Home » From Piedmont to California, from zero to 2.5 billion dollars: the fabulous story of Loris Degioanni

From Piedmont to California, from zero to 2.5 billion dollars: the fabulous story of Loris Degioanni

by admin
From Piedmont to California, from zero to 2.5 billion dollars: the fabulous story of Loris Degioanni

“When I was reading about unicorns early in my career, I imagined sparkling companies, famous founders, perfect metrics, instant success and no fatigue. Today, sitting in the same garden where 9 years ago I wrote the first line of code of our product, I think how unrealistic that term is. Building a startup is like a roller coaster ride. It takes a lot of energy and changes you profoundly. Stress and adrenaline never let you down. It is not a romantic life. We work night and day. I think about how many fears remain. How much effort there is still to be done. To the sleepless nights that await me. And I think Sysdig is more of a cockroach than a unicorn. It is not sparkling, but it survives. Because in the end the secret is all there. Don’t sink in the storm. To survive. Every day you survive, you are one day closer to your goal ”.

HERE MUST BE RELATED SAVARIANS

If the goal is the listing on the stock exchange

To speak is Loris Degioanni, 46 years old (including 20 in Silicon Valley and 3 children), the founder of Sysdig, a startup born in 2013 in his backyard just outside San Francisco. It raised $ 729.5 million (350 in the last round alone at the end of 2021) and achieved a valuation of 2.5 billion dollars. It makes complex technology: it provides software and cybersecurity solutions especially in modern cloud computing environments.

He is un tipo “stay hungry, stay foolish” alla Steve Jobs. Starting from Vinadio, 400 inhabitants in the Stura valley, province of Cuneo, he created a healthy company, which grows well in a hot sector. But he never ran away from Italy. He has won over the biggest investors in Silicon Valley. Venture capital funds, such as Guggenheim Investment, Third Point Ventures, Accel (people who invested in Facebook, Dropbox and Spotify), Premji, Next47, Goldman Sachs, Insight Partners, have paid in millions dollars: “We now have over 700 employees, yet we are still learning to swim in a pool full of crocodiles. The market in which we operate is growing rapidly and very competitive. We need the capital raised to defend ourselves from competitors and excel. We are now working to understand how and when we can take the company to the stock exchange. But still today I ask myself: how is it possible that I got this far? ”.

See also  World Cup. if the fan gets excited, the stress sends the heart into a tailspin

If you hear him talk, you understand why. Great tech skills, vision, total dedication from day one, attitude to give 200%, risk appetite. A mix of California and the Stura valley in one individual. Humility, sense of duty, courage, total openness to diversity. And luck: Degioanni anticipated a technological trend which then exploded. In between, a thousand changes of direction and a thousand difficulties.

Loris Degioanni will be among the speakers of the Italian Tech Week 2022, on 29 and 30 September in Turin

Behind the scenes of Sysdig

Sysdig does technical stuff and is off the radar of the media. He deals with IT security for cloud computing, or (better) the latest evolution of the cloud: the container. “It allows you to rent servers from someone else much more efficiently, safe, fast and cheap. All companies, even the most traditional ones, from banks to insurance companies, to car manufacturers, are closing data centers and renting servers and computers to run their applications on the cloud. This transition also entails a new approach for secure the data and users. We have our own software for the security of data, users and applications that are hosted in the cloud. We have optimized it for container users, taking the risk of doing it soon ”.

Sysdig has offices around the world. From Serbia to North Carolina, from Spain to Ukraine, Australia, England, Japan, India. And Italy. It has 750 employees, 130 in our country, with the head office in Milan: “Italian engineers are the best in the world and are at the heart of my product development. They have creativity, talent, passion, energy. And pride “.

That of Degioanni, who dreams of building the Ferrari of Italian cybersecurity, is an extraordinary story for our country, but it is also unique among the startups in Silicon Valley: “Today we have reached such a dimension, both in terms of turnover and valuation, that it is (almost) impossible to be acquired. The only way out for us is the Stock Exchange. Fascinating perspective, but complex and risky. I feel a huge responsibility for the people who work for me and for the investors. We play it all: it will be black or white. Either we will write a memorable story or we will all go home ”.

Health and technology

D-Heart and Medicilio, the Italian startups that do what Theranos was unable to do

by Emanuele Capone


Towards the future, without forgetting the roots

Degioanni also has a reputation on its side. Behind her she already has an exit and a story that seems to be written to inspire the youngest. Flashback: we are at the Polytechnic of Turin, year 2000. For his degree thesis, Loris Degioanni creates WinPcap, a computer network security software. He gives it to the Web in open source (“it was the best decision of my life”). In 6 months it is downloaded 80 thousand times. John Bruno, a professor at the University of California Davis, also uses it, inviting Degioanni to continue his research in the USA: “For a year I worked with him on the software for the Boeing 787. Then we founded our startup: CaceTech. In the first two years, to get some revenue we did consultancy for the avionics sector and in the meantime we were developing the products. When we started selling them, the turnover was growing by millions of dollars every year. We have reached 40 employees, 20 of whom are Italian, whom I called from Italy and offered them a visa to work in the USA. At that point, investors and buyers start knocking on their door. Degioanni receives 11 acquisition proposals: in the end, he sells to Riverbed, a company listed on Nasdaq, for 30 million euros. Half of his share is collected on the day of the acquisition, in 2010. The other half is deferred to him in the following 24 months: time necessary to transfer all the know-how to the buyers. It ends on the cover of Wired, the last issue signed by Riccardo Luna. After 24 months, he starts again with a new startup. He works like a madman, writes codes day and night, stays completely focused on his software. Which today use hundreds of companies, such as Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Comcast, Mckinsey, Pixar, Foodora and Booking: “Everyone is throwing themselves on the cloud. Amazon plays a leading role in this sector, but also Microsoft, Google, Oracle and IBM. They are huge players with infinite resources ”.

Personally, I have been following him for a long time and have interviewed him several times. Yet every interview with him is a journey. A discovery. On the whole. On the fatigue, also: “When after a mammoth job, you discover that people like what you have created, the satisfaction is enormous. And you understand that it is always worth it ”. On the investors: “The dynamics are similar to those of a flock. If there is someone who invests in you, others will too ”. OnMountain climbing and what he teaches: “I come from a mountain village, one of my schools was mountaineering. I have always looked for new routes, climbing routes a little above my limits. I did it to test myself, to bring out my energy and talent. From sport to life, the same thing happens: if you want to get results, you have to push yourself over the limit, putting yourself in a position to get hurt and then try to avoid it with 200% of your strength “. On himself: “I understand who I am. That complex technology is my passion and for me it is an art form. And that whatever happens, even if I’m sitting on a deck chair in a mountain village, I’ll be working in the technology sector. In 10 years the software will evolve in a radical way as we have never seen before and will offer a thousand opportunities “.

Degioanni has lived in Silicon Valley for years, his children were born in San Francisco, he is an American citizen, yet he never left the Stura Valley. And maybe his secret is right here: “Everyone has their place in the world. The Stura valley is where I have my roots. Physical, cultural, ethical. I’ve lived in California for 20 years, but when they ask me: where is your home? I never answer that it is here. That will never be 100% of my home. My home is also Piedmont. I have two houses. I live two existences. The Italian one gave me profound teachings. The work ethic. The don’t be afraid to struggle. Respect for others. Humility. Values ​​deeply rooted in our valleys. America taught me that anything is possible. Risk appetite. The diversity of views. Personal fulfillment. The meeting with people better than you. Taking values ​​that are so distant from each other and blending them together has been my ability and at the same time my luck. When I will return to Italy to give back to my country a part of what it has given me, I will invite the youngest to be citizens of the world, always remembering where they come from. Being Italian is an extraordinary wealth. Even when it comes to technology “.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy