Can you tell us more about Startup Weekend and why you became a Global Facilitator?

Startup Weekend is an event that started in 2007 in the USA from where it spread all around the globe and is now a global movement; a community of people, an event that helps to inspire people to become entrepreneurs and to teach others on how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Our mission is to educate people to have an entrepreneurial mindset and part of this mindset is to never stop learning.

You, as an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur can learn something new everyday. I became a Startup Weekend facilitator to give back not only to my local community in Rome (Italy), but also to give everyone the chance that I had when I first entered the startup ecosystem via Startup Weekend, attending my first event in 2012.

What have been the challenges of this event?

There were no particular challenges, every event is a challenge even after having facilitated more than 35 events around the world, I still find myself excited and just a little bit apprehensive about each new Startup Weekend.

As Startup Weekend Global Facilitator, how were you able to help overcome these challenges?

Wherever I go to facilitate, the first focus is to adapt to the local community, to the local needs, to the local expectations without forgetting the global format. Sometimes this is easier, sometimes more difficult; sometimes you have to take control of everything, sometimes the local organizers are so skilled that everything runs smoothly, like here in Bahrain.

What is the “high” of being a Global Facilitator for Startup Weekend?

I get a high everytime I meet people who are so connected to you by mindset that they are like your best friends even if that event is the first time you meet them. So I really love going to new places and meeting new people and this is the “high” of being a Global Facilitator for me.

What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs/ startups?

Be open minded, don’t stay fixed on your own idea too much, listen to feedback, look for feedbacks (good or bad doesn’t matter, but for me the bad feedbacks are the best). Be curious, be creative, and don’t stop learning.