Issue link: http://endeavor.uberflip.com/i/88132
1 THIS IS OUR STORY IN 1997, huddled over a cafeteria table with my colleague Peter Kellner, I grabbed a napkin and started sketching out a business model. We believed that growth markets like Argentina, Brazil and Turkey had Steve Jobs-caliber entrepreneurs, but lacked the mentors and role models of Silicon Valley. Our vision was that by "selecting" these high-impact entrepreneurs and connecting them with local and international business leaders, we could help them grow their businesses, creating entrepreneurial ecosys- tems that would inspire the next generation to become entrepreneurs. People told us we were crazy. We took it as a compliment. Fifteen years later, our napkin sketch is Endeavor, a global organization that supports 708 high-impact entrepreneurs from 443 compa- nies in 17 countries. These entrepreneurs have created 200,000 jobs and annually generate over us $5 billion in revenue. Their results affirm data released by our research arm, Endeavor Insight, that just 4% of the world's entrepreneurs create 40% of its jobs. In addition to Endeavor's presence in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Africa, in the last year we've brought our high-impact model to two new regions: Europe (Greece) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia). We launched a revolutionary sustainability vehicle, Endeavor Catalyst, and made initial co-investments in our entrepreneurs raising professional rounds of capital. And we've continued to expand services to entrepreneurs, even developing a tailored leadership program with Stanford's gsb that was attended by 60 Endeavor Entrepreneurs. In honor of our 15-year anniversary, we decided to look back at where we've been and ahead to where we're going. In the following pages you will find the Endeavor story. Enjoy. Linda Rottenberg Endeavor Global Co-founder & CEO