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Elena Starting Up at RadioBocconi

, by Laura Fumagalli, translated by Jenna Walker
A new radio show and a new blog, both focusing on startups, for the Bocconi graduate

The Rolling Stones song Start Me Up was the appropriate beginning to the new program hosted by Elena Lavezzi on RadioBocconi dedicated to the world of startups. 'Start Up the Volume,' on air every Tuesday, provides visibility to young startuppers: Elena and Alessandro Roccia (co-speaker and director) interview entrepreneurs, investors, business angels, journalists, incubator representatives – all the professionals able to advise listeners who would like to launch their own business.

Elena's headshot
Elena Lavezzi, 'StartUp the Volume' host

The new RadioBocconi format, however, is not the only new professional undertaking for the young Bocconi speaker. Elena, who also works at a real startup, opened a blog this week on the website Panorama in which she talks about the risks and the everyday feelings in the entrepreneurial world: "Our radio format aroused a lot of interest in the press," says Elena, "so much so that I was asked to talk about these issues in a special blog, 'Startup Now.' I get emails from startuppers from all over Italy who would like to be interviewed during the show: this is an honor and it gives me even more motivation."

Elena is a 25-year-old Piedmont native and she graduated from Bocconi with a degree in Business Economics and, after several work experiences abroad, enrolled in the Master in Marketing at ESCP Europe, living in London and Paris. She was about to accept a proposal to work for a multinational company, at a highly-paid position, with career possibilities, job security, which is not easy to find these days. But she changed her mind: "I realized that's not what I wanted for my future," she says.

A lazy Sunday Parisian afternoon, laying on her couch, Elena was looking at LinkedIn profiles and found Giorgio Bertolini, founder of 'Ploonge,' a social dining platform used to meet people around the dinner table. One happy hour and lots of chats later, she accepted Giorgio's proposal and joined the Ploonge team as community manager and Program Ambassador, which deals with recruiting young promoters at universities.

"My dream is to realize my own entrepreneurial idea," explains Elena. "I think Ploonge is a good opportunity to get experience in the area of new businesses and I decided to take a risk." What's her idea? "It's too early to talk about it," she says, "but I found my first collaborator, another Bocconi alum, and I think that I'll finally be able to turn it into a reality."

While she waits to realize her dream, Elena is concentrating on her favorite weekly appointment: the time when 'Start Up the Volume' airs on Tuesday evenings at 7pm.

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