I was born on
April 4, 1960 in Loreto, at 7.30 in the morning
on a Monday: just in time to go to work. I was born in my family home, not in
hospital - back then, giving birth at home was common, and it all went well,
apparently. As soon as I reached the age of reason, I was already surrounded by
brothers - even in my very first memories, there are three of them already.
Then they became six. Here is the full list, ordered by age: Antonio (me),
Daniele, Ester, Elena, Massimo, Fabiola, Paolo.
In the autumn of
1965 I was enrolled in a kindergarten run by nuns. At lunch in the canteen we
were also joined by the children from the associated primary school. One
afternoon, intrigued by their smart black uniforms with white bows, I sneaked
into the queue of primary school pupils returning to class after lunch. Once in
the classroom, the teacher, a lovely woman, instead of rebuking me just burst
into laughter and decided to keep me along. In short, I was enrolled in primary
school one year ahead of schedule.
At school things
went rather well and I got good results, I also earned the esteem and gratitude
of my schoolmates by proudly offering them my assignments for copying, or
helping them out with theirs. Something I never stopped doing all throughout my
school years. There was only one area that would keep worrying my parents all
along my school years: conduct. I always got remarkably good marks in every
subject, but bad conduct marks all the time.
It was great fun,
back then: school was exciting, and then we had 3 whole months of summer
holidays at the seaside in Porto Recanati. Then
on to secondary school, and more of the same - I got excellent marks in all
subjects, except conduct.
In my second year of
secondary school, misled by overexposure to tv news (this was 1972), I
organised the first student general strike to protest against the school - they
wanted to change our literature and humanities teacher in the middle of the
school year. The incredulous school principal and professors witnessed for
three days the impressive sight of 2,000-3,000 kids gathered in the square
below, yelling and shouting slogans, often not very elegant ones too - it was
not our fault that the new teacher's name was Panzavuota (literally: empty
belly). On the third day of the strike, it was even mentioned in the local
papers, and the principal finally decided to negotiate with us. I was the head
of the student delegation. When the principal found out ("how come,
Antonio? such a good pupil like you!") she pulled a sneaky trick on me by
calling my father, whom I had obviously been keeping in the dark about my
activities. You can imagine the rest. By the way, in fairness I must add that
the new teacher, Ms Panzavuota, was undoubtedly one of the best teachers I have
ever had, much better than the previous one our deluded strike meant to
"defend".
I attended since
childhood the local parish youth and sports club in Via Trieste. I played
football, as a goalkeeper. I completed secondary school with full marks at
final exams, which placated my father's anger at my bad conduct record.
I then enrolled in
high school at the Liceo Scientifico in Osimo.
This was 1974. Going to school was no small feat - at the time the best way to
reach Osimo was by bus and it left Loreto at 6.45 in the morning, so I had to
get up at 6 every day. For five long years, every day - I still consider that
an heroic accomplishment. My classmates were not that great, I never liked them
much. I found much more congenial company among the kids from another class who
shared my bus journey to school from Castelfidardo.
In those years - as is typical - many things happened: I fell in love with
Patrizia (whom I later married in 1987, after a ten years' engagement); I
attended the ACR group meetings (Azione Cattolica
Ragazzi - Catholic Youth association), where I poured all my energy and wish
for active participation; I kept doing very well in school and - this is the
novelty - I started getting serious about studying. Anna Ricci, an
extraordinary literature and humanities teacher, now retired, made me fall in
love with grammar and poetry (and, hear hear, she gave me top marks in conduct
because she loved free-spirited types! I was finally vindicated). And another
marvellous teacher (whose name I cannot remember, shame on me - I only remember
she was from Ascoli Satriano) made me develop a
passion for philosophy, by giving me as first assignment a commentary on the Life of Galileo by Brecht.
I took the final
exam for my leaving certificate in 1978, my chosen subjects were philosophy
and physics (I wrote a short thesis on Antonio Gramsci
for philosophy, and one on the recently developed theory of black holes for physics). Everything went well, I
passed the exam with full marks - 60/60. For a couple of weeks afterwards I
kept studying to prepare for the admission test for university, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (their website is
often offline), where I would have liked to attend the graduate course in
Information Technology. But the attraction of the seaside cities was too
strong, and I just gave up.
So I
finally enrolled at the faculty of Law at the University
of Macerata (a poor website, with overuse of Flash animation and a
photograph of a pretty college student on the home page...). I kept getting
good - in fact, excellent - results. At the end of May 1981 (in the middle of
the third year) I had already taken twenty-one exams out of the total
twenty-six required, and my record boasted twenty-one full marks (30/30), many
of whom with honours. In the meantime, I continued my ongoing involvement with Azione Cattolica.
Dino Boffo,
today Editor-in-Chief of the Italian daily Avvenire and
at the time Secretary General of Azione Cattolica Italiana, offered me a post
in Rome as leader of one of the three sections of the association, the one for
youth (Azione Cattolica Ragazzi - ACR). So in June 1981 I moved to Rome, where
I remained until January 1986 in the elected office of National Superintendent
of ACR and, as such, National Vicepresident of the whole Azione Cattolica
association itself. At the time, the national President was Alberto Monticone, today a Senator of the Republic
(and a funny chap, be warned), while the Superintendent for the adults section,
and national Vicepresident along with me, was Rosy
Bindi, today a Member of the Italian Parliament. I never liked either of
them.
In Rome I lived in a room in an apartment building at the
beginning of the Via Aurelia, near St Peter's square, and I had my office in
the big building in Via della Conciliazione 1. A truly wonderful thing, the
city I mean - in those years I also learned to love Romans, the most cynical
people in the world, forced to such cynicism as a form of self-defence, and
capable of turning it into an extraordinary form of daily
humour. And I fell in love with the city, Rome, without a doubt the most
beautiful city in the world. It was in Rome that I participated in all the
excitement of the world cup in Spain, when
Italy became world football champion - in 1982.
In those years I
worked like mad. And the ACR gained more and more weight within the Azione
Cattolica association. An association with a glorious history, but even then
already reduced (though I did not want to believe that) to serve as launching
pad for a career as journalist in RAI (Italian state tv) or, alternatively, as
politician in the Christian Democrats, before they dissolved (Rosy Bindi was
the last one to make it just in time to jump on the bandwagon). As for myself,
I couldn't care less about either options, in fact, I (with the support of the
"base", as often happens in such matters) overtly denounced that
trend that was killing the association and subjecting it to ill-disguised
purposes which were far from ideal. My stance drew angered reactions from most
of the other leaders of the association. On the other hand, I gained the
opportunity to repeatedly and privately meet and talk to Pope John Paul II: a great man, in later years
reduced to silence and insignificance by the Roman Curia and the CEI
(Conferenza Episcopale Italiana - Italian Bishops' Conference).
In January 1986
I came back home. I had left five years earlier with only five exams still to
take before graduation. I was going back to university with still three exams
to take, and my thesis still to be written. Actually even five years earlier I
already knew I was going to write a philosophy of law thesis on Martin Heidegger, whose work I had in the meantime
grown very fond of, even to the point of studying German in order to read his
writings in the original language. So that is what I did end up working on. In
nine months I completed my graduate course by taking the last three exams and
finishing the graduation thesis - "Law and Time in Martin Heidegger",
a 600-page tome read by only two people, my thesis supervisor and me. Which is
a pity, since there are things in there that offer insights on a few points
where work about Heidegger is at a standstill. I presented my thesis in
November 1986, with a record of full marks (30/30) and several honours for all
of the twenty-six exams taken, except for two with a result of 28/30 and one
with a mark of 27/30. The greatest satisfaction was hearing my supervisor,
Professor Pierfranco Ventura, introduce my work
by saying, "This thesis is one of the most advanced works in the study and
interpretation of the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, and would deserve to be
presented not here but in Tübingen". I got
my graduation in Law on 5 November 1986 with full marks and honours - 110/110
cum laude.
It was about time to
marry Patrizia. We had been engaged since 1977 - and, as often in life, with
some things there just comes a time to either take it to the next step, or ruin
everything, and I did not want to ruin a thing. There was only one problem: I
did not have the slightest idea what my future earnings could be. It was
something I had never really been too worried about. Become a lawyer? I would
only have been able to make some money after three or four years of legal
training. And in the meantime? I started working as reseller of investment
funds and life insurance packages for Programma Italia S.p.A., a company that
had been recently created by Ennio Doris (currently President of Banca
Mediolanum) and Silvio Berlusconi. I learned what it means to sell "door
to door". And I also learned the power of hypocrisy - none of my colleagues
wanted to be called "reseller", and would have shuddered at the
thought of doing that job - they were called "general consultant", or
"financial advisor"... my experience there did not last long. I was
promised a promotion if I reached a certain result. I did reach it, but was
given no promotion - so I left.
After much searching
and screening, in 1987 I ran into Poltrona Frau,
a famous and wonderful company from the Marche region. I got a job with them,
and for a couple of years earned very little, but learned a lot. I left
Poltrona Frau in 1990 to make more money (I needed that, with two small
children and a mortgage on the house!) working at Valdichienti, a small company
in Tolentino which operated in the same field as Poltrona Frau.
I had a deal with
them: if I reached a certain increase in sales, I would have been promoted
to executive level. After two years, I reached that sales increase. But the
company owner changed his mind (a recurring vice, I've noticed, among owners).
I had a quarrel with them, and left the company. This was 1993.
In the meantime a
former colleague from Poltrona Frau was also in a quarrel with his company. We
decided to get together and start a company specialised in interior design and
engineering. I searched for a name to give our new company, and settled for
"Link". The internet, at least in Italy, was still widely unknown,
but apparently my attraction to it was destiny.
Two years later I
left Link to my partner - who won the contract to work on the interior design
of the new headquarters of the European Parliament in
Strasbourg - and started working for a small but friendly company
producing aerials. Initially specialised in producing aerials for car radio
systems, the company, Dynaflex, soon became the
first in Italy to produce aerials for mobile phones, which had in those years
(1995) just started to become popular. My two-year experience with them was
also full of many satisfactions and rewards - I dealt with clients from all
over Europe, travelled like mad, and made the company name a well-known brand
in its field. Guess how it all ended? Same old story: I should have received a
small share of the company stock as had been previous agreed, but the company
owner changed his mind. So I left. This was in June 1997.
I had become
familiar with the internet, in the meantime, and had developed
a real passion for it. Not for the internet as a "means", but as a
place, because that is what the internet is - a place that was not there
before, a place where you can meet people you would not have met before, and do
things you would not have been able to do before. Given my passion for
gastronomy, I decided to create an online gourmet shop, to sell the products I
would be selecting by touring all over Italy. I worked on the project for a
year and half, and got my younger brother Paolo involved in it, as well as
Lorenzo Guggiolini, a dear childhood friend.
In February 1998,
the company Esperya S.n.c. was born, and in September the website Esperya.com went online. It immediately became very
popular, and got noticed by many experts in the field and journalists. We were
not looking for partners, but they were looking for us: in July 1999, we signed
a partnership with Kataweb S.p.a., and handed over 70% of Esperya in return for
some financing (I discovered later we asked far too little, compared to the
average at the time...) and the possibility to manage something bigger and more
important.
It was a wonderful experience. But it too came to an end - on the 8th of April 2002 I found out that on the 4th, on my 42nd birthday, someone had had the bright idea of firing me. Currently (Feb 25th, 2006), I am working on creating and developing the web division of San Lorenzo and on creating and developing my own Simplicissimus Blog Farm.
Briefly, about e-commerce: the idea is to sell products like market vendors in streets and squares do. That is the real essence of e-commerce, in my view. More on that here (it's the english translation of my preface to the Cluetrain Manifesto).
[Update December 2006] Work is going very well on San-lorenzo.com, and I think that 2007 will see great improvements for the site in terms of quality (and quantity). Over the past few days I've been trying, with a few friends, on Lievito Riformatore to organise a seminar the language in, and of, politics (I think that if things are going to change, perhaps the most important thing we need is a change in language).
Last June, I set up a limited liability company with a few friends: a publishing house, the Simplicissimus Book Farm. We saw the chance, with the new display technology enabled by E Ink, and the readers that have derived from it, for a probable revival (that will finally come to something) of e-books and electronic publishing.
Meanwhile, Stefano has graduated from high school (Classical Diploma) with a grade of 100/100, and has enrolled to study Medicine at Bologna: apparently he wants to be a neurologist when he grows up, at least that's what he's saying at the moment. Caterina is in the fourth year at the "Liceo Scientifico", and Matilde has enthusiastically started (although the downside is frequent coughs and colds) infant school, at the ripe old age of 3.
[Update May 2008] Simplicissimus Book Farm is a HUGE opportunity indeed, and doing very well! The e-Book craze is everywhere and we already got the position of e-Book experts in Italy. I'm completely absorbed by SBF management, and thinking about how this business could become a great one WITH US in it! Currently looking for a new round of funding, in need of some 1 million €.
Meanwhile, Stefano, in spite of a full brilliant year, gave up with his medical studies to embrace Economics: he looks enthusiast indeed. Caterina will graduate in July at the high school ("Liceo Scientifico"), and Matilde is almost 5 (September 2008).
If you think I might be of
any help, or you want just drop a line to me, here's my email address: antonio.t@antoniotombolini.com.
I am told that in a
curriculum one has to list all the things one can do. So let's see:
I can read,
write, and speak very well in Italian
I can read,
write and speak well in English and French
I can read
and speak a bit of German (I lost practice)
I can read,
understand and speak a bit of Spanish
I can use a
computer. I can do anything with it, in fact, by now it's the other way round,
it's the computer using me
I can tell
you what the internet is, and I can tell you what to make of the internet
I can sell
I can think
I can travel
I can speak
in public, in fact, I have been told that:
I can speak
very well in public - be it speeches, conferences, seminars, lectures, radio
and tv broadcasts & such
I can write
fairly good short articles and long essays, maybe even short stories
I can work
like a dog, if necessary
I can remain
idle for an indeterminate amount of time, if possible
I can win
the trust of those approaching me with open and genuine intentions
I can fight
those who approach me with nasty and deceitful intentions
I can play
chess
I can understand
if a wine is good or bad, and I can tell you all about it, and explain why
I can talk
to children under two years of age (those who are still unable to speak)
I can talk
to works of art (in fact, I understand they are real works of art when I can
talk to them)
I will also tell you what I
cannot do:
I cannot excel
in any physical sports
I cannot remain
confined to routine tasks, though I sometimes perform them and find them
relaxing
I cannot say
"yes" when I am thinking "no", and vice-versa, in any
circumstance and to anyone
I cannot ever
give up on the freedom to think for myself and speak my mind
I cannot yet
reconcile myself with the only real problem we all share, i.e. that the only
thing we know for sure is that we are all going to die.