Endeavor

2013 Endeavor Impact Report

Issue link: http://endeavor.uberflip.com/i/210522

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 75

SCALING UP Insight to conduct a series of studies hotbeds of entrepreneurial activity: on these tech markets, beginning Amman, Jordan and Istanbul, Turkey. with Buenos Aires's tech hub in 2011. The results exhibited the same pattern: Insight surveyed 200 Argentine tech Local networks developed around a entrepreneurs and asked them small number of high-impact entrepre- five questions: 1) Who inspired you? neurs. By paying it forward—mentoring 2) Where did you work previously? protegees, helping start new businesses, 3) Who invested in your company? and acting as angel investors—these 4) Who mentored you? 5) Have you entrepreneurs had a strong, outsized founded any additional companies? effect on the ecosystem. What emerged was a map of the network showing a dense web of interconnections among a fast-growing group of tech start-ups. At its center were a handful of high-impact entrepreneurs whose influence radiated out in all directions: Patagon's Wences, m Officenet's Andy and Santiago, and MercadoLibre's Marcos and Hernán. The data showed that these initial entrepreneurs had an impact on 80% of the network through hands-on activi- ties like mentoring and investing. The entrepreneurs' impact on the ecosystem continues to this day. Andy currently serves as the board chair of Endeavor Argentina. His Officenet cofounder, Santiago, runs an innovative social venture fund. Marcos continues to lead MercadoLibre and recently donated over $1 million to Endeavor Argentina so that the organization can purchase a headquarters building. Marcos's cofounder, Hernán, has launched a venture capital firm that has invested in over 15 companies in Latin America. Wences, meanwhile, is based in Palo Alto, where he serves on the board of Endeavor and has become a godfather to hundreds of young Latin American entrepreneurs, providing inspiration and thousands of hours of mentoring. To validate the repeatability of this multiplier effect, Endeavor conducted similar research in two more unlikely 25 THE END.

Articles in this issue

view archives of Endeavor - 2013 Endeavor Impact Report