FlyingChaz.com

Even if the financial sector is crashing and the impact on other industries will be devastating, and European venture investments hit a new low - there is also good news from the ‘belgian’ digital front. It’s no main news, but in times of darkness it’s better to search some light.

IAB Europe is about to be founded. Iab stands for Interactive Advertising Bureau, and is headed by Alain Heureux who is doing an fantastic job. Have been working at different levels with him (IAB Europe & Belgium, The Egg, at all the companies I had the pleasure of being (skynet, prosiebensat1, netlog), and his perseverance and energy never seizes to amaze me. The Team of IAB Europe is amazing, and tomorrow a new board will be created with 5 countries and companies (forgive me to be a little wrong). Bravo and well done.
Hope that IAB Europe will get a decent website (just copy and fasten the Belgian one), get European metrics aligned, boost ad sales on all levels (ad sales will create more means and thus more investments, initiatives, willingness to dare) and get the digital media countries, companies, individuals to create a strong digital Europe.

Belgian startups are doing nice as well.

Netlog continues the growth pace across most of the European countries, launched a pretty good new homepage, and some new talent is on board. Yesterday I saw a a little interview with Boris Bogaert, the commercial leader of the organization, and besides that it was pretty good - Boris is an amazing guy who is creating great partners, clients, agency relations, etc. I know Boris from when I was at FNAC - and he was selling the PIng internet connections. Funny that I choose Ping as main partner at that time, even if I joined Skynet a little later. Bravo to the entire netlog team.

Other good startups: zilok.com (you can compare it to eBay for rentals ), bragster.com (gambling - Belgians beased in London), radionomy.com (my 2 former colleagues at Skynet - Gilles Bindels and Cedric van Kan - look to have quite some traction in France. Well done my friends). And I could go on for some time.
These are the ones focusing on international territory and that I know personally.

Also, great news about 2 of the projects I have been involved with, but cannot communicate anything yet. Will post here when I can.

It is too soon to know where all of them will end even if of to a good start (though at different stages), mostly because all of them are still in very early phases of creating enduring value, which is one of the reasons to succeed. They all have value, if they have enduring value can only be judged in a couple of years. That said, some probably are not searching for enduring value, but might rush for the immediate one. Future will tell - . Good article on venturebeat by the way.

Had quite some questions like ‘What the hell are you doing actually?’, so will post now on the different stuff I am involved in.
Yes, I AM actually doing something.

CJa all,

bart