A scrappy Flemish speech recognition company tries to put its hometown on the global tech map. Sponsors Routable - http://ohmyfraud.promo/routable Bluebook - 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 (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 HOW TO EARN FREE CPE In 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/id1562599728 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app CONNECT WITH CALEB LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/ Email us at
[email protected] 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]
