Networking

Overview

Networking is the practice of building and using professional relationships to reach customers, capital and hires. In Belgian tech it matters because the pool of operators is small enough that the same people recur across companies, so an introduction travels fast and a reputation follows you into the next venture.

Networking splits into two mechanics that are usually given one name. The private one is the warm introduction, where a third party who has worked with both sides vouches, and the introducer's own standing is the collateral that makes the meeting happen; the public one is broadcasting, where a founder posts where buyers and candidates already are, which is how Matthias Cornette describes his pipeline when he says "LinkedIn is echt wel mijn sales." In a market the size of Belgium the private route concentrates in a handful of repeat nodes: people who sold a company and now invest, buildings that put unrelated teams in one lobby, and business school ties. Louis Jonckheere holds several of those at once as co-founder of Showpad and In The Pocket, as a figure behind the Wintercircus tech campus in Ghent, as chairman of Vlerick and as an angel investor, so one person can connect a founder to capital in a single step. Boris Bogaert made a comparable move from Antwerp after Rydoo was acquired by Sodexo for EUR 60M in 2017, going on to co-found Pitchdrive. The concentration cuts both ways: the same density that shortens the path to a first cheque also means a burned relationship is expensive, because the introducer, the buyer and the next hire tend to know each other.

Stated facts & numbers

• Entities tied to this concept on the wiki: 25, of which 15 are people and 0 are companies
• Videos in the corpus discussing it: 69, across Belgian tech and business channels
• Hub, alumni and angel roles in one person: Louis Jonckheere: Showpad, In The Pocket, Wintercircus tech campus in Ghent, chairman of Vlerick, angel investor
• Exit that funded a move to the investor side: Rydoo acquired by Sodexo for EUR 60M in 2017; Boris Bogaert then co-founded Pitchdrive
• Data layer under the cold approach: Bizzy, co-founded by Hendrik Keeris and Steve Declercq in 2021, 150,000+ professionals monthly, EUR 4M raised
• Public-channel reach cited in the corpus: 1.26 million views and 800,000 members reached in 30 days on LinkedIn, per Ben Deconinck
• Agency federation as a network structure: Jo Caudron co-founded Scopernia and Duval Union and helped create 20+ companies
• Operator moves that keep the pool small: Leslie Cottenje from co-founding Hello Customer to GM of Codit Belgium; Bert Van Wassenhove at Solvice through the Quickbase acquisition in April 2026
• Regional caveat: The sampled quotes are Dutch-language and describe Flemish practice; Brussels and Wallonia are not represented