Building a Global Business Festival: From Obama to B2B Powerhouse

Dr. Niklas Richter · 2026-03-05

Imagine this. You're building an international business festival with just a handful of people. Then, eight weeks before the event, you get a confirmation that changes everything. Barack Obama is coming. That's exactly what happened to Leen Antheunis, CEO of SuperNova and General Manager of startups.be and scale-ups.eu. I sat down with her to unpack the incredible journey of turning a small idea into a global B2B powerhouse. ### The Evolution from Public Event to B2B Powerhouse SuperNova didn't start as the exclusive, high-level summit it is today. It began with a much broader audience in mind. Leen explained how they made a conscious, strategic pivot. They realized that to create real impact and foster meaningful connections, they needed to focus. The shift to a pure B2B model wasn't just a change in marketing—it was a change in mission. It became about creating a space where deals get done, partnerships form, and the future of business gets shaped.  ### Why Big Names Like Obama Are Strategic, Not Just Flashy Having former President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, or Arnold Schwarzenegger on stage isn't just about the 'wow' factor. Leen broke down the real strategy. These figures act as massive gravitational pulls. They attract the right audience—investors, founders, and decision-makers who are serious about scale. They set a tone of excellence and ambition that permeates the entire event. It's a signal to the global business community that this is where important conversations happen. She shared a fascinating near-miss story. They almost had Elon Musk. The logistics and timing just didn't align in the end, but the pursuit itself taught them volumes about what it takes to operate at that level. ### Internationalization Isn't an Ambition, It's a Necessity This was a point Leen hammered home. For European entrepreneurs, especially in smaller ecosystems, thinking globally from day one isn't a nice-to-have. It's survival. The market is just too small to build a world-class company if you only look inward. SuperNova itself is a product of this philosophy, bringing international voices to Antwerp to challenge local thinking. We also touched on some hard truths about the regional mindset. - The power of networks, like that of investor Jurgen Ingels, is often underestimated. - There's still a cultural struggle with failure in places like Flanders, which can stifle innovation. - Visionaries like Dries Buytaert, who created Drupal, deserve far more recognition for putting European tech on the map. Leen was remarkably open about the operational chaos of securing a speaker who requires Secret Service protection. Organizing an event of this caliber with a small team is a monumental task. It's about bringing investors and founders closer together and, fundamentally, challenging an entire region to think bigger. As she put it, **"Belgium urgently needs to learn to think bigger. We have the talent, but we need to match it with global ambition."** SuperNova happens in Antwerp. It gathers entrepreneurs, investors, and international voices around one central question: what is truly relevant for the future of companies today? It's more than a conference; it's a catalyst for a larger mindset shift.