JEAN DE RENESSE

Jean De Renesse copyJean is an entrepreneur at heart and one of the pioneers of the Internet in Belgium since the mid-1990s.

Active in the media and digital industry in Belgium for more than 15 years, he has contributed to the early developments of leading start-ups and innovative companies such as DAD (Digital Age Design, today LBi in Belgium), Best Of Internet, Yezzz (the challenger of Ebay), Netbel and Misterbuzz, the first provider of multimedia content for mobile phones in 2000.

In 1999, he set up the First Tuesday business network, which quickly became the number one networking forum for technology start-ups, their investors and related service providers. Connecting more than 10,000 professionals (web entrepreneurs, business angels, VCs, advertisers, tax & legal consultants) around monthly matchmaking events, First Tuesday played a major role in the development of Internet ventures in Belgium over five years.

Currently the head of Cine Pocket, a leading mobile film festival for and with smartphones, and active within AT-Production in order to develop transmedia projects, he has held several positions over the past six years:

  • New media manager at Paperview Group Ltd, responsible for the development of innovative and monetisable multimedia concepts for the press such as mobile gaming, e-commerce and social shopping platforms. Founded in 1998, Paperview was both a pioneer and market leader for full-service content-based marketing solutions for the national and regional press (literature and thematic collections, DVDs and music, online products) in more than 15 countries;
  • Exclusive distributor of the Buump Relationship Bracelets in Belgium, Luxembourg and the US. Inspired by the Facebook relationship status setting on a personal profile, Buump bracelets enable people to display their relationship status in the real world (‘Married’, ‘Single’, ‘It’s complicated’…);
  • Editor-in-Chief at “Comm’In” magazine, Belgian free magazine dedicated to mobile multimedia (devices, apps, lifestyle) launched in cooperation with Mobistar, the Belgian branch of Orange Telecom (250,000 copies)

For more than 15 years, his activities led him to develop projects with companies and brands such as Armani, IBM, Perrier, Nokia, Centre Pompidou, Arts Foundations and key media groups (websites, TV stations, newspapers, magazines, radio).

Other experience:

  • Member of the mobile workgroup at IAB Belgium (2008-2010) – Jury member in several mobile and short film festivals: Mobifest (Sao Paulo), Movil Film (Barcelona), Viva La Focus (Groningen), Best Of Short (La Ciotat), Mobile Screenfest (Sydney)
  • Speaker at several conferences and panel discussions on the topic of mobile video (2008-2013) and entrepreneurship (2000-2005)
  • Founding member of the Mobile Monday chapter in Brussels (2008) – Award: Belgium Alumni’s INSEAD Innovator Prize 2000

Strengths:

  • Strong experience in multimedia and multi-platform projects (15+ years)
  • Strong sense of project ownership and responsibilities
  • Marketing, commercial, financial management experience
  • Positive attitude, dynamic, flexible, pragmatic with a result-oriented spirit and entrepreneurial mindset
  • Well connected professional
  • Enthusiastic, experienced and trustful team player
  • Ideas generation