Belgium is one of those rare ecosystems whose origin can be pinpointed in time.  In 2014 a group of journalists and entrepreneurs published the Startup Manifesto, a list of principles for shaping a thriving ecosystem.  The Manifesto influenced the thinking of Belgium’s Digital Minister, who is now the Prime Minister. Talk about impact!

Jean-Raymond Naveau took up the challenge of curating our first Belgium episode on the Ecosystem show.  He brought us Beatrice de Mahieu, Julie Foulon, and Hugo Hanselmann for a great conversation from the perspective of the backbone organizations and advisors who take responsibility for the health of this ecosystem. 

Enjoy the conversation!

We’ve visited over a dozen entrepreneurial ecosystems on our audio world tour, and we’re always looking for patterns.  

One pattern that has come up again and again is University technology transfer policy and practice.  We heard about it in Berlin, in Chile, in London, in Los Angeles, in Montreal -- the University’s perspective on entrepreneurship seems to have a huge effect on whether an ecosystem thrives or struggles.  

In this episode, we asked Paul Roben of the University of California at San Diego to help us understand what’s possible when tech transfer offices are strategically designed to promote entrepreneurship.  Enjoy!

Montreal’s ecosystem has really taken off in the last few years, fueled by successful entrepreneurs returning their capital and their enthusiasm to the ecosystem.  

Frederic Gaurino, Nectarios Economakis and Annie-Claude Devriese explain how capital, talent and physical space interact to create a self-reinforcing ecosystem.  

We recorded this episode on September 20, 2021 -- the first episode in our second series.  This season we’ll be visiting more regions, and also digging into some powerful tools that we’ve been learning about on our World Tour.  Enjoy Montreal, and come back for more!