Ghent, the Belgian Silicon Valley

You may have noticed that Ghent has some great tech startups. Why Ghent? Because it is cheaper (than Brussels), it is of course the most beautiful and historical city of Belgium and it is a big university city. So there is a lot of potential young talent.

The number of startups has increased dramatically over the past few years and I’m very optimistic about it! I believe in a continued growth, cause the early results are very positive.

What is a start-up?

According to Forbes, it is very difficult to give it one correct definition. There are no rules on defining it. But the key attribute of a startup is its ability to grow. As Paul Graham explains, a startup is a company designed to scale very quickly. It is this focus on growth unconstrained by geography which differentiates startups from small businesses.

Some great startups, based in Ghent

1. Showpad 
   Of course Showpad! Showpad is a Mobile Sales Enablement platform/app aimed at drastically improving Sales Effectiveness of any enterprise with a sales team and it provides marketing with actionable insights. It lets you upload and manage all your sales material in one central and secure place. This means that it turns each iPad into a powerful sales & presentation tool. Showpad has now opened an office in San Francisco!
   
   
2. Zentrick
   With Zentrick, you can easily build interactive videos with their pre-built applications, intuitive drag & drop editor and custom app developer. Just publish your experience to any device, network or site with a single click and let your audience engage whenever, wherever and however they want. They have a second office in NY.
   
   
3. In the pocket
   In the Pocket is a full-service mobile agency, helping brands, media companies and enterprises embrace the digital age of smartphones tablets and other connected devices. They show enterprises that smartphones and tablets can be used in an effective and creative way.  In the Pocket won the IAB MIXX award for ‘Most promising agency of the year’ in 2013.
   
   
4. Engagor
   It is one powerful all-in-one social media management tool to manage all your social media activity. From monitoring & analytics to engagement, perfect for marketing and customer service. Engagor helps companies to efficiently engage with all their customers in an easy way. They are also based in San Fransicso.
   
   
5. Cheqroom
   Cheqroom is intuitive software that helps you easily register, monitor and manage your inventory, online from your desktop or mobile device. It’s an easy system to track an estate of equipment, like computers, bikes, ski material, books and much more. By labeling your equipment with QR codes and registering your items in the web app, you can manage your inventory online.

Ghent is known for its elderflower-flavoured drink Roomer, Tierenteyn mustard and Cuberdons (or ‘little noses’). But soon Ghent will be known as the Belgian Silicon Valley, according to me... 

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

My Time at Showpad as an Intern

As a final-year student of Communication Management at Artevelde University College, I was expected to do an internship for 4 months. I’ve chosen Showpad because mobile devices are the future so I definitely knew it would be an interesting enterprise. On top of that, Showpad is situated in the center of Ghent, which is of course the most beautiful city in Belgium.

So very excited, all well and good, BUT….Starting somewhere new while not knowing what specific role you get, not knowing what your capacities are and doubting about your competences, scared the hell out of me.

The beginning

Showpad made this easy for me by being very welcoming and supporting. First and foremost, I had to understand and work with the Showpad-application. No bad word will come out of my mouth! Then they introduced me to the newest marketing technique, which is not yet well-known in Belgium. From then on, I was the Inbound Marketing intern. I am deeply grateful for that because I feel like I am one step ahead of others in Belgium. Inbound marketing is just such a great technique because there is no need to push information to customers, which is very irritating. It is about creating relevant content that really helps them. Finally! Showpad is a start-up, so I experienced right from the beginning the launch of inbound marketing at the enterprise and the very first results of using it. A-we-some!

Tasks

Writing blog posts, setting up a Pinterest account, making a welcoming brochure,  helping the content creator with everyday tasks she has to deal with as an inbound marketer, were some of the many interesting tasks I got. At the beginning, they even challenged me for giving a presentation about inbound marketing. Due to my shyness, this definitely was something out of my comfort zone. But I am very grateful for that. Showpad is an international company so everything should be done in English.

They didn’t expect I knew everything. They wanted me to make mistakes and learn from them, which I definitely did. I think that after these 4 months, I have expanded my writing abilities and my English. And most important, according to Hubspot (inbound marketing specialist), I am now fully capable and skilled in the methodology of inbound marketing. I’ve been tested on best practices and I’m now in possession of a certification.

I can rightfully say that I have come out of this experience as a more knowledgeable person!

Atmosphere

What this internship made even more unforgettable, is the atmosphere and interaction between colleagues. I’ve never known the feeling of having -like they say- ‘a second family’. Well, now I have. Everyone is being so nice. There isn’t a cold formal atmosphere here, which is great. They are very professional though. Everyone is so passionate about what he/she does. So passionate that it is almost common to work 10 hours a day. (Say what?!)

A day that I’ll never forget is the teambuilding day to welcome new employees (Americans). It was a great day where I got to know everyone that little bit better. We were spoiled and I felt like I was a real colleague.

Many thanks

So I would like to thank the Showpad team, especially Anabel De Vetter & Louis Jonckheere, for letting me be a part of all the excitement for my last semester at school. The past few months have been an amazing learning opportunity and a great deal of fun.

My internship experience has provided me with a newfound passion for (inbound) marketing. That’s why I’ll feed my interest a little bit more by studying Digital Communications in Brussels next year.

Thanks,
Brett Dufort