What is your greatest passion?
Since childhood it has always been music. I started playing guitar from a very young age and I remember that at 9 years old I was excited to hear the guitar solo of "Rosanna" by Toto. I’ve not played guitar in years, even if in the evening every now and then I pull out my electric guitar and I play a little, until my fingertips begin to hurt. Now I also like to do sports, it makes me feel good and helps me relieve stress, plus it allows me to eat abundantly... and this is another great passion of mine: food!
You're one of the co-founders of Gate-away.com. How did it all start?
Almost for fun! Annalisa and I were talking about what was not working at Rightmove, where we worked in London. We discussed what was missing and what the Italian market would need to meet the needs of Italian agencies and international buyers. At one point we said: "Well, but if we are so convinced we know what should and should not be done, why don’t we do it? We can create a portal specifically for Italy!" So we started working on it and with a bit of unconsciousness, resourcefulness and the desire to do, we overcame the obstacles one at a time. In the research phase, on how we could have built a portal technically, Annalisa thought about her cousin Antonio", a computer expert. Antonio soon came to London for a weekend and he also became passionate about the project and decided to join our adventure. One thing that we confessed later, me and Annalisa, is that we were very frightened of what we were doing, we believed very much in the project but at the same time it frightened us but we hid that from one another and went ahead. If only one of them had confessed it probably Gate-away.com would have never be born!
What's it like working with your wife Annalisa?
I will only answer in the presence of my lawyer! Jokes aside, Annalisa and I get along very well, we have two characters that fit perfectly and even when we have different points of view and very heated exchanges, in the end we always find a middle ground. Surely, the mutual esteem plays a fundamental role.
What is the project you have been working on so far that has given you the most satisfaction?
I know it may sound rhetorical, but really every project I follow fascinates me, I like to see how what I do influences the use of the site and the user experience. Once I have implemented a project I am immediately ready to get passionate about the next one! In any way a project that fills me with pride and that is always in continuous development is just Gate-away.com as a company, working group, Team! I am really proud of what we are all creating. This is definitely what satisfies me the most!