Cultural Immersion: I began our last full week in in Rome exploring the Colosseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. That was the most walking I’ve ever done, but the sights made it worth it. Rome is such a beautiful city, rich with Italian culture and history. I’ve had the best food yet in Rome, especially carbonara – famous to the city!  Some of my favorite places to eat in Milan are Roman pasta restaurants like one I went to on the Navigli for lunch this past week. I really am going to miss this time I’ve spent in Italy and am glad I get to spend our last few days here in Tuscany and Florence with all of my classmates.

 

Class on CSR: This week we viewed the film Erin Brockovoch, which followed the life of a single mother of three looking for a job when her stubbornness earned her a position in a law firm filing. Her inquisitive and persistent mindset pushed her to look into a particular file that led to a major multi-million dollar lawsuit against a utility company for contaminating the drinking water of local residents for years. These residents were subject to many varying life threatening illnesses. Viewing this film encompassed our discussions these past six weeks on the responsibility that corporations need to take to protect its stakeholders. Ultimately the utility company in the film failed its community and paid for the consequences. CSR leads to long-term profitability that all companies should recognize and fully have implemented to combat these types of issues

 

Internship: I continued contacting potential European angel investors this week in my internship, while tracking the response rates in an excel file. I coded different cells to understand how many investors I contacted actually connected and responses to me . I then also was able to code the data to see the response rates by country. It is interesting to see how these rates differ and also develop some excel skills I hadn’t known before. I also continued the research on vending solutions for a retail company organizing all their data in a presentation to be shown to a corporate partner. I have really enjoyed seeing all of the innovate startups in Italy and around the world, while meeting some really amazing people!

 

Cultural Immersion: This week I enjoyed an aperitivo with my classmates and Professor Gupta at our favorite spot, Bar Magenta. This is one of my favorite Italian customs as it is such an easy and casual way to get everyone together – I am really going to miss aperitivos in Milan. This weekend I am traveling in Rome! Throughout our first day here, we did a lot of walking through Vatican City, strolling through the museums and staring in awe of the Sistine Chapel. For lunch we had to try the dish famous to Rome, carbonara, and it exceeded my expectations. And of course we stopped for gelato on the way home. Experiencing the different Italian cities has been very exciting, and I look forward to exploring the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Colloseum tomorrow!

Class on CSR: In class this week we read and discussed a case study on the unethical behavior through outsourcing. Apple was exposed for the excessive work days and health effects their employees in China faced. As Apple stood on the defensive, we debated in class whether or not it would be reasonable for China to apply the same ethical standards across all its manufacturing companies. The pro group argued that at the end of the day, its Apple’s supply chain and a reflection of them, so they should be holding all manufacturers at an equal level of responsibility of ethical behavior. The against group emphasized how manufacturing locations spanned 200 different countries, so it is too difficult for Apple to keep track of the governmental regulations in terms of ethics of each. The against side also interestingly argued that these companies are their own entity, and is Apple really responsible for their actions?

Internship: This week at Fin+Tech, Sophia and I continued working on 1-pagers, but for a new corporate partner. This partner does a lot of retailing in Airports and is looking for a startup of vending machines to implement into their business. We have been researching these various vending startups, their differentiators, revenue, funding, partners, features, and so much more to provide the partner with a comprehensive list to help them make a decision. It is really cool to see all of the innovative ways in which companies are using AI, finding ways to be sustainable, and improving efficiency. I also have continued contacting investors, and have my first call set up for next week to present our portfolio. I am excited for this opportunity to speak with an angel investor and understand their values and efforts, while looking to facilitate a relationship between them and Fin+Tech.

Cultural Immersion: I started my fourth week with a day trip to Florence on Sunday! I walked around the whole city, admired the Duomo, saw the David, and had some of the best pasta and gelato. At the end of this week, a couple of my classmates and I went to the top of the Duomo and got the best view of Milan. After taking in the view, we walked down into the Cathedral and were in awe of its size and beauty. My favorite part of the Duomo was the stain glass windows that scaled the walls. I loved further exploring this historical aspect of Milan and see myself going back to the top of the Duomo when I have a free hour. I am so excited to travel back to Cinque Terre this weekend to explore the 4 other coastal villages!

Class on Corporate Social Responsibility: This week we had a debate regarding the 2019 Business Roundtable statement and the validity of its rhetoric. My group had to argue its invalidity and insincerity in tangible action by companies. Ultimately, the class concluded that along with signing this document, corporations should publish their own statements on their specific ESG efforts to prove the authenticity of their claims. We also viewed the film, “A Civil Action” where John Travolta portrayed a personal injury lawyer trying two major corporations for the environmental and health consequences their production had on the city of Woburn, Massachusetts. Their production had contaminated the water of the city and caused many children to be diagnosed with Leukemia. It was terrible that this persistent pursuit to sue the companies is what made them finally take accountability for the damage they had done. This movie displays why ESG and CSR are essential in conjunction with firms trying to make a profit.

Internship: This week in my internship, we had a hard deadline on completing one pagers for a Fast Track event. Fast Track is an opportunity for select startups to present their company and decks to partners of Fin+Tech for investment prior to the third startupbootcamp program cycle. These one pagers provide partners with a brief overview of what the company is, their differentiating factors, and how their product works. I also worked on reaching out to potential European investors via LinkedIn this week and setting up calls with them to learn more about their investment portfolios and discussing the early stage investment opportunities we have. On Tuesday, Sophia and I went to an Aperitivo with our coworkers and bosses at a very cool spot around the corner from our office. It is always nice to step out of the office and get to know my coworkers better over coffee, lunch, and aperitivo.

 

Social and Cultural Immersion: The weeks are starting to fly by. I began week 3 by exploring the city and eating the best pizza I’ve had so far at Pizza e Mozarella! We ended this week with our trip to the Alps where we participated in an adventure park in the trees, admired the views of Monte Bianco, and hiked up to Arpy Lake. It was very relaxing to escape the busy city for the day. One of the many great things about Milan is how central it is and how easy it is to travel between cities and countries. Returning home from the Alps, we were surrounded on the metro by soccer fans on their way to watch the Inter Milan vs Manchester City championship game. It was so special to see the entire city gather, and restaurants put TVs out for everyone to watch. I am so grateful to already have experienced so much and am so excited for what the upcoming weeks will bring. Maybe I’ll find a better pizza (unlikely)!

 

Class on Corporate Social Responsibility: This week in class we viewed the documentary “The Corporation” which discussed the potential pathological pursuit corporations have. I found the marketing strategies highlighted in the film fascinating, specifically undercover marketing. Companies will, for example, pay for a doorman to stand with boxes displaying their company label. It is then assumed people will see these boxes and think the products must be worth looking into. I had personally never heard of this strategy but am interested to see if I will be able to notice it moving forward. Another marketing strategy discussed was targeting children and its ethicality. Marketers can recognize that targeting children is manipulative but continue to do it to build a long-term consumer base. In the end, corporations seek profit and evidently go to extreme, arguably immoral lengths to achieve that profitability.

 

Internship in Milan: Entering the third cycle of Startupbootcamp at Fin+Tech, Sophia and I have begun contacting potential investors as well as organizing data on the startups. Throughout the week we have been creating ‘one-pagers’ which are short descriptions of startups to be presented to partners and investors. These ‘one-pagers’ include items such as differentiators and startup status. It is interesting to see the unique ways in which companies are innovating fintech and insurtech software. Additionally, we have been sitting in on calls with startups listening to their pitches in preparation to soon host our own calls. Hearing directly from the founders of these companies about what they do and why they do it has opened my eyes to so many products and services I don’t think I would’ve ever known about.

Social and Cultural Immersion:  Our second week in Milan flew by! On Tuesday we were fortunate enough to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. The Last Supper is one of Italy’s UNESCO world heritage sites, which ensures that it is well preserved. Later this past week, we all visited Verona: The city of love. Stopping at Montresor Winery before heading into the city center, we learned the importance of Verona’s wine making while trying local foods. Along our tour from a Verona local, we got to hear about the history of Romeo and Juliet and climb up the Verona Arena. The architecture throughout the city is beautifully preserved and it was interesting to learn how it’s grid system was built for defense. Experiencing Verona on Italy’s Republic Day was very special and has been one of my favorite travels so far.

Class on Corporate Social Responsibility: In class this week, we continued discussions on corporate social responsibility through debates on various cases. One of these cases posed the question whether it was moral for banks to make a profit on loans. Two groups were assigned their positions and had to defend their sides. One of the pro-profit points was that banks would then be able to extend loans to others more frequently. On the other hand, the against-profit group argued that banks should not make a profit that exceeds what they need to operate and takes advantage of people. On Wednesday, we discussed the decision of Montana to ban Tiktok. We recognized the effect this would have on small businesses and people who use the app as a source of income, but also the risk of privacy issues concerning consumer data. A solution talked about was using a third-party US data privacy medium between consumers and the parent company. It will be interesting to see how Montana will go about enforcing this.

Internship in Milan: This week in my internship at Fin+Tech, I was tasked with researching startups who specialize in AI solutions for banks surrounding risk assessment, anti-money laundering, and other back-office activities. The services of around 60 startups will be presented to one of our partners to help them find solutions for their business practices. I learned a lot about how to efficiently research and cross-reference using platforms like Google, LinkedIn, and Crunchbase. After presenting what we had found to our boss, it was helpful to talk everyone as a team about how we will go about presenting these companies to partners and the evaluation process. I also helped finding a similar solution in AI but for a bank’s budgeting and forecasting operations. I have really enjoyed getting to know my colleagues, and learning more about the Italian culture directly from them.

After months of anticipation, we’ve arrived! After landing in Milan on Monday morning and settling into Aparto, my Lehigh classmates and I were welcomed with the IES Welcome Dinner at Torre Branca. Here, we were able to meet IES staff and students abroad from other universities. During the first two days, we became familiar with Milan public transportation, toured our classroom locations, attended IES orientation, and did a test-run commute to our internship locations. My classmates and I also took Italian language classes learning basic words, phrases, and customs. We practiced the Italian we learned by speaking with students at Universita Catolica and by ordering coffee! After a few days of exploring Milan, I traveled to Lago Maggiore led by IES. It was a lot of fun spending time with my classmates while experiencing the beauty and history of the three islands of Lago Maggiore: Isola Bella, Isola del Pescatori, and Isola Madre.

 

I began my internship at Fin+Tech Startupbootcamp (SBC) this week – a startup accelerator that provides both financial and operational support to companies at their seed level. SBC is a 3-month program that fosters the growth of ~15 companies and connects them with mentors, investors, and partners. My first day consisted of onboarding and understanding what the values are as well as my role as an intern. I will be researching potential startups and guiding them through the application process as well as researching and contacting investors who provide seed-level investments. I was introduced to the database Crunchbase, which helped me to begin researching investors and startups. I look forward to forming relationships with the team at Fin+Tech SBC and making connections with innovative startups and investors.

 

During class this week, we learned more about Adam Smith and his belief that a free market, without intervention, is the ideal economy. During the in-class video surrounding Smith’s ideas, an analogy to the free-market system I found insightful was to park signs that read, “Please do not feed the animals” as doing this inhibits their ability to survive on their own. The “Smithian” idea to put a sign like this in Washington DC is to promote corporations (people) to be able to compete and thrive on their own. Also in class, I gained a new perspective from our discussions that a corporation could be considered simply as people – ranging from the C-suite to investors to employees. We began learning the responsibility those people have to one another, stakeholders, and the environment. Our class took a trip to Circularity, a Milan-based company offering consulting services on the implementation of a circular economy business model. During the visit, I was truly able to see the impact CSR has on society, and I am eager to further expand my perspectives further throughout the next 6 weeks.