The Belgian Waffle

A scrappy Flemish speech recognition company tries to put its hometown on the global tech map.SponsorsRoutable - http://ohmyfraud.promo/routableBluebook - http://ohmyfraud.promo/bluebook(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 (13:30) - Going Public in a Crowded Market (16:00) - Creating the Flanders Language Valley (20:00) - Gaston Bastiaens and His Wine Cellar Wager (24:00) - Microsoft's $45 Million Investment (27:00) - The Philosophy of Pie Throwing (28:30) - Explosive Growth and Suspicious Numbers (30:30) - Dragon Systems and Dictaphone Acquisitions (33:00) - The Korean Revenue Mystery (36:00) - Wall Street Journal Starts Digging (38:30) - "I Lied About Everything" (40:00) - The Resignation and Bankruptcy (44:00) - The SEC Reveals the Fraud (46:00) - Criminal Convictions and Symbolic Justice (47:00) - Lessons Learned: Fake It Till You Make It (48:30) - What Happened to the Technology (50:00) - Closing Thoughts HOW TO EARN FREE CPEIn less than 10 minutes, you can earn NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.https://www.earmark.app/Download the app:Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.appCONNECT WITH CALEBLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/Email us at [email protected]: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]