Giacomo D’Angelo, the upside-down runner living the StreetLib American Dream
When someone enters the StreetLib tribe, they are basically getting on a boat to go somewhere without necessarily knowing how they are going to help navigate. I’m no sailor myself, but I know people who travel the seven seas always have an assigned duty. It might not always be the same, you could be at the helm one day, cooking another and fixing the sail the day after that, but you’ll always be active in some capacity. This is how StreetLib runs as well, as Giacomo D’Angelo, our StreetLib USA CEO, can testify.
“I joined [Antonio Tombolini’s] startup (Simplicissimus Book Farm) without even knowing what exactly I was going to do there. But I’ll never forget how damn serious we were about our plan from the very beginning: we would enable more people to read more books from more places around the world, thanks to the magic of Internet technology.”
Go check out his StreetLib experience on LinkedIn, you’ll see that he went from Web Architect, Chief Technology Officer and then Chief Product Officer to Narcissus (our self publishing service at the time) Product manager, CTO again and now StreetLib USA CEO. If you are wondering why we move from one position to another like that inside the tribe, here is my explanation: since its creation, StreetLib has grown, adapted, evolved and grown again, each time bringing new challenges and missions for its tribe. Most of us, once we have finished with a project or task, are happy to take on one of these new challenges or missions instead of moving on to another company to do the same thing elsewhere. This is because we believe in the company as a whole. Whatever our mission, as long as we believe it will help democratize books, we are happy to do it. We stay on the boat as we all still want to reach the same destination.
“In November 2009 I met Antonio during an event in Milan, and I soon realized that this charismatic man was working on a crazy project I couldn’t resist joining: long story short, less than three months later we started working together in his small garage in Loreto (Marche).”
In its lifetime, StreetLib has changed its name, structure and appearance, growing from an Italy-only digital book distribution platform — at a time where digital books pretty much didn’t exist — into one of the world’s top distribution platforms. However, its vision and mission have always remained the same.
Similarly, Giacomo has moved around a lot during his time with StreetLib: from the Marche region of Italy to New York, he has also lived in Berlin and Lisbon, and travelled to a bunch of other exciting cities.
“The StreetLib project is going to have a huge impact on the world in the next 10 years: it’ll enable thousands of people from any country and background to have a better education and culture thanks to the borderless diffusion of a huge variety of millions of books. I feel incredibly honored and grateful to be part of this amazing company and it’s great being able to spend my days doing something that I really love.”
The StreetLib “American Dream” has been the high point of Giacomo’s personal and professional life. And that’s no surprise! Not only did he basically pack up a suitcase and cross the Atlantic to live in an entirely new country, but he actually managed to do what very few have accomplished: he survived there! I don’t mean only physically, (as we saw, Giacomo is pretty resilient to change and used to city life) but also professionally.
How many companies do you know that have decided to open offices in New York, and sent a lone employee there with basically no money to spend on the company except the profits he would make himself?! Giacomo has not just succeeded, he has thrived; and is helping StreetLib grow tremendously in the United States.
When I’m asked how we managed to get settled and prosper in such a competitive market, I have two answers: firstly, people actually need the tools we provide. Yes, the market is competitive, but there is no other company offering such a complete solution with a reach as wide as ours, while still managing to be personal and close to our users. Then, Giacomo. Not only did he get us selected by the IN2NYC program, which gave us an established place in New York’s startup scene, but his technical background, solid vision and motivations are driving our business in a way we barely dared to dream about.
“Creating and managing a company in New York City has been an unbelievable journey that heavily impacted my professional and personal life. In a good way, I guess. I did that because I fully believed in our project and in our team and, to be honest, this journey has required my full attention and it has been my greatest passion ever since.”
Full attention to his work, yes, but that doesn’t mean Giacomo hasn’t got time to do other stuff.. When he’s not in StreetLib mode, he enjoys running to the tops of mountains, yoga, handstands* and, apparently, biohacking experiments…
If you have read previous portraits from our tribe, It’ll be no surprise for you to discover Giacomo’s evening hobbies:
“My favorite way to spend a night out is in front of a live performance, listening to a music band, watching a stand-up comic or at the theater. And the best way to spend a night in is with a good book and a glass of red wine.”
What you may not have anticipated however, is that his reading list includes old sacred books, in which he recently took a particular interest.
As for Giacomo’s future, it’s not set in stone, which makes his life all the more exciting. Always with an adventurous and curious approach to life, he’s particularly looking forward to what Blockchain will bring to our society and lives:
“(…) it’ll take the technology-powered borderless and meritocratic processes to the next level.
It will deeply change the world as we know it, and it’ll enable more and more people to do great things regardless of their social connections, the country they come from or the color of their skin. This excites me. Of course, I think it will deeply impact the publishing industry as well, and I’ll be planning some speeches about this specific topic in NYC in the coming months. It’ll be a lot of fun!”
