Alberto Nardelli: UnLtd World chief of strategy

?You can?t change the world by sitting behind a computer. To make it you have to connect and meet in person?. Coming from Alberto Nardelli – 27 year old Chief of Strategy for UnLtdWorld, a social networking platform entirely dedicated to social innovators and entrepreneurs launched at the beginning of March ? these words sound like a contradiction in terms. But what he is really doing is launching an ?UnLtd? challenge. Unlimited, a brand name with an incredible wealth of meaning, as it can be read as limitless, or as a negation of the Ltd (limited) company model. The term, coined by the Foundation for Social Enterprise that has also financed the web portal, has become the most popular adjective for describing young people with business ideas of high social impact who want to change the world.

Connecting them is Nardelli?s job, and in its first three weeks alone, UnLtdWorld has created a community of 2,500 people from 80 countries across the world.

Are you satisfied?
The more significant number, I think, is that one third of our users visit our website once every three days and surf through it for 10 minutes, which for an entrepreneur is a long time.

Who is the typical UnLtdWorld user and what are they looking for?
On our website you will find all kinds of people, from the founder of Green Tomato Cars, a London based company that transports passengers on low impact Prius?, to an Italian public servant. Our typical user is between 25 and 40 and looks for contacts and news to expand and develop their business. Or their social interest.

There are other social networking websites that offer this possibility. What makes UnLtdWorld different?
Most of these other websites offer people the chance of connecting with people they already know or with friends of their friends. Our objective is altogether different: to connect you with people you never even suspected existed, someone who is interested in what you do. And not just via the internet. There are two sections in the web page ? Let?s Meet Up and Neighbourhoods ? that are thought of as means of creating real meeting opportunities for our users, who may be two different social entrepreneurs from the same region, or may be a philanthropist, say, interested in investing in a social entrepreneur?s project. On UnLtdWorld social enterprise is not one of the many topics of conversation, but the topic that people have dedicated their lives and careers to.

How do you support these UnLtd careers?
The users of the website have a dedicated space to promote their events and a tool ? the Research Lab ? thought of as means of sharing the available social and business know how. This is the first attempt at mapping the social enterprises in the world created as an interactive platform of data, graphs and materials available to all.

Can you give us an example of its use?
An entrepreneur interested in poverty can, through the Lab, find out who in the world is dealing with the issue and identify potential partners or find out where there are holes in the market.

Do you think that an UnLtd career is a luxury only few of us ? the British ? can afford?
I don?t think that this is a problem that is tied to social enterprise specifically: in Italy, which is the country where I grew up and studied, there is, I think, a fear of enterprise generally. People are scared of insecurity, of not finding the funds, of not being respected by those who already work in the market. These are all obstacles that put people off and often kill good social business ideas before they are born.

More info:
http://unltdworld.com