Professional

Your strength

★ Skills

You believe you have the skills and experience needed to build a successful new business or project. That’s fantastic, because as you know, ideas don’t magically turn into successful projects – it requires good execution that is based on sound methodology. You’re probably an experienced entrepreneur and are familiar with concepts such as Lean Startup and user centered design.

To build on your strength

★ Motivation

It’s a huge strength if you’re doing something that you find deeply and personally meaningful, because that gives you the intrinsic motivation you need to give it your utmost and also to keep going when things get tough. But it’s not always easy to link an entrepreneurial career to a cause you care about.

At Hack Belgium, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.You’ll discover opportunities for innovation that are grounded in major societal challenges. Such as about how we can keep our planet’s ecology intact through circular business models and new energy solutions. And about how we can achieve the full potential of humanity through future proof education, better healthcare and an end to discrimination and injustice.

You’ll learn from the people who are working at the front-end of these challenges and together will brainstorm ideas for promising new solutions. Your next venture will help make our world a little better!

★ Confidence

As an entrepreneur you can’t let your own insecurities hold you down. You need confidence and a strong belief in your own capabilities to face the many challenges and hurdles that you’ll face on your path to success. The thing is, most of us experience some degree of Imposter Syndrome – being prone to self-doubt, anxiety and dwelling on past mistakes – which prevents us from taking those all important entrepreneurial steps, especially the first step!

At Hack Belgium, you’ll boost your confidence like you never knew possible. It is one of the most consistent points of feedback we get from participants, that they’re absolutely amazed at what they managed to achieve in just 3 days at Hack Belgium. You’ll come up with a powerful idea, you’ll develop and validate that idea, you’ll work with experts and mentors, you’ll learn a ton about market opportunities and new technologies, you’ll learn business and product design skills, and finally you’ll present a project proposal that could really go somewhere. You’ll discover a whole new you!

★ Market & Technology Knowledge

Most successful entrepreneurs process vast amounts of information. Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are famous for the amount of reading they do. It’s why such entrepreneurs have a deep and insightful understanding of their market and especially how technology is driving change. Such insight doesn’t come by magic! Those who think that it does, that they’re blessed with some supernatural business ‘intuition’, will soon find themselves left behind by smarter entrepreneurs. 

At Hack Belgium you’ll vastly expand your knowledge about emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, bio-as-technology, internet of things and immersive technologies. You’ll attend technology workshops, you’ll play with technologies in the massive Experience Zone and you’ll build a professional network among the country’s top technology experts. You’ll also learn about societal trends and challenges, and thereby discover new opportunities for innovation. And finally you’ll learn about all the latest thinking in entrepreneurial management and product design. Most importantly, you’ll be able to apply your new knowledge immediately in your own project.

★ Professional Network

You cannot succeed as an entrepreneur alone. If you think you can, then you’re confusing entrepreneurship with The Lone Ranger and Rambo. You need to build a talented team; you need to develop strong customer relationships; you need a network of experts you can rely on for pointed advice and mentoring; and you need connections to the people and organisations who can help you with tangible support and funding.

Hack Belgium brings together this country’s entire entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. Not for a cocktail party, but for 3 solid days of creative work. You’ll make new friends with your teammates, you’ll connect with hundreds of leading experts and scientists by attending workshops and hanging out in the Experience Zone, you’ll find mentors for your project, you’ll  meet potential customers, and you’ll discover the best possible funding and acceleration opportunities available in the country.