My name is Max and my job is to be a dreamer.
Where does MaxGuide come from? From my travels, mostly business trips. Countless nights alone in the hotel, ending up dining at the hotel’s restaurant because I was not convinced on the advice of the receptionist. Then, during the day, after all the meetings, just an hour or two to visit the city. That is what happened in Helsinki, Brussels, Freiburg and Lucca. Wait. No, not in Lucca. There, a friend showed me a nice place that sells bikes during the day and wine during the night. In Helsinki, though, the tourist office has a pretty little book with real tips. Therefore, what can turn us from tourists to city residents, even for a little while?
A friend who lives there. Or that there has just been there. They do not give us 300 tips, but just a couple, or 5, or 7. The magic number.
I was in Japan and I was thinking: ok, it’s time. Because otherwise I’d have kept postponing forever. So, I texted Angela, aka Lapis, on whatsapp: “I have an idea. As soon as I get back we’ll talk about it.” Angela, who lives in Australia and invented telecommuting before it was cool, quickly answered “I don’t know what it is, but I’m in”.
Then, I wrote to Nic. We’ve been working together for years. I was the client, he was the agency. Friends who have been appreciating each other since forever. I told him: “I have an idea. It concerns you.” He Jumps on board in less than 3 minutes.
When I got back, I got in touch with Erika, la Kimberly (only relevant nicknames with me). In front of Esselunga’s salmon tartare, together with an avocado salad, “How about we work together on a project?” – We got our first paid jobs together, in Disney, 11 years ago. Enthusiasm over one thousand, she got on board too.
“Ok guys, meeting on Saturday.” Then we finish eating burgers (good, really good ones). That’s when I realized something amazing. When you work with friends, you cannot precisely define it as “work.” So, we decided to start from a guide of Verona. No, Milan. Nay, both, but Milan first.
This is MaxGuide, a project that comes from 4 friends in a bar, who wanted to change the world, turning every nice weekend in an unforgettable journey.
