5
As a young VC, I spent time in Eastern Europe with
entrepreneurs and realized how many additional
barriers they had to be successful. When I met Linda
and Peter, they were so passionate about helping
entrepreneurs globally I knew I had to get involved.
Before I knew what happened, I had committed
to joining the board of Endeavor. I told Linda I'd
commit for one year … I'm going on my 20th year of
service to the organization.
In late May 1997, Linda, Peter, Gary Mueller and I
sat in Peter's kitchen in Manhattan at Endeavor's very
first board meeting, eating takeout Chinese food and
brainstorming on the back of a napkin until the wee
hours how some young, unproven Americans might
put a dent in the universe of global entrepreneurship.
We settled on a founding mission and envisioned
breakthrough results to operate in eight to ten
countries and select 100 entrepreneurs that we could
identify and help to become role models of success.
Like most great journeys in life, we overestimated
what we could accomplish in a year or two, but vastly
underestimated what we accomplished in a decade
or two.
W H E R E
W E
C A M E
F R O M …
Twenty years ago,
Co-founders Linda
Rottenberg and Peter
Kellner, and founding
board members Jason
Green and Gary Mueller,
sat around a kitchen table
and laid the framework for
Endeavor on the back of a
napkin. Here, Jason Green
reflects on that moment
and the journey forward.
C O N T I N U E D
O N N E X T PA G E
