• Ramon: expat that came to Brussels to work in EU Parliament, grow bored of it, loved the city and Internet business, mixed both. Organizer, speaker, consultant- • Brussels: Very active and vibrant. Full of opportunities, ideas and projects in development. • Took off 4 years ago with Betagroup (but other groups already existed) • National culture does not favor entrepreneurship: civil servant minded = risk averse, security, conservative. • All in takes is one person to launch one event (and a lot to attend and promote): importance of champions/ambassadors. • DO IT!!! If you want something to happen, don’t just wait, make it happen. • If it is happening: help promote it and grow! • Jean Derely , French. Ramon, Spanish . Leo, Russian. • Mostly in English, but people can use other languages in most events. • Inspiration: show that entrepreneurship is possible and cool. • Networking: real networks grow on face to face meetings. Create opportunities and facilitate. • For all of them > If you want to organize something like it, contact the organizers in Brussels, they will help. • Promotion: promote startups and entrepreneurs. • Check Tech events calendar in Betagroup’s site and attend. • Betagroup: largest network of Belgian professionals & entrepreneurs in the IT/Tech/Mobile sectors. Organizes a monthly pitch-slam for startups attended by 350 people. 3500 members. Very well known in entrepreneurship/tech circles, not so much among general public. Twodler: mashable, fox news in 2 days. • Betacowork: the coworking space of the Betagroup for the IT/Tech/Mobile community. Host a lot of groups/events. • Founder Institute: Startup course/accelerator: from idea to sustainable business in 4 months. • Startup Weekend Brussels: Intense 54 hour weekend to transform a mere idea into the beginnings of a viable startup, working with people you don't know. • Webmission: grassroots effort by Belgian Web, Mobile and Tech entrepreneurs to promote Belgian entrepreneurship and its startups abroad. • Café Numerique: weekly meeting that tries to break the digital divide and introduce tech subjects and people to a broader audience. • Some specialized like mobile • Mobile Monday: regular mobile business meetup. • DroidCon and Apps Marathon: events for mobile app developers. • Apps Marathon: mobile app pitch marathon & contest. • HackDemocracy: group that wishes to improve democracy with the use of technology. Open Data advocates. • Quantified Self: group that is using hardware / applications / methodologies to better understand and track everything about themselves and their bodies. Related to e-health and privacy issues. • Tedxbrussels: largest TED in Europe (1500 attendees). Mostly inspirational and a place to network and meet. Organize your own here. • Challenges: o Sponsors o Women o Seed & pre-seed investment. o General public reach. • Looking to improve networks across

1. BelgianTechStartupScene @ramonsuarez ##InternetBeta 2011

2. Champions / Ambassadors

5. Betagroup Coworking (Betacowork)

6. StartupWeekendBrussels

7. FounderInstituteBrussels

8. westartup.eu

9. Webmission

10. Mobile

11. Café Numerique

12. OpenCoffee Club Brussels

13. GirlGeekDinners

14. And many more…

15. WeWanttoKnow More About… YOU! http://twitter.com/ramonsuarezramon@betagroup.be