Episode SHOWNOTES and interview summary on: http://behindthestory.be/podcast/episode10

This podcast episode is part of a new series, "Talking To Jane", in partnership with Start it @KBC, a Startup Incubator with the largest Startup Community in Belgium.

In this series, Jane interviews entrepreneurs of Tech Startups, put forward by Start it@KBC. You will hear their inspiring journey's and the role of incubators to start and grow their business.

Here is what is shared and discussed in this episode:

Links and Resources:

• Tim's company and Social Media Links:
  • https://www.epihunter.com/
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
• Tim can be contacted through:
  • Epihunter website contact form
  • Email: tim.buckinx@epihunter.com
• International Day of Epilepsy, 12 February 2018 – https://epilepsy.org/ This day Epihunter starts it's crowdfunding campaign
• About Absence seizure
• About Convulsive seizure
• Imec.istart – Business Accelerator Program set up to support tech start-ups with coaching, facilities and funding
• International League Against Epilepsy

For more:

• Right-click here and save as to download this episode to your computer
• You can find the shownotes to this episode on: http://behindthestory.be/podcast/episode10
• Subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Android

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The interview:

Tim Buckinx is Founder and CEO Epihunter.

He previously was Product Manager with Joyn and Digital Technology Marketing Manager with BOSE.

At 44 years old, he has just started his own company, Epihunter, to pursue his life's goal: Developing technology that will improve the lives of patients with epilepsy. And he has a big vision.

He doesn't come from an entrepreneurial family. His parents were in education. But during his career he was fortunate to do very interesting activities and he had some big opportunities. It all prepared him for his current big entrepreneurial journey.

Tim himself has a chronic blood disease, and needed to be very resourceful with his work schedule and job choices, often needing to find time for medical appointments. But he always had a mindset that everything is achievable, privately and professionally.

While every year, hundreds of students go into the job market in Belgium, he wanted to stand out in the crowd early on. So he was attentive and alert, always looking for opportunities, observing the needs of his environment. His goal has always been to make an impact.

Marketing is an enabler for impact, he believes, because you can see results from it immediately. And Tim is interested in bringing the message.

He started in B2B Marketing, selling cardboard boxes through catalog. He learned that things didn't have to be beautiful to sell. Don't look for perfection, look for what is needed.

Then the internet came, which really triggered him. He got to work for a clothing manufacturer. It was inspiring, because it was an old fashioned brand that used internet to bring clothes to all parts of the world. Then he moved on to other companies. Until he got a job at BOSE. He was the 4th member of BOSE at that time, and in no-time, he helped grow that team to 60 people.

Sales and Marketing, making the bridge between the technical side of things and the needs of the organization, became his specialty. With his team, he also noticed they needed to change the structure of the team, when more countries were added. So he started to adopt Agile working, before people even had heard of Agile. Because of their successful work, they were invited by corporate to roll-out the concept company-wide, for a new platform for BOSE globally. Tim was in his element. During the 3 years that followed, working with new cultures, his career sky-rocketed. He made it to management positions.

Then suddenly his life changed. His son got epilepsy at the age of six (his son today is 13). His wife immediately saw it was serious when their son started to tremble one morning at the kitchen table.

Various neurological tests were done. It was a roller-coaster period to find the right medication. Tim started to do all kinds of researches himself and looked for solutions with experts and specialists, because not all epilepsies are the same.

There are convulsive seizures (gros mals) and non-convulsive seizures (petit mals or absence seizures).

His son, Daan, started with convulsive seizures, but thanks to medication, they stopped. But his seizures themselves didn't go away. Daan now suffers from absence seizures. It looks like he is absent. It's silent.

An estimated 65 million people in the world are living with epilepsy today. 30% can't even be helped through medication. And 15% suffer from absence seizures.

His son goes to a Special Needs school. And there isn't a system or service to bring your kid to that school. He and his wife had to arrange all that themselves with supportive friends.

Therefore it is not easy having his own business, because you don't have access to affordable health insurance, e.g. And getting paid while he is starting his company is not easy. Especially with a special needs child, this is a big worry. And there is his own disease. Tim has a Blood disease and needs to really work around hospital appointments and rest periods after some hours of work. Often he's spending half a day  on his laptop working for his company, in the hospital's waiting room.

It is difficult to find peers who have the same experiences. But there are Social Media groups that are very supportive, like some closed Facebook groups. Tim joins those groups.

It's an added value, because you get supportive advice when you have a real question or situation. Secondly, you can openly talk about medication, and how parents support themselves. And thirdly, you share the same difficult situation and challenges. People in your environment often don't believe you. Schools face many challenges, because of more and more neurological issues, like ADHD and autism.

The main issue with absence seizures is that it's difficult to notice. Teachers have many children in the classroom with their own specific 'issues'. But when his son, Daan, noticed that his teachers got irritated because they hadn't noticed his seizures, and were tired of re-explaining things, he often felt misunderstood.

One evening his son asked him: "Daddy, you work in digital. Can't you invent a light that turns on when my brain switches off?"

It was painful for Tim to his son struggle like that. A couple of weeks later, he saw a YouTube video on EEG headsets.

That was a turning point and moment of epiphany. He saw it could be possible to realize what his son had asked him!

Since then, Tim doesn't believe in coincidencec anymore! He started his company not by coincidence!