Behind Endeavor’s Expansion: How We Grew to 45 Countries

Endeavor has always focused on building a community of, by, and for high-impact entrepreneurs. Though back in the early days of the organization, that community was centered entirely on Latin America. Like many startup founders, Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor’s co-founder and CEO, had to wear multiple hats -— including launching our foundational offices in Argentina and Chile in 1998, Brazil and Uruguay in 2000, and then Mexico in 2002. 

There were early hints. A few years after our first offices opened, the team started hearing from entrepreneurs operating in Turkey, South Africa, and Egypt. They had noticed the growth of our trust-based community across Latin America, and the budding success of our entrepreneurs. They asked to bring Endeavor to their countries. 

Our team responded, and Endeavor added South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan in the mid-2000s. This early expansion across continents confirmed that Endeavor’s model could work outside of Latin America. As our community became more global, our value to the entrepreneurs grew.

I first met Linda while living in Mumbai in 2009. I was instantly hooked. Her energy and vision to build a truly global community was contagious.

Linda shared the aspiration from Endeavor’s Chairman, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., to go from “charming” to “important”, and to expand into 25 countries by 2015. Linda detailed more on this story in a 2017 Forbes article.

By the time that article was published, we had done it, adding countries as varied as Greece, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. And we’ve kept on growing. We’re now in 45 countries.

How have we managed to accelerate our growth while maintaining an on-the-ground presence that allows for a deep understanding of the local market? How do we set the strategy and determine the next high-potential country? And how does the process work once we decide to “greenlight” a launch? Here’s an inside look into Endeavor’s expansion.  

Phase 1: Identify “hot spots” of accelerating entrepreneur activity

How do we know if Endeavor’s model will take root in a new country? Data provides us with a baseline. We track macroeconomic, demographic, entrepreneur, and innovation indicators for each prospective country. For example, How much venture capital is available? Is it growing? And from what source? (E.g. successful founders turned local VC weights higher for us than a government infusion of capital).

For example, Lebanon’s pool of entrepreneurs appeared too small. Saudi Arabia was very hard to access. Pakistan had limited entrepreneurial activity. Ireland already had established unicorns. And most recently, Ukraine is a country at war.

Yet when I started receiving calls from founders from Lebanon’s diaspora, the opportunity grew. After a few trips to Riyadh and Jeddah, it was clear changes were in motion to open Saudi Arabia and increase entrepreneurial activity. In Karachi and Lahore, Pakistanis were returning from abroad to launch and invest in startups. In Ireland, a growing group of globally oriented founders needed support from worldwide peers. And despite the odds, Ukraine’s tech sector continues to thrive with new venture capital funds raising hundreds of millions to invest in Ukrainian founders.    

I’m grateful that, with each country, the initial champions were there to help us delve deeper. Often driving us to be bold and take risks. 

When I joined Endeavor, I was given the Middle East as my first region of focus. The catalyst for Endeavor’s growth in the MENA was Fadi Ghandour, a role model and investor. Fadi founded Aramex, the leading logistics company in MENA, now publicly listed in Dubai. With Fadi’s guidance and connections, we launched Endeavor in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco, and Tunisia. His partnership was invaluable. If leaders were slow to commit, Fadi would spur them into action by committing himself first.

As Fadi’s influence grew in the region, so did Endeavor’s footprint.

One of Fadi’s investments was in ride-sharing platform Careem, whose three co-founders became Endeavor Entrepreneurs through the UAE office in 2018. One of these founders was Pakistani-born Mudassir Sheikha. Careem went on to be acquired by Uber for $3.1B, and Mudassir became an advocate for Endeavor to launch in Pakistan. 

Pakistan had been on our long-term radar, but it was Mudassir’s conviction that it was the right time for Endeavor to come to his home country that led us to launch there in 2022. Mudassir became chairman of the Endeavor Pakistan board, helping me recruit equally strong leaders around him. He also introduced us to Pakistan’s first Endeavor Entrepreneurs, who were building a company called Bazaar, a B2B marketplace that has now raised over $100M in venture capital.

During Careem’s 10th anniversary celebration, Fadi Ghandour met Careem’s co-founders — Mudassir Sheikha, and Magnus Olsson — along with Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda of Bazaar Technologies to reflect on their journeys and the impact of their businesses across the region.

Phase 2: Build the Founding Board of Directors 

The conviction of aspirational entrepreneurs is so important because in the next phase of opening a new country we build a founding board of directors. The influential entrepreneurs and investors pulling us into a country form the nucleus of this board. We build a diverse group of leaders that represent the country’s entrepreneurial ambition. Endeavor’s founding boards are usually composed of 8-10 individuals, and often include the country’s iconic founders, prominent venture capital investors and CEOs. 

In Ireland, that included U2’s lead guitarist Edge alongside top venture investor Elaine Coughlan and Ding’s talented founder Mark Roden. In Lebanon, Azmi Mikati, CEO at M1 Group, and global investor Sami Khouri anchored the board. Founding Chairman Jorge Paulo Lemann, with AB InBev, paved the way in Brazil. The Ciputra family supported our start in Indonesia, and prominent investor Bolaji Balogun with Chapel Hill Denham did so in Nigeria. Each country had its founding leaders, and we’re grateful for their early belief in Endeavor. 

Now, with 2,600 Endeavor Entrepreneurs, we can increasingly look to them to join the board. If possible, Endeavor Entrepreneurs join the board from the outset. Other times, they take up the reins from the initial founding board over time. Currently, 87 Endeavor Entrepreneurs (and counting) sit on Endeavor boards around the world; including Chari co-founder Sophia Alj in Morocco, Twiga Foods co-founder Peter Njonjo in Kenya, and Globant co-founder Martin Migoya in Argentina. 

The founding board serves as ambassadors for Endeavor in their country, helping to select and support the entrepreneurs, financially contributing to cover the operational costs, and investing in Endeavor’s co-investment fund, Endeavor Catalyst, ensuring a sustainable future for the office.

Phase 3: Hire the Managing Director and team

Along with the board of directors, we also recruit a high-caliber local team. Hiring talented locals who deeply understand the entrepreneurial landscape in the countries where we operate helps us to select the most promising entrepreneurs and build a strong reputation early on. 

The team is led by a Managing Director (MD). These individuals are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, but all share the spirit of being globally-minded and locally-focused. Endeavor MDs set the tone for each new office. They form a powerful global fellowship with the common belief that entrepreneurs can change the world for the better. 

MDs support each other and the Endeavor Entrepreneurs with cross-border connections. Endeavor Global provides the extended team to support all our country-teams with knowledge sharing, guidance, and the tools needed to succeed.  

The feeling of connection is energizing for the worldwide teams, and beneficial for our entrepreneurs who experience a blend of local, regional, and global support. 

Phase 4: Build the pipeline of the country’s first high-potential founders 

Once the board and team are in place it’s time to move on to what lies at the heart of Endeavor — High-Impact Entrepreneurs. We identify the first founders with growth potential, and invite them to participate in our selection process.

Our focus is on the founder(s) and their ability (and ambition) to solve real problems at scale. As we tell new country teams, focus on finding and selecting a few exceptional founders. It’s not about the quantity of entrepreneurs selected. It pays off over time as the first Endeavor Entrepreneurs draw in others of similar quality.

To source them, we do look at the founders generating excitement and raising venture capital. But to be successful we have to also dig deeper. It’s often through our board and teams’ local knowledge that we find founder-led companies on the brink of explosive growth. Endeavor is purpose-built to take the early risk —- to support entrepreneurs in emerging and underserved markets who face significant challenges and often difficult business environments. 

The ultimate goal is to find entrepreneurs that will not only become success stories, but importantly Multipliers — Endeavor’s term for how a single founder can have a significant impact on generations of companies, by virtue of mentoring and investing in other founders and inspiring their employees to start their own scaleup companies.  

In fact, in 15 of our countries, the first tech company to be valued at over $1B was founded by an Endeavor Entrepreneur. This remarkable list includes Mercado Libre (selected by Endeavor Argentina), Kavak (selected by Endeavor Mexico), Tamara (selected by Endeavor Saudi Arabia) and Peak Games (selected by Endeavor Turkey).  

Phase 5: Set the flywheel in motion

No better moment exists than when a new office is officially up and running. Even with a capable local team in place and the first Endeavor Entrepreneurs selected, I know the job’s not done. Creativity and focus will continue to be required in the coming years. But when we look at our countries a decade or more in, where Endeavor’s visible impact continues to compound, it makes these early hurdles all the easier to jump over. 

The Endeavor Multiplier Effect™ is the compound, exponential impact a founder has on the entire entrepreneurial economy of a region when they mentor, invest in, and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. We think of this as an entrepreneur’s “bubble of influence.” And we know we’re on the right track in a new office when the entrepreneurs we’ve selected begin to leverage their success to attract entrepreneurs coming up behind them to the network and help them succeed at scale. The bigger these bubbles of influence grow, the greater we view our sustained success in a market. 

Endeavor hasn’t grown to almost all continents for greater reach alone. Our expansion has been driven by a core belief that connecting talented local founders with a global community of peers and mentors unlocks entrepreneurship and innovation in unexpected places that need it the most.

And with many of our Endeavor countries now leading the growth of entrepreneur ecosystems in their respective regions, I’m confident that more countries will soon light up Endeavor’s map.