touch with Italian excellence”.
42N accompanies companies only in the initial phase or even in the long term?
Roberto Dolci: «We are a benefit corporation, very similar to a no profit, and we do all this in our spare time, on a voluntary basis. Each of us has its own work: I am an engineer, Francesco is a tax lawyer, we have other lawyers like Ettore Santucci, professors like Paolo Ciuccarelli, investors like Arrigo Bodda, designers like Rita Ricotta and, professionals of various kinds. Everyone devotes the time they can. We are not a consultancy company or a professional study that does this at a fee, but over the years we have developed a very important and trusted network of contacts. Based on our experience we suggest to those who turn to us what is best to do and what is not. In an almost prescribed way we say: “You have to do this, so and so”, simply because some thirty people have already done it before and has already been burned. They’re real scars. If one wants to do differently, he’s free to do it. We must not sell ourselves, nor justify hours: let us say things as they are.”.
Attorney Rizzo Marullo, you entered 42N more recently. What contribution does it make to this reality?
Francesco Rizzo Marullo: “I have been dealing with 42N for about a year and I clearly contribute according to my experiences. The most interesting thing is the creation of connections: each one of us, in its sector and in the various countries, has developed a network of contacts that makes available to what I would define more a community, instead of a team. In a horizontal management where the spirit is where I do not arrive, Roberto or another member can arrive.
In some cases we put companies in contact with funds or realities like Hedge Fund; other times, if the project is particularly interesting, some of us make a personal investment.
In this context I must say that the consulate of Boston, in the people of the console Arnaldo Minuti, of the scientific actor prof. Paolo Gaudenzi and all the staff, provide us with an excellent support by supporting our initiatives and promoting opportunities for meeting”.
Often it is said that in Italy there are valid ideas. Is that true?
Francesco Rizzo Marullo: «It is a great myth to blush. The Italian realities we see are often very valid, with absolutely interesting ideas. What is often missing is the structure: the structure to enter the American market or even just to be presented in the right way. The idea alone is not enough. We need more, and by virtue of our experience we give a sort of “to do list”: then the final decision always belongs to the company”.
Ing. Dolci, can you say that your true heritage is experience?
Roberto Dolci: «Assolucently yes. We all started companies, we were very close to startups, we made mistakes and, in some cases, also important exits. We therefore have a complete vision of what works and what we would do best today. In front of those who face this market for the first time we can say: “Look, this thing works, the other one does not.”.
I give a concrete example: a historical Italian company, four generations, 150 years of activity, could not achieve results in North America. They sent offers of six pages in front of chapters of 200 pages. Here in America the counterpart is offended if he receives six pages when he wrote 1840. We suggested telling their story, territory, generations, local culture: everything needed to write an offer over 200 pages. From scratch, tens of millions of dollars were made. The firmness was minimal, incomprehensible for those accustomed to the way of working in Italy, but decisive”.
How many companies have turned to 42N so far and with what main needs?
Roberto Dolci: “There are hundreds of companies that have contacted us only for advice or contact. Then there are about fifty plentiful companies that made with us a real path. We always start from the same point: communication. In the United States it communicates completely differently. It is not a matter of language, but of structure of the message.
We also helped hire staff, get closer to the bag, until we work with early investment startups. Some of us are angel investor, others manage venture clubs or work with venture capital asking us to evaluate the projects”.
Looking at the future, what are the next steps of 42N?
Roberto Dolci:«We are thinking of organizing at least one pitch contest in 2026, probably in spring. We already have several companies that are going very well and such an event serves to put them in direct contact with the world of investments”.
How much does the role of the Family Office count in this path?
Roberto Dolci: “It is a figure that in Italy is missing a lot. A Family Office is a professional investor who works for ultra-rich families and invests tens of millions of dollars. When one of these subjects takes you under his wing, it helps you grow and gives you a huge investment ability. For a startup can be a turning point, now I am helping one of these for an event on Lake Como».
Boston is often out of the radar of Italian companies. What kind of ecosystem does it offer?
Francesco Rizzo Marullo: «Boston is a very special reality. It’s different from New York and San Francisco. It is more sleepy in appearance, but from the business perspective it is incredibly dynamic. Between universities, biotech, finance and research there is an extraordinary ecosystem.
Here if you go you have an opportunity. This is perhaps the greatest cultural difference compared to Italy: the greatest risk of American investors is directly related to credit concession and, therefore, to obtain an opportunity for our start-ups. Then as always, the market will judge you. Be clear, not all start-ups become Google, the average out of 10 start-ups is that 8-9 will fail, but it will be enough to repay all the other nine. This different approach to entrepreneurial risk makes the failure of an investment seen as an experience to be taught for the future, and not as a stigma to be ashamed of. And that is what, in my opinion, makes the United States so attractive today.”.
Who are you addressing today in a priority?
Roberto Dolci: «To two groups. On the one hand to American and Italian investors, to show them the Italian excellence on which it is worth investing also remaining in Italy. On the other hand, Italian companies that first face this market. Of course we are ready to help those who are already in the United States and are experiencing difficulties.”.
Is there a red thread that keeps all project 42N together?
Roberto Dolci:«42N was born also from a challenge of his friend Alberto Forchielli, just before Covid: “What can you do for your country?” he said. This is the red thread that unites us: the desire and willingness to do something for Italy.
The largest value is the network. By helping others we also expand our network and create connections that otherwise would not exist. We all made mistakes we paid on our skin. If today we can tell someone “don’t do it, because I have already done it and it doesn’t work”, then all this really makes sense”.
Article 42N: the Italian experience that helps companies grow in the United States comes from IlNewyorkese.
