About Us

I didn't always have this many ideas. When I was about six years old, I sat down at the kitchen table a few times, with my feet dangling above the white tiled floor, with a pencil and a piece of paper to invent. I still remember the sense of anticipation, that any minute now, I would invent some type of device.

Those ideas didn't come. I decided I wasn't cut out to be the next Leonardo. 

 

By then I was already nicknamed 'The Philosopher' by my uncle. I had wondered if there could be such a thing as a collection of universes and I had thought of an existing opening strategy to beat my old man at chess. I wasn't impressed myself.

 

On the soccer field I saw pass lines that awed the crowd, in school I asked questions that silenced my teachers, or perfomed feats of mathematics that made my teacher call my parents. With my friends I came up with new games and took charge.

 

Like many of the greats I went on a 'Grand Voyage' to then go and study Engineering. 

 

This is when I became aware of the rare nature of this gift for ideas. On her deathbed my Mom made me swear I would do what I felt I needed to do, regardless of what other people thought about it.

 

To try and channel this I started a non-profit to inspire young entrepreneurs to turn ideas into reality. The successful execution of one idea, could catalyze many more. We tried to overcome overambition, naivety, lack of capital and experience with enthusiasm, but fathering a child led me to pulling the plug. 

 

Since one problem leads to another I found myself, two years later, without my boy, without ID card, without address and with substantial debt. When I went to the government agency  for social welfare to ask for help (the winter nights outside were getting colder) to get a temporary ID card (you can't get one without address) or a temporary address (you can't get one without an ID card) they told me there was nothing they could do to help me. When I asked what they would do if they were in my shoes, I got: "Kill myself."

 

Ten years later, I find myself on a vacation in Italy looking at the Mediterranean. Faith, love, friendship, persistence and hard work have gotten me out of the depths of despair that now almost feel unbelievable: my boy is starting middle school, my wife wants to have my children, my career in tech is bearable and I have some money in the bank - instead of debt collectors vulturing over me.

 

I have spent countless hours thinking about how to use this gift of mine. Some days I have dozens of ideas, in all shapes and sizes. Not knowing what to do with them made me experience this gift as a burden that paralyzed and pressed me down for years. Since I don't want to work in advertising or for some tv show and I don't have the MBA degree to be a strategic director, the path of entrepreneur seemed most befitting, because by building capital and credibility I could hire people to execute lots of ideas. Well, we know how that ended. 

 

Recently I decided to create a blog of sorts to share my ideas with the world. I spent months racking my brain for a fitting name. Trattoridea is the result. With Leonardo as my childhood hero, my studies of Latin, my love for Italian cuisine and the philosophy of the Renaissance, a Trattoria serves as a beautiful symbol for a menu of ideas. 

 

It is my gift to you and the world, but most of all, it is a gift to myself.