Hunting for Ideas Around Europe
Alessandra Mazzilli, born in 1994, is part of the investment team at Earlybird venture capital that scours Europe in search of innovative startups or – better yet – promising business ideas around that have yet to build their corporate infrastructure. It is a profession where in her opinion you must always learn new stuff very quickly and you are never 100% expert, but which allows you to grow rapidly both professionally and personally. How can you enjoy a job in which you bet on the future with significant investments in companies that do not yet exist? How do you know that you have a good nose? "There are positive and negative sides, but for me the balance is positive. I understood this by accumulating experience," replies Mazzilli. “No one knows at the beginning if they have what it takes to evaluate the possible exits of startups worth €5 billion. Investment times are around 10 years to understand this. What is certain is that, among colleagues, we all start from the same level and then, little by little, we also learn to recycle less successful experiences into future successes. We must continue to learn and put ourselves to the test.” So, precisely because she has always tried to be ahead of the learning curve, as a manager today who studies markets, geography and does due diligence, she remembers well what were the mechanisms that helped her build a career.
“I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and a MSc in Economic and Social Sciences, both from Bocconi University. During my two years as a graduate student, I did a year as an exchange student in Boston. Perhaps my studies should have led me more naturally towards a PhD but, already at the end of my Master of Science, I realized that I wanted to learn a profession that would lead me to pursue where I thought things were having a stronger impact on the real economy.” Mazzilli thus tried her hand first in a multi-family office and then in the food tech world with Praesidum. Here was the turning point and confirmation of wanting to continue to work in similar companies "where you have autonomy and flexibility. On the other hand, food tech is a very broad sector and teaches that it is impossible to be a 360-degree expert. I want to underline that continuous learning is not an activity in itself, rather it fuels the interest that spurs you on every day. It helps you stay actively engaged in your work and, consequently, contributes to career advancement."
Wanting to work closely with companies in all industries subsequently led Mazzilli towards her current managerial profile, which focuses on the transversal world of startups, at both Cavalry and Earlybird. "I recommend it," the Bocconi alumna immediately continues. "Especially to those who feel enterprising, particularly young female students because it is still a world that is not very female-looking, even looking at long-term senior positions. We as young women need to be daring and be out there to experiment, even if we aren’t sure we’re up to it.” But isn’t it extremely stressful to live with the doubt of not being up to it? “I see it from another point of view, in a positive way, as a humble path that keeps your feet on the ground because you discover every day how to face new challenges. And then, I repeat, no one knows right away if they have a knack for a profession and even less for this one. The only way to understand it is to start gaining work experience early,” reiterates the manager. However, she has also made choices for personal growth rather than just professional growth, for example by participating in a one-year exchange in Bangkok during her undergraduate degree. Her aim: “to have an experience on a continent completely different from Europe. And in this Bocconi University gave fundamental help as well as providing an education that went beyond national borders.”
How does Ms Mazzilli manage to reconcile her professional and private life? “I’m getting married in June 2025,” she replies. “So I’ll answer that question in a couple of years. In the meantime, I'm working on planning the wedding."
