Andrea Gerosa, One Entrepreneur for Three Cities

A GRADUATE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, HE MANAGES FIRMS IN PLACES AS DIFFERENT AS BRUSSELS, GENEVA AND HONG KONG. THE HARD PART IS NOT STARTING A BUSINESS, BUT GAINING THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE

Brussels, Geneva, Hong Kong. Andrea Gerosa, 32 years and a degree in business administration from Università Bocconi, could start businesses in three cities in Europe and Asia. In Brussels, he found a bureaucracy as oppressive as in Italy, while in Hong Kong he opened a firm in two hours and spending one dollar. "The startup phase," he says, "is now standardized and relatively simple everywhere. The difficulties can come later".
 
In Brussels Gerosa lived and worked for a year and a half, around the time of his graduation, as chairman of JADE, the European confederation of junior enterprises which includes Bocconi’s JEME (Junior Enterprise Milano Economia), and during his stay he was pleased to witness the rise of think tanks of all kinds, "with the exception", he says, "of think tanks focused on young people". He thus founded in 2007, along with two companions from Bocconi and JEME, Azzurra Giorgio and Stefano Benini, Think Young. "At first it was little more than a site in which we published our articles on youth issues, but within a couple of years it turned into a real think tank, which produces research and publications for foundations, companies and international organizations and employs a dozen people". Today he is its chief thinker, while the other two co-founders sit on the board, but with no operative duties. Think Young opened offices in Geneva in 2011 and in Hong Kong in 2014.
 
Parallel to the development of Think Young, since 2009 Gerosa is entrepreneurially active in Geneva, where he co-founded a company that offers advice to companies that build student residences; a site for short-term apartments rent in cities all over the world and a space for co-working.
 
"The problem to be solved when you start a business abroad," he says, "regards the network. At home you can rely on notaries, lawyers and consultants you may be familiar with, in a foreign city you have to start all over again, building your credibility from scratch".

Each place has its own characteristics in any case. Brussels is an international environment, in which the most conspicuous obstacle is bureaucracy, while Geneva is very business friendly, but has a strong Swiss culture. You need time to gain trust and it is important to know the language. As a foreigner you are expected to be leaving at any moment and so it is more difficult to discuss about the long-term. But reliability, perseverance and time pay: after a few years on the market, with better French and some success to display, everything is easier".

Hong Kong mixes the Chinese and English cultures, with a light bureaucracy, an openness to business ("immediately after registration, the Chamber of Commerce gave us a priceless database of business contacts") but you need a lot of patience to develop relationships with local people. "When they trust you, however, they rely on you also for tasks that have only marginally to do with your specialization".
 
Gerosa still lacks a firm in an Italian port. "I always think about it," he says, "and in the past I have also draft some projects, but I’m still waiting for the right opportunity".

by Fabio Todesco