Last month, we launched a call over twitter and social media for entrepreneurs to contribute ideas and proposals for the Belgian Startup Manifesto – they had less than two weeks to respond but we received 120+ tangible proposals and a great vibe emerged in the discussions. A group of 6-7 entrepreneurs actively processed all the proposals, ranking them for potential impact and required effort, and developed the areas in which it was clear the entrepreneur community would benefit from small and big changes.
The result was a Startup Manifesto (www.startupmanifesto.be), outlining steps towards the goal of 10,000 startups and 100,000 jobs in 5 years. It represented a call to action to individuals, industry partners and policymakers to establish a healthy environment for Belgian startups.
From policymakers, the Manisfesto requested thinking along the lines of a new type of limited liability company that provides startups with protection in the early stage, namely:
– Easy creation and shutdown of businesses online
– A tax shelter that encourages risk investments in startups
– Easier hiring and firing
– Elimination or reduction of social charges when there is no revenue yet
– Simplified taxation under a certain threshold
– Tax on capital gains
We launched the Startup Manifesto at our Tech Startup Day event on March 12th, in the presence of Alexander de Croo, Minister of Digital Agenda, members of his ‘Digital Minds for Belgium’ task force and the press. The response was overwhelmingly positive, both from the community and the media.
Just three weeks later, our national government announced a startup plan to give young entrepreneurs incentives to grow their new ventures. This new plan incorporated many of the measures the Startup Manifesto proposed. Now approved, the policies will focus on making crowdfunding easier, and keeping lower labor costs for start ups.
We are now working with policymakers at local, regional, national and EU level to investigate how we can further develop the remaining proposals and align all policy levels as best as possible.
Photo credit: Startups.be