Features
Today's feature is with Raffaele Lafortezza, a key player in the team behind the startup IMOLLO, that is revolutionizing the way file sharing is done compared to the traditional email attachments.
IMOLLO is also one of the TOP 5 winners, coming in second place, in the recently held 1st Mediterranean Startup Awards. StartupProPlus extends their sincerest congratulations and appreciation for this interview. More information can be found at the end of the article in the info box.
Show your support and Nominate IMOLLO for the "Best Design
Award" at the Crunchies 2012 (by TechCrunch)
by clicking the link below!!
1- Introduction: Please give a short description of yourself and your
business
IMOLLO
(www.imollo.com) is a communication and information
exchange software that gives everyone the freedom to experience easy and efficient
file sharing and storage. IMOLLO offers its users and initial adopters fast and
safe file exchange, free cloud storage, and simple messaging services designed
to essentially integrate multiple functions into one easy-to-use software.
IMOLLO it is shaping to be THE alternative to tedious email attachments. Users
can now conveniently send files up to 500MB per transfer to one or more
contacts in a single drag and drop motion to IMOLLO’s virtual tunnel. That’s
the equivalent of 20 email transmissions with the traditional attachment
limitation of 25 MB per message. With IMOLLO, users are connected to the desired
contacts, not to spammers, so they receive only what they need. File exchange
is made easier, faster, and safer.
IMOLLO
is developed by a team of experts from specific technical skills, Raffaele
Lafortezza, Marcello Reina and Luca Amenduni. The team is also supported by
other people such as: Gianni Lovece, Raffaele Verna and Barbara Livieri. Raffaele, Marcello and Luca worked together
on several projects related to website development, large database
administration/management and three-dimensional digital modelling. Through
different backgrounds and experiences, we are strongly linked by a passion for
computer technology and digital innovations.
2- Describe your financial journey so far.
The project started approximately 2 years ago and up to know it has been
supported by the co-founders. We aim to
raise some financial resources by the end of the year.
3- How did you start out?
As said before, the idea started around 2 years ago. The original idea of
IMOLLO lies at the heart of its purpose: to send and receive files, both big
and small, expeditiously and hassle-free. The easiest possible way to do that
is right out of your desktop – you identify your recipients, pick what you want
to send, drag and drop to IMOLLO’s virtual tunnel, and your contacts almost
immediately receive the files in their own computers. The same desktop app has
a simple and uncluttered messaging system that allows you to instantly stay
connected.
4- Are you a spender or a saver?
We are a young start-up so budget really is a limiting factor for us. What
we are trying to do is using the limited budget to support software development
and testing.
5- What's
your philosophy regarding money?
Money are essential to develop a competitive business in any field. Our philosophy
is to use what we have in terms of budget to support the software engineering
process
6- What made you decide to launch your startup?
The idea of creating something unique that people can use and share across
the net. IMOLLO is more than a software …is an approach to online communication…it
is an email revolution! See this video: http://youtu.be/cflrjL5Vl5A
7- What inspires and motivates you?
The IMOLLO team believes that quality time matters. Spending time with your
family, your friends and yourself. Watching a movie. Chasing the sunlight.
Embracing the sea breeze. Every moment counts. With so much time spent with
work, meetings and in front of your computer, you ask yourself, “Do I still
have time for these?” We created IMOLLO to make your time more meaningful.
8- Did you make any financial mistakes along the way?
Yes, of course. We made a number of mistakes especially in the initial
stage of the project, but we like to learn by doing things!
9- Do you believe in planning for the future?
Yes, but every plan has to be flexible, you never know what the future is
going to present you, which opportunities, which threats. It’s good to always
have a plan, but you still have to look around for thing that you might have
missed or overlooked at a first sigh. And if you have missed something or if
something new shows up, you have to be prepared to change your plan, no matter
how good it was.
10- Is money important to you?
Money for us reflects the value of time, and IMOLLO is about saving the time
spent on emails.…so..!
11- What is your idea of financial freedom?
Well, I think that a start-up has financial freedom when the level of debt
is not so high to compromise the decision-making process. That means that the
value created by a company should be enough to provide a good part of the company’s
needs. Otherwise, you will lose decision power. So financial freedom means also
decision-freedom.
12- What do you enjoy spending money on?
Well mostly on travelling and new projects/ideas
which develop during travelling.
13- What value would your startup idea add to the community online?
We want to offer a single-platform solution addressing everyone’s online
communication needs. IMOLLO essentially
integrate multiple functions into one easy-to-use program, from sending huge
files with ease, eliminating threats of virus attacks and inundation of spam
and ads, chatting with convenience and directness (goodbye needless emoticons
and unwanted requests from strangers), to the assurance that you spend the
least possible time glued to the computer screen doing your daily online tasks.
IMOLLO relieves the community online of the hassles of having to send several
messages due to email providers’ attachment size limitations or the laborious
task of zipping folders and ensuring recipients successfully unzip them. We
want our users to have more quality time and (a lot) less wasted time, we want
to shape a whole new experience for online communication.
14- What advice would you give to the new online Internet
startup entrepreneurs?
The
main advice is to launch their application ASAP in order to get the feedback
from users and to start creating a community of early adopters.
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