An interview with Lorenzo Pinto, Alumnus Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Management, Co-Founder and CTO – Futura.

Futura was founded with my co-founders Andrea and Francesco. The goal from day one has always been to use technology to make high-quality education accessible. Historically, such education has been reserved for a small niche of people who could afford it. The democratization of learning is the mantra that drives us every day to give our best to improve Futura and make it the reference point for standardized test preparation. Futura’s product has solidified in Italy, where we are active under the brand Accademia Dei Test, providing preparation for university entrance exams. We are also expanding internationally with new products for GMAT preparation. The rapid growth we are experiencing in Italy (4x year over year) allows us to experiment in markets such as the USA and India, where test preparation is a much larger but also more competitive market compared to Italy.

Since I was little, I have always known that I wanted to launch my own project. I have always been a maker, and at the age of 15, I founded my first startup, which brought me close to the world of technology and new ventures. From then on, I have always sought to bring innovation to the market in my own way, using what has always fascinated me – a powerful yet underutilized tool in many sectors: artificial intelligence.

In Futura, we all have diverse educational backgrounds. Some, like myself, have had the incredible opportunity to study abroad, while others have not been able to do so. We realized how undemocratic education was, the tool that, more than any other, allows us to break down any social barriers we may encounter. Futura was born for this reason – we want to provide equal opportunities to everyone, making high-quality education democratic. We aim to make the best teachers and tutors from the world’s top schools and universities available to everyone, offering personalized study experiences for each individual.

We are all different, we all learn in different ways, and it is only fair that everyone can pursue their dreams with the same tools as others.

For me, H-FARM College was a key step in my growth. It allowed me to approach the world of startups and venture capital in a more structured way, an area I had only seen from the outside. Moreover, I had the fortune of meeting extremely passionate and knowledgeable instructors who made me fall in love with the world of software. This enabled me to acquire all the skills and tools necessary to be the current head of the entire technological stack at Futura. The interdisciplinary environment we experienced during the 3 years at H-FARM has undoubtedly left its mark, allowing me to navigate through technical skills, cross-disciplinary knowledge, and numerous encounters with instructors, managers, and very stimulating entrepreneurs. Some of these relationships persist even today.

Undoubtedly, an experience like studying at H-FARM College helps bring out the predominant aspects of your character. Thanks to teaching methods such as challenges and project works, we were thrust into situations where there was no playbook, and it was necessary to find solutions independently. We consistently emphasized teamwork and the diverse skills and knowledge each team member brought to the table, and this proved to be a winning approach. In my case, I always had a tendency to organize the team I worked with, and it is certainly a skill that I have greatly improved during my study journey. It is now enabling me to lead, along with my colleagues, a team of more than 30 people.

Certainly, I would advise daring a lot. The entrepreneurial journey involves many mistakes and course corrections, and the faster the feedback loop, the sooner one can determine if an idea works or not. It’s essential to validate at all costs, and to do so, one should not be afraid of making mistakes or taking steps that might seem too ambitious.

An idea is worth nothing until the market confirms its value. Only by engaging with users, talking to them, and attempting to sell the product can one understand if something is effective or not. You are never quite ready to go to market, so it’s better to do it even before thinking about developing a product.

Furthermore, I always recommend focusing on a sector that you know and are passionate about. The innovations of our era are driven by specialists who have an in-depth understanding of the market they operate in and can perceive its needs. Only by thoroughly understanding a market can you find the right key to innovate it.