I am an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at ESCP Business School (Turin Campus), where I am also Local Academic Director of the Bachelor in Management. I hold a Ph.D. in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, with a period abroad at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
From 2019 to 2026 I was at Politecnico di Milano, School of Management, first as a researcher and then as a Post-Doctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Strategy and Entrepreneurship. I was the first researcher hired at the Space Economy Observatory and later led its Entrepreneurship and Innovation research.
How I got here was neither deliberate nor linear. After my bachelor's degree I left my hometown, Modena, the capital of the world-famous Motor Valley, and moved to Milan with the goal of joining one of the top management consulting firms. During my master's thesis, however, I fell in love with research and decided to stay for a Ph.D.
My starting topic was generic business model innovation, with no industry focus. At the time, the university was launching the first research center dedicated to the emerging Space Economy, because one of Italy's leading venture capital funds was launching a vertical on the topic. I was asked whether I would make that setting the empirical context of my doctorate. I was not a space fan and had never seen Star Wars or 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it looked like something exciting and fast-growing, so I said yes.
From there I built a research profile around the New Space Economy and defended my Ph.D. thesis, Strategizing in Nascent Industries: Business Model Dynamics in European New Space Economy, in February 2023, a work I keep building on with all the data I have collected over the years and am still collecting. Along the way I built many relationships with managers, entrepreneurs and institutions in the sector, which I consider the most valuable source of understanding a researcher can have to dive deep into a research theme.