Marco Giovanelli is Vice President of Piazza Italia, the platform that from New York supports Italian companies in the United States, recently transferred to a new headquarters in the heart of Times Square. Training engineer, in the United States for 20 years, helps Made in Italy companies enter the American market and explains what it really takes to remain.
Piazza Italia was born as a reference point for Italian excellence in New York and is now located in the heart of Times Square. How has your mission changed?
She didn’t change, she evolved. We moved to a larger location, with a more prestigious address, to continue the path we have made so far. Our vision has always been to support Italian companies in the United States, and a passage like that in Times Square strengthens it.
After years of work with companies trying to enter the American market, what is the most frequent mistake that Italian entrepreneurs make?
Thinking that a solution that works in Italy can also work abroad. The United States is a different country, and New York is different from any Italian reality. Without the Italian context around, the product is in a new environment. This does not make it impossible, simply change perspective.
And how do you change perspective?
With humility, patience and honest market analysis. We must avoid convincing ourselves that the numbers are wrong, that the councils are wrong, that certain passages can be missed. We need to understand the country, understand the market and adapt. You should never think that it is the market to adapt to the product.
For many years Made in Italy has meant especially fashion and food. What are the sectors with the greatest growth potential in the United States today?
Design is growing a lot, they are increasingly in contact with companies that are developing it. Then there is tourism, still little exploited: you live a lot of the word of Italian tourists who come home, but there is so much to build. And we don’t forget technology and mechanics. I am a mechanical engineer, and with the developments of aerospace and artificial intelligence we are very strong.
Many companies still see the United States as a simple export market. How important is it to build a stable presence and a long-term strategy?
It is fundamental. Distances and communications have shortened, but still distances. Without a solid base on the territory it is very difficult to achieve lasting results. In the short period something comes, but often it is a straw fire that turns out.
What about the Italian network in New York? How much does it matter, and how much do you have to get out of your comfort zone?
The network must be the starting point, not the arrival point. It allows you to feel comfortable in a new context and read it more clearly. But staying still, like the water of a river, is not good. The Italian network is support, while the world outside is the real reason why it opens in the United States.
What about artificial intelligence?
It is a new revolution, like the industrial revolution or that brought from the internet. It must be understood and integrated into the work. He won’t steal jobs, he’ll steal them from those who can’t use it.
A single tip for an Italian entrepreneur who dreams of conquering the American market?
Try, try, try, try, and even when you are wrong to find the positive side of the error. We must accept that at first we are outsiders and that competition is very strong. They will make mistakes, they will encounter disappointments, but this is a market that rewards those who can react to mistakes and change perspective.
L’articolo Marco Giovanelli, Piazza Italia and the challenges of Italian companies in New York proviene da IlNewyorkese.
