Growth through Entrepreneurship - The 5-Minute Briefing

1. { grow }

2. the fifth conference

3. { 2009 } growth through entrepreneurship

4. { 2009 } interviews in Belgium but also in UK, US, SA, India, China

5. the point: collate ideas on how to get this country growing through entrepreneurship

6. read the interviews and edito’sonline or get the journal www.thefifthconference.com

7. join the conversation online

8. this is the 5 minute version

9. { grow }

10. why grow?

11. {1776} Adam Smith made the point... “It is in the progressive state, while the society is advancing to the further acquisition, rather than when it has acquired its full complement of riches, that the condition of the great body of the people seems to be the happiest and the most comfortable.”

12. “It is hard in the stationary, and miserable in the declining state.”

13. {2005} so did Benjamin Friedman... economic growth seems to make people more tolerant, less prone to violent dispute and keener on democracy. economic decline, on the other hand, is associated with social strife, intolerance and authoritarianism.

14. what about the environment and depleting resources?

15. is this the age of stupid? Franny Armstrong

16. growth = progress it is not necessarily about more, more, more...

17. a better world is still possible poverty & inequality work-life balance health quality of food environment liveable cities

18. ‘growth must improve the condition of people’ ‘are you developing enough...that is the key question’ Karel Van Eetvelt, managing director Unizo

19. { Belgium } Status

20. compared to The Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland lower per-capita GDP Belgium = slower economic growth lower score Global Competitiveness Index (WEF)

21. we got wealthythrough FDI , entrepreneurship & export

22. but all are in decline

23. structural fault lines:

24. ageing population + high structural unemployment + high proportion of ‘subsidised employment’

25. = low societal productivity

26. highest tax wedge in the world = high wage costs = declining competitiveness of exporters

27. ‘a culture of contentment’ Luc De Bruyckere, Chairman VOKA we’ve become ‘immune’ to the crisis Wilson De Pril, Director-General AGORIA Flanders

28. { start-ups }

29. just do it “Do not wait for someone to recruit you. Create your own job. Start a business....” Guillaume Vanderstighelen, co-founder Duval Guillaume

30. free up the idea “Don’t be secretive about your idea. Ideas need to be free. All ideas will be copied. It’s execution that matters.” Sebastien de Halleux, co-founder & coo Playfish

31. mix things up “That’s what I do on a daily basis. I mix things up and look for new spaces.” Sven Bally, co-founder Colibricard

32. define the value “Finding core value starts with scarcity.” Sacha Vekeman, co-founder Mobiya “A company is not a business; it’s just a legal entity. You decide if it becomes a business or not.” Jeroen Meens, co-founder Cynex

33. do not start alone “Start with the right people; you can’t do it alone” Hans Nissens, ceoOxynade “Management experience is not the same as entrepreneurial experience” James Thompson, director Wharton Societal Wealth Program

34. think big, start small “Too often, people try to build everything at once but end up building nothing.” Brice Le Blévennec, director EMAKINA “It can also be done with limited resources. At least, if one has enough imagination.” Maarten Van Laere, co-founder & ceoServerscheck

35. cash is king “Cash flow, cash flow – manage it hard. Someone who owes you money is running their business on your cash.” Neil Watson, co-founder Digital Planet (South Africa)

36. { growth companies }

37. growing is difficult, growing consistently is even more difficult

38. the growth formula...

39. innovate “Ideas are our raw materials, but even more important are the people who work with these ideas.” Hans Bourlon, joint ceo Studio 100 “If you’re a rebel, you also stir up that bit of rebelliousness in your people” LievenMessiaen, ceo Modular Lighting “It’s in the confrontation that new things emerge” Koen Vanmechelen, artist creator of the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project

40. internationalise “The know-how which we accumulated is being projected on to other countries, adapted to the local legislation” Luc Desender, ceoElectrawinds “It’s time Belgium became the access point to Europe.” Luc Missinne, managing director Porter Novelli Belgium

41. choosegrowthmarkets “You can only grow if there is enough demand for your product” Luc Desender, ceoElectrawinds

42. take the money “If capital is offered take as much as you can... Don’t delay, think big, much bigger.” Peter Grognard, ceoSeptentrio

43. governance “You need to structure yourself, organise yourself, to make sustainable growth possible. Otherwise your company simply cannot outlive you.” Luc De Bruyckere, chairman VOKA and TerBeke

44. { fixing the system }

45. foundations: fixing the welfare model

46. reform labour market for more flexibility

47. reduce taxes on wages

48. get rid of tax imbalances

49. more efficient government administration

50. strategy: invest in the future

51. investing in strategic sectors Flanders in Action (VIA) Marshall Plan Wallonia

52. tech transfer “The aim is to create one or two spin-offs per year” Ann-Pascale Bijnens, director tech transfer University of Hasselt “We’re focused mainly on creating the right environment for our start-ups. We do this by leveraging not only our faculty, ... but also our network beyond the institute” Pranay Gupta, joint ceo CIIE Ahmedabad India

53. teaching entrepreneurship “Our programme is 50% engineers & scientists from UCL and 50% MBA students from LBS. That’s turning out to be a very powerful course..” Keith Willey, Associate Professor London Business School “Our focus is to improve the international capabilities of our SMEs. .. We do that via our training programmes but we’ve also developed an international network of advisors” Andy Hamilton, ceo The ICEHOUSE Auckland New Zealand

54. entrepreneurial eco-system “The US101 is the life artery of a distinct and vibrant community” Filip Tack, ceoNomadesk BetaGroup attracts 1500 members...

55. schools & culture change “We need a process of cultural change” Luc De Bruyckere, Chairman VOKA & TerBeke “Entrepreneurship is an attitude! You need to be challenged; you need to be hit on the head occasionally!” Vincent Van Quickenborne, Minister for Entrepreneurship & Reform, Belgian Government

56. entrepreneurs taking responsibility “Give me a shout if I can help!” Inge Geerdens, ceoCVWarehouse

57. { grow } it’s urgent

58. thank you Belgacom Cegeka Getronics ING Keyware University of Hasselt Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School

59. www.thefifthconference.com