Geox's patron to students: "The solution to the economic crisis? More teachers in the company and more industrialists in the universities"

Mario Moretti Polegato guest of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma: he told the students and teachers present in the Aula Magna of the University how his company was born, which today boasts 30 thousand employees in 144 countries around the world. “Innovating means combining three elements: creating or improving something, registering the invention with a patent and never stopping experimenting to be competitive"
 
 
Rome, April 28, 2017 - "The key to getting out of the economic crisis? Are you. For us Italians, who have invented all the most beautiful things on the planet, it means getting organized. And to do it our current industrial capitalism needs to be transformed into cultural capitalism. Less cement and more investment in schools and human brains. It is the great message that our country is still struggling to understand. And you have to shout it at our backward establishment”. That's what he said Mario Moretti Polegato, President of Geox, meeting today students, employees and teachers of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma in the Aula Magna of the University. The meeting was organized within the project job space, open container a readings and periodic moments of discussion to promote the diffusion of the culture of work, innovation and networking both inside and outside of UCBM. It was introduced by the Pro-Rector for University Education, Simonetta Filippi, who underlined the importance of “listen to an experience of success and courage in the work, which has been able to overcome barriers to spread globally".

At the head of an entrepreneurial group capable of revolutionizing the world of footwear, Moretti Polegato recounted when and where the intuition that made him famous was born: “I come from a Treviso family of wine producers - he said - and in the mid-s I went to Nevada to negotiate with various importers. In that context, I decided to do a walk in the desert. I had rubber soled shoes and it was very hot. My feet ached. With me, in my pocket, I had a small knife. So I decided to do one hole in the right sole and one in the left onecreating ventilation".

But the intuition has not remained in the drawer. “Back in Italy – underlined Moretti Polegato – instead of throwing away those shoes, I tried to understand if there were any with that improvement: nothing”. From there, a thousand attempts to create a product that would allow feet to breathe, without putting them in contact with water or anything else. “Thanks to research, I discovered a material, a special membrane produced in the USA, which is impermeable to water and yet breathes. It was used for astronaut suits. I applied for and obtained a patent and then for three years I offered this technology to all the biggest shoe manufacturing companies in the world”. When he realized they weren't interested, he wasn't discouraged, but decided to enter the market himself. "There were 4 of us, then we became 40, then 400, then 4. Today, 30 people work for Geox, including direct and indirect employees".

The Geox patron highlighted how “my experience can be repeated by each of you: all you need is a brain and therefore the ability to create, not only shoes, but anything. But you have to understand the meaning of the term 'innovate'". Which for Moretti Polegato is essentially based on three elements"First of all, create or edit something for the better. In this, we Italians have always been masters. But then you need to register the idea, because otherwise everyone will copy it. It's called a patent, something that is still a taboo in our country. And, therefore, we continue to have Americans who come to Naples, taste the espresso and then open 15 Starbucks or who eat pizza and register a trademark with thousands of pizza shops around the world". The third key factor to be successful in innovation is the experimentation. "In a country of small and medium-sized enterprises, who has the money and the know-how to do research?”, he asked, immediately adding: “There are study centres, polytechnics, universities. For this, a few days ago in Confindustria I proposed to bring more professors to companies and more industrialists to universities. Only in this way can we renew Italy. I don't invent anything, that's how it's always been done in the United States. As long as our training system managers are interested…".

According to Moretti Polegato, the future of Italy "faced with such a dramatic situation I am certainly not the 50-60 year olds. Are you. You must understand that the time for 'pushing' is over, because today the international principle is that a person is worth what he knows. Compared to this, however, in our country there is still a backward mentality, the same one that can be seen in the complaints of many television talk shows or read in the newspapers”. In a highly competitive and globalized world, according to the Geox owner "we must not allow foreigners to steal our characteristics from us. But we have to sell them our projects. We no longer have to export products or factories, but projects".

The host of job space UCBM he also made a nod to global geopolitics: “I am a member of World Economic Forum of Davos – as he explained – which for 30 years has taken place in the second week of January. For me it is an excellent opportunity to understand how the economic year will go. Until now, the focus has always been on globalisation, on unification. This year, for the first time, there was talk of the division of peoples. The Chinese, with their president, have said: we are the future of the market. I asked myself: can we rely on a basic communist foundation in the industry? On the other hand, however, there are the Americans, who have not even presented themselves because they have undertaken protectionist policies. Now, if in the face of China and the USA, opposing world economic giants, there is no strong Europe that acts as a buffer, what's going to happen?".

Responding to a question from the audience, the founder of one of the most important Italian entrepreneurial realities revealed a little 'secret' about his company's future plans: “We continuously invest in innovation. We have also developed a breathable technological novelty for leather soles and jackets. But we already have another 60 new ideas and projects in the pipeline, which will form our asset of the future. All developed through the internal training of our people".

Before the thank you greetings of Paolo Arullani, President of the Campus Bio-medico University of Rome Foundation, who presented Moretti Polegato with a plaque in memory of his presence at the University, the Geox patron wished the university students who listened to him, closing with the wish for everyone “even for a stroke of… luck, as it was for me. Because that too must not be missing".