A scrappy Flemish speech recognition company tries to put its hometown on the global tech map.
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- (00:00) - A Pie to the Face
- (01:00) - Welcome to Oh My Fraud
- (06:00) - Welcome to Flanders, Belgium
- (07:30) - Meet the Founders: Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie
- (09:30) - The Dream of Voice Recognition
- (15:12) - Going Public in a Crowded Market
- (17:42) - Creating the Flanders Language Valley
- (21:42) - Gaston Bastiaens and His Wine Cellar Wager
- (26:23) - Microsoft's $45 Million Investment
- (29:23) - The Philosophy of Pie Throwing
- (30:53) - Explosive Growth and Suspicious Numbers
- (32:53) - Dragon Systems and Dictaphone Acquisitions
- (35:23) - The Korean Revenue Mystery
- (38:23) - Wall Street Journal Starts Digging
- (42:18) - "I Lied About Everything"
- (43:48) - The Resignation and Bankruptcy
- (47:48) - The SEC Reveals the Fraud
- (49:48) - Criminal Convictions and Symbolic Justice
- (50:48) - Lessons Learned: Fake It Till You Make It
- (52:18) - What Happened to the Technology
- (53:48) - Closing Thoughts
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Sources:
- How Hype Hurt Lernout & Hauspie [Bloomberg via Wayback Machine]
- How High-Tech Dream Shattered In Scandal at Lernout & Hauspie [WSJ]
- Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products: Financing From Start-up through IPO [INSEAD, Herwig Langohr, Benoit Leleux, Danny Lein, July 2000, accessed on Sept. 16, 2025]
- Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products: The Question [INSEAD, Arnoud De Meyer, Bart Pycke, January 1998, accessed on Sept. 16, 2025]
- Quarterdeck Office Systems [Wikipedia]
- Patent Is Won By Quarterdeck [NYT]
- Internet Hype Gives New Life to Quarterdeck Stock [LAT]
- Gaston Bastiaens [Apple.Fandom]
- Today in Apple history: Apple exec bets his wine cellar on Newton [CultofMac]
- Will Microsoft's Stake in Lernout & Hauspie Drive Growth in Speech? [Speech Technology Magazine]
- In Brussels, Gates Takes a Pie in the Face [Reuters via Wayback Machine]
- Bill Gates Being Hit in the Face With a Pie (1998) [YouTube]
- Noël Godin [Wikipedia]
- He Plasters Paris’ Elite With Cream Pies [LAT]
- Bernard-Henri Levy Pied again in Belgium [YouTube]
- FM Interviews: Noël Godin [First Monday]
- Lernout & Hauspie Shares Drop Amid Puzzling Revenue Results [WSJ]
- Lernout & Hauspie Surges In Korea, Raising Questions [WSJ]
- Lernout's Bastiaens Will Step Down From CEO Post at Software Concern [WSJ]
- Lernout to Refile Financial Reports; Co-Founders Resign as Chairmen [WSJ]
- Lernout Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Says Cash at South Korean Unit Is Missing [WSJ]
- The Talk of Flanders Has Most Speechless [AP]
- Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V., Litigation Release No. 17782, Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1648, October 10, 2002 [Securities and Exchange Commission]
- Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V., Litigation Release No. 18014, March 4, 2003 [Securities and Exchange Commission]
- Lernout & Hauspie Founders Guilty in Fraud [WSJ]
- Goldman Sachs and the $580 Million Black Hole [NYT]
