You may also be interested in: Financial Times: the special report on FT 1000
Who is Antherica? Ten questions to get to know it better. Interview with Antonio Marsini, founder and CEO
Q: When and how was Antherica born?
A: Antherica was born in 2003 in London, where I worked in dotcoms in the late 90s. Here I contributed to the development of one of the first professional management systems for Internet sites, with the desire to bring these technologies, at the time innovative and almost unknown, to Italy.
Q: What does the name Antherica mean?
A: It is the plural of the neuter Latin anthericum1. It was chosen to sound harmoniously in multiple languages, to be easy to remember, with the initial and final A, and to have no homonyms on Google. The only flaw, if you want, is that the th, usual for the Anglo-Saxon world, here in Italy must always be specified: this is why you will hear us say, 9 times out of ten, "Yes, Antherica ... with th".
Q: What does Antherica do?
A: We develop applications for the Net. We have a proprietary platform, AnthericaSuite, on which we provide various services and which allows us to develop software with a high level of customization, often tailor made. I like to think that we provide our customers with simple solutions through complex tools, enabling them to work efficiently and quickly.
Q: Speaking of which, they told us about your privileged relationship with NASA ...
A: [Laughs, Ed.] For years we have been following international events related to the space sector, events which were attended by the major global space agencies, from the United States to China. I was lucky enough to personally follow the first private sector astronaut and to attend many informal dinners with NASA vice presidents. On one of these occasions I was asked, by virtue of my being Italian, an opinion on clothing and I remember that I replied that the tie that person was wearing was horrible. A few weeks later, a NASA envelope was delivered to me: it contained, in addition to the official letter of thanks, that same tie.
Q: If Antherica were a wine, what wine would it be?
A: Not a sparkling wine, rather a full-bodied one, a still red, aged ... and Tuscan one.
Q: The best compliment a customer has received?
A: We receive many, fortunately, all very appreciated, I can't say which is the most beautiful. We like it when our customers let us know that we provide them with indispensable tools, without which they would not be able to do their job as they know it.
Q: Antherica has been on the market for many years: what is the secret of its longevity?
A: No secrets, I would say: we are small, but not very small, we have a high flexibility, we believe in continuous training and we are always close to the customer. Our customers are also extremely long-lived with us: we have had some since 2003.
Q: What must never be missing from the office?
A: Good humor, coffee, prosecco. [Jokes, but not too much. Editor's note] Above all, an environment with human relationships that make it a pleasure to go to the office in the morning.
Q: How do you see Antherica in ten years?
A: Grown up, more structured, with customers for whom, as now, our company can make a difference in a sector like the web that will certainly be growing rapidly and constantly changing.
Note:
1 A family of herbaceous plants with flowers similar to those of the lily [Editor's note].
Who is Antherica? Ten questions to get to know it better. Interview with Antonio Marsini, founder and CEO
Q: When and how was Antherica born?
A: Antherica was born in 2003 in London, where I worked in dotcoms in the late 90s. Here I contributed to the development of one of the first professional management systems for Internet sites, with the desire to bring these technologies, at the time innovative and almost unknown, to Italy.
Q: What does the name Antherica mean?
A: It is the plural of the neuter Latin anthericum1. It was chosen to sound harmoniously in multiple languages, to be easy to remember, with the initial and final A, and to have no homonyms on Google. The only flaw, if you want, is that the th, usual for the Anglo-Saxon world, here in Italy must always be specified: this is why you will hear us say, 9 times out of ten, "Yes, Antherica ... with th".
Q: What does Antherica do?
A: We develop applications for the Net. We have a proprietary platform, AnthericaSuite, on which we provide various services and which allows us to develop software with a high level of customization, often tailor made. I like to think that we provide our customers with simple solutions through complex tools, enabling them to work efficiently and quickly.
Q: Speaking of which, they told us about your privileged relationship with NASA ...
A: [Laughs, Ed.] For years we have been following international events related to the space sector, events which were attended by the major global space agencies, from the United States to China. I was lucky enough to personally follow the first private sector astronaut and to attend many informal dinners with NASA vice presidents. On one of these occasions I was asked, by virtue of my being Italian, an opinion on clothing and I remember that I replied that the tie that person was wearing was horrible. A few weeks later, a NASA envelope was delivered to me: it contained, in addition to the official letter of thanks, that same tie.
Q: If Antherica were a wine, what wine would it be?
A: Not a sparkling wine, rather a full-bodied one, a still red, aged ... and Tuscan one.
Q: The best compliment a customer has received?
A: We receive many, fortunately, all very appreciated, I can't say which is the most beautiful. We like it when our customers let us know that we provide them with indispensable tools, without which they would not be able to do their job as they know it.
Q: Antherica has been on the market for many years: what is the secret of its longevity?
A: No secrets, I would say: we are small, but not very small, we have a high flexibility, we believe in continuous training and we are always close to the customer. Our customers are also extremely long-lived with us: we have had some since 2003.
Q: What must never be missing from the office?
A: Good humor, coffee, prosecco. [Jokes, but not too much. Editor's note] Above all, an environment with human relationships that make it a pleasure to go to the office in the morning.
Q: How do you see Antherica in ten years?
A: Grown up, more structured, with customers for whom, as now, our company can make a difference in a sector like the web that will certainly be growing rapidly and constantly changing.
Note:
1 A family of herbaceous plants with flowers similar to those of the lily [Editor's note].