Endeavor (non-profit) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Endeavor is a non-profit organization that pioneered the concept of High-Impact Entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Its mission is to “lead the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best High-Impact Entrepreneurs around the world.”

Established in 1997, Endeavor is headquartered in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

with a satellite office in San Francisco. With offices in 15 countries, current operations include Endeavor Argentina, Endeavor Brazil, Endeavor Chile, Endeavor Colombia, Endeavor Egypt, Endeavor Jordan, Endeavor Indonesia, Endeavor Lebanon, Endeavor Mexico, Endeavor South Africa, Endeavor Turkey, and Endeavor Uruguay. The organization has announced plans to reach 20 emerging markets by 2015, including in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

.

Endeavor's model aims to identify and support those entrepreneurs with the greatest potential for impact. In 14 years, Endeavor has screened and provided feedback to 28,000+ candidates and selected 600+ High-Impact Entrepreneurs from 380+ companies. Supported and mentored by a network of 2,000+ local and global business leaders, these entrepreneurs have created over 150,000 high-value jobs and in 2010, generated $4.5 billion in revenues. Among other impact metrics, companies in the Endeavor portfolio average a 69.4% growth rate within the first two years of selection. Currently, Endeavor Entrepreneurs donate annually back to the organization, which eventually aims to be self-sustaining.

Endeavor's support is designed to catalyze a chain reaction in the larger economy—driving investment, creating role models, and fostering the conditions for the next Silicon Valley in Rio or Capetown, Cairo or Jakarta. Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman

Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.-Personal...

, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

winning columnist, stated in his book The World is Flat

The World Is Flat

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century is an international bestselling book by Thomas Friedman that analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors...

that "Endeavor was formed for the purpose of promoting entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Its basic model is to link up small and midsize businesses with seasoned entrepreneurs so that little guys and gals can get the advice and contacts they need to grow their companies into bigger businesses that can employ more people -- the best antipoverty program of all."

History of Endeavor

1997: Linda Rottenberg

Linda Rottenberg

Linda Rottenberg is CEO and Co-founder of Endeavor, an organization that pioneered the field of High-Impact Entrepreneurship. Endeavor’s mission is to “lead the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best High-Impact Entrepreneurs around...

and Peter Kellner establish Endeavor.

1998: The AVINA Foundation

AVINA Foundation

-Overview:It was founded in 1994 by Stephan Schmidheiny. Its Chairman is Brizio Biondi-Morra and its CEO is Sean McKaughan. It has offices in Buenos Aires in Argentina, Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Santiago in Chile, Bogota in Colombia, Cuenca in Ecuador, Asuncion...

provides $500,000 in seed capital and an Argentine business leader provides a $200,000 matching grant. Endeavor initiates offices in Argentina and Chile.

1999: Endeavor organizes its first venture forums, linking international investors with emerging-market entrepreneurs.

2000: Endeavor launches Endeavor Brazil and Uruguay.

2001: Endeavor holds its ninth selection panel, and selects its 100th entrepreneur. Endeavor launches Endeavor Mexico. Time Magazine recognizes Endeavor’s founders as among the “Top 100 Innovators for the 21st Century” in its November 5, 2001 issue.

2002: The Schwab Foundation

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides platforms at the country, regional and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.- History :...

and the World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....

endorse Endeavor as one of 40 leading examples of social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship is the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change . While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a...

from around the world.,

2003: The International Finance Corporation

International Finance Corporation

The International Finance Corporation promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States....

funds Endeavor scoping trips to Africa, and Endeavor decides to launch a South Africa affiliate.

2004: Edgar Bronfman Jr becomes Chairman of Endeavor’s Global Board of Directors.

2006: James Wolfensohn

James Wolfensohn

Sir James David Wolfensohn AO KBE FKC was the ninth president of the World Bank Group.-Early life:James Wolfensohn was born in Sydney, Australia, on 1 December 1933...

, former president of The World Bank, joins Endeavor’s Global Board of Directors. Endeavor opens operations in Colombia and Turkey.

2007: Endeavor celebrates its 10th anniversary. MercadoLibre is the first Endeavor company to go public on NASDAQ

NASDAQ

The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

. Thomas Friedman highlights Endeavor in the latest edition of his book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Version 3.0].

2008: Endeavor opens affiliates in Egypt, Jordan and India. Wenceslao Casares

Wenceslao Casares

Wences Casares is a technology entrepreneur, based in Palo Alto, California, with global business experience specializing in technology and financial ventures....

, one of the first Endeavor Entrepreneurs, joins the Global Board of Directors. Linda Rottenberg

Linda Rottenberg

co-chairs the World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum

on the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, held in Egypt. Endeavor receives a commitment of $10 million dollars from the Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network is a philanthrocapitalist investment firm established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $290 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual...

.

2009: Endeavor launches the Mentor Capital Program, Global 25 Program, Endeavor Jordan, and Endeavor's Center for High-Impact Entrepreneurship research arm. Endeavor opens its satellite office in San Francisco. Endeavor Brazil engages 5.3MM people in Global Entrepreneurship Week. Second HBS case study is published, focused on Endeavor in the MENA region. Andy Freire becomes the first Entrepreneur to serve as a country board chairman (Argentina).

2010: Endeavor launches in Egypt. Endeavor’s CEO, MENA board members, and several Endeavor Entrepreneurs participate in US Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship

Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship

In his "A New Beginning" speech on June 4, 2009, at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt, President of the United States Barack Obama announced that "I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in...

.

2011: Endeavor launches in Lebanon and Dubai (UAE).

Endeavor's Model

Endeavor's model includes five key components: Launch, Select, Support, Multiply, and Give Back.

Launch:

Endeavor launches in new countries with a “pull” model led by the local private sector. Endeavor engages local business leaders to form a Board of Directors that will spearhead a country launch. They provide financial, strategic and networking support, and their buy-in is necessary to greenlight Endeavor’s entry. In scoping new countries, Endeavor looks for strong macroeconomic conditions that enable entrepreneurship (e.g. stable economic growth, low corruption levels). While Endeavor operates in countries that possess structural barriers to entrepreneurship, the organization looks for indicators that with Endeavor's help, these barriers can be diminished (e.g., early stages of inbound foreign investment).

Select:

Endeavor aims to select a group of emerging-market entrepreneurs who have the potential to transform industries, communities, and countries. Endeavor screens thousands of entrepreneurs each year and selects those that it believes have "high-impact" potential. Through a rigorous, multi-step selection process (12–18 months), candidates pass a series of local and regional interviews before presenting to panelists from Endeavor's global business network at International Selection Panels held four to five times each year.

Support:

Once selected, entrepreneurs are provided with customized services from a volunteer network of 1,000+ global and local business leaders (“VentureCorps”) who serve as mentors, advisors, connectors, investors, and role models. These services take place on both the affiliate and global levels. Endeavor’s Entrepreneur Services focus on providing access to mentorship, networks, strategic advice, talent, skills, and inspiration.

Multiply:

In each country where Endeavor operates, Endeavor highlights its entrepreneurs as role models, with the aim of transforming social norms around entrepreneurship and inspiring future generations to innovate, take risks, and "think big" - the multiplier effect. Endeavor accomplishes this through thought leadership, competitive capital markets, inspiring innovation, influencing policymakers, and education.

Give back:

To support ongoing operations, Endeavor has established a formal Give-Back program that asks Endeavor Entrepreneurs to donate a portion of equity or incremental revenues to the organization in order to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. As community leaders and role models, Endeavor Entrepreneurs also mentor earlier-stage innovators, share their stories to inspire future generations, and spearhead socially responsible business initiatives and venture funds. Ultimately Endeavor aims to be self-sustaining through give-back and other market-driven revenues.

Endeavor Entrepreneurs: Examples

OfficeNet
Officenet
Staples Argentina is the subsidiary of the American office supply chain Staples in Argentina and Brazil, headquartered in Buenos Aires.Staples Argentina is the largest office supply company in Argentina and one of the top three in Brazil....

(Argentina) Entrepreneurs: Andy Freire and Santi Bilinkis

Endeavor’s very first entrepreneurs, Andy and Santi founded OfficeNet in 1997, attempting to create the “Staples of Latin America.” Among other services, Endeavor helped them to renegotiate their equity stake from 0% to 35%, assisted in developing a regional expansion model, and introduced them to Staples Founder Thomas G. Stemberg

Thomas G. Stemberg

Thomas G. Stemberg is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and executive, most notable for founding office supply retail chain Staples Inc. with Leo Kahn....

. Staples later bought Officenet, which had become the largest office supply business in Latin America creating hundreds of local jobs., Andy and Santi later become the Chair and Vice-Chair of Endeavor Argentina.

Growth since selection
Revenue	1,698%
Employees	606%

MercadoLibre.com (Argentina) Entrepreneurs: Marcos Galperin
Marcos Galperin
Marcos Galperin, born in 1971, is the CEO of MercadoLibre.comMarcos began the company while still in business school at Stanford University. Finance professor Jack McDonald had been helping Marcos to contact potential investors, and asked John Muse, an invited speaker and co-founder of the Hicks...

and Hernan Kazah

MercadoLibre.com

MercadoLibre.com

MercadoLibre.com or MercadoLivre in Portuguese is a website dedicated to e-commerce and online auctions. It is eBay's Latin American partner. MercadoLibre is Latin America's number-one e-commerce site...

began in 1999, the same year its founders Marcos and Hernan were chosen to be Endeavor Entrepreneurs. MercadoLibre, which is Latin America's number-one auction site, is known as the Ebay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

of Latin America with more than 30 million users. Endeavor provided key introductions to help MercadoLibre expand into 12 countries in Latin America, including Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, and assisted in negotiations when MercadoLibre sold a stake to eBay. In 2007, the company went public on the NASDAQ

NASDAQ

with a US$400 million IPO; as of March 2011, the company has a market cap exceeding US$3 billion.

Growth since selection
Revenue	17,310%
Employees	25,816%

Globant
Globant
Globant is an Argentine Software development and maintenance company. It was formed in 2003 by Martín Migoya, Guibert Englebienne, Martín Umaran and Néstor Nocetti, based on the growth of the IT outsourcing industry in India...

(Argentina) Entrepreneurs: Martín Migoya, Guibert Englebienne, Martín Umaran and Néstor Nocetti

Founded by four engineers from Buenos Aires shortly after the 2002 financial crisis in Argentina, Globant

Globant

Globant is an Argentine Software development and maintenance company. It was formed in 2003 by Martín Migoya, Guibert Englebienne, Martín Umaran and Néstor Nocetti, based on the growth of the IT outsourcing industry in India...

is one of Argentina’s leading IT outsourcing firms. Endeavor helped the entrepreneurs streamline their hiring strategy to hire over 2,000 Argentines, and raise significant financing from two US-based private equity funds. Globant’s clients include Google, Disney, and DreamWorks, and the company’s annual revenues exceed US$60 million.

Growth since selection
Revenue	884%
Employees	1,067%

Patagon (Argentina) Entrepreneurs: Wenceslao Casares
Wenceslao Casares
Wences Casares is a technology entrepreneur, based in Palo Alto, California, with global business experience specializing in technology and financial ventures....

Another example is Wences Casares who, as the son of a sheep farmer in rural Argentina, founded patagon.com, Latin America’s first online brokerage firm. Wences had been turned down by more than 30 local investors when Endeavor selected him. Endeavor helped Wences raise $4 million in equity financing. Two years later, he sold the business to Spain’s Banco Santander for $750 million. Wences, who became the subject of a Harvard Business School case study, is now an angel investor and sits on Endeavor’s Global Board.

Growth since selection
Revenue	27,000%
Employees	9,275%

‘’’Three Melons’’’ (Argentina) Entrepreneurs: ‘’’Patricio Jutard’’’ and ‘’’Mariano Suárez Battán’’’

Mariano and Patricio founded Three Melons in 2005 as an early video game company in Argentina. The launch of the company’s Indiana Jones LEGO game drew over 10 million users worldwide. Most of Three Melons’ games are web-based and generate revenue through in-game advertising

In-game advertising

In-game advertising refers to advertising in computer and video games. IGA differs from advergaming, which refers to a game specifically made to advertise a product.The IGA industry is large and growing...

and virtual goods. Over 800,000 people every day play Bola (videogame), the studio’s first social game, on Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

and Orkut

Orkut

Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The service is designed to help users meet new and old friends and maintain existing relationships...

.

In March 2010, Three Melons was acquired by Playdom

Playdom

Playdom is an online social network game developer popular on Facebook and on MySpace; it is currently the largest social game developer on MySpace and one of the larger ones on Facebook. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao...

, a fast-growing social gaming company in Silicon Valley. In July 2010, the Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

agreed to acquire Playdom for US$763 million.

Beleza Natural (Brazil) Entrepreneurs: Leila Velez, Rogério Assis, Jair Conde, and Heloísa Helena Assis

The daughter of a janitor and a maid, Leila grew up in a favela in Rio de Janeiro and, together with family members, came up with an in-store hair care experience centered around a hair relaxer product she created. After opening their first salon, women waited over four hours to have their hair treated. Endeavor connected the entrepreneurs with top business leaders in Brazil and helped them open six salons. The multi-million dollar franchise currently employs over 1,000 Brazilians.

Growth since selection
Revenue	918%
Employees	214%

Tecsis (Brazil) Entrepreneur: Bento Koike

The son of Japanese immigrants, Bento graduated from a Brazilian university with a degree in aeronautical engineering and an idea for producing cutting-edge wind blades for wind power turbines. In 1995, he launched Tecsis just outside São Paulo. The company now has 35% market share in the US wind energy

Wind energy

Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...

market, nearly 90% of its products are exported to the US and Europe; and clients include General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

, Siemens

Siemens

Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...

, and Petrobras

Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...

. Endeavor has supported Bento in numerous ways, including helping him negotiate a major deal with GE and launch new facilities.

Growth since selection
Revenue	1,717%
Employees	567%

LapDesk (South Africa) Entrepreneur: Shane Immelman

Shane spotted a problem: 80 million students in Africa lacked basic schooldesks. To fill the gap, he created LapDesk, which produces ergonomically designed portable desks made from plastic. The operation is funded by corporate sponsors which brand the desks with their logos and socially responsible messaging. LapDesk has delivered nearly 500,000 desks while making a profit, and has plans to be active in 60 countries within the next five years. In 2010, FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

appointed LapDesk as a fund partner, sponsoring 5,000 LapDesks and taking 7,000 LapDesk recipients to the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

games.

Growth since selection
Revenue	2,666%
Employees	775%

Yola (South Africa) Entrepreneur: Vinny Lingham
Vinny Lingham
Vinny Lingham is a South African Internet entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Yola, Inc. , a San Francisco-based Web 2.0 start-up that provides free website building, publishing and hosting services. He is also the co-founder of SiliconCape.com, an NGO based in South Africa that aims to turn...

A serial entrepreneur, Vinny founded Yola (webhost)

Yola (webhost)

Yola is a website builder and website hosting company headquartered in San Francisco. People without programming skills and a limited knowledge of HTML and graphic design can make web sites using Yola. Its drag and drop system allows users to incorporate widgets without knowing HTML. Yola also...

, a website builder

Website builder

Website builders are tools that allow the construction of websites without manual code editing. They fall into two categories: on-line proprietary tools provided by web hosting companies, typically intended for users to build their private site; and software which runs on a computer, creating pages...

and website hosting company now headquartered in San Francisco. The company allows people without programming skills and a limited knowledge of HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

and graphic design

Graphic design

Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...

to create web-sites using a drag-and-drop system. Yola, which has received numerous industry and media awards, now serves over three million customers. In 2009, the company received $20 million in Series B financing. In December 2010, Yola signed for distribution with Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

to pre-install Yola on all HP computers—approximately 60 million per year. Recently, Yola also signed a major deal with AOL

AOL

AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

.

AirTies (Turkey) Entrepreneur: Bülent Çelebi

Bülent founded AirTies in 2004 after a 20-year career in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

, and the company was selected by Endeavor in 2006. AirTies provides wireless solutions for the residential and small business market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Endeavor helped Celebi secure $3.1M from four angel investors and has connected Celebi to business leaders in Egypt and Greece. In early 2011, AirTies announced acquired a multi-million dollar investment to further expand operations.

Growth since selection
Revenue	466%
Employees	473%

Endeavor Events

Endeavor Global holds an annual gala fundraiser event in New York City. This Gala attracts nearly 500 top international business leaders and decision makers. In 2007, Endeavor honored Blackstone Group

Blackstone Group

The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...

Chairman & CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Stephen Allen Schwarzman is an American businessman and investor and the chairman and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, the private-equity and financial advisory firm.-Early life and education:...

and the founders of Skype

Skype

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...

and Joost

Joost

Joost is an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis . During 2007-8 Joost used peer-to-peer TV technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in late 2008 this was migrated to use a Flash-based Web player instead.Joost began development in 2006...

, Niklas Zennstrom

Niklas Zennström

Niklas Zennström is an entrepreneur best known for founding several high-profile online ventures with Janus Friis including Skype and Kazaa. More recently he founded the investment group Atomico and has become a significant figurehead for entrepreneurs in the tech sector.-Career:Zennström started...

& Janus Friis

Janus Friis

Janus Friis is a Danish entrepreneur best known for co-founding the file-sharing application KaZaA, and the peer-to-peer telephony application Skype. In September 2005, he and his partner Niklas Zennström sold Skype to eBay for $2.6B...

. In 2008, Endeavor honored media mogul Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....

. The 2009 Gala honored Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Providence Equity Partners

Providence Equity Partners

Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...

, and in 2010, Endeavor honored the founding team of Gilt Groupe

Gilt Groupe

Gilt Groupe is a shopping website based in the United states, offering its members merchandise, clothing, home decor, delicatessen food, travel and activities. Gilt Groupe was founded in 2007 and has 3.5 million members...

-- Kevin P. Ryan

Kevin P. Ryan

Kevin P. Ryan is an Internet executive and entrepreneur in New York City's Silicon Alley. He serves as the Founder and CEO of Gilt Groupe and prior to November 2010, he was the company's Executive Chairman....

, Michael Bryzek, Susan Lyne, Alexis Maybank, and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. This gala featured a musical performance by Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars

Peter Gene Hernandez , better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an Filipino-American singer-songwriter and record producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age...

.

Endeavor also holds a biennial summit. The theme of the May 2009 Summit, which was held at the Fontainebleau Hotel

Fontainebleau Hotel

The Fontainebleau Miami Beach or the Fontainebleau Hotel is one of the most historically and architecturally significant hotels on Miami Beach. Opened in 1954 and designed by Morris Lapidus, it was considered the most luxurious hotel on Miami Beach, and is thought to be the most significant...

on Miami Beach, was "Opportunity in a Time of Crisis" and addressed issues, challenges and opportunities facing emerging market entrepreneurs during the current global financial crisis. Speakers and panelists at the summit included Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman

Reid G. Hoffman is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Hoffman is best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn, a social network used primarily for business connections and job searching.-Early education and career:...

, Founder of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...

, Robert Rubin

Robert Rubin

Robert Edward Rubin served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during both the first and second Clinton administrations. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs eventually serving as a member of the Board, and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992...

, former Treasury Secretary to President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, Chris Hughes Co-Founder of Facebook

Facebook

, Alberto Sicupira, InBev

InBev

InBev is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company existed independently for several years - since the merger between Interbrew and AmBev and until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. InBev has operations in over 30 countries and sales in over 130 countries...

board member, Fadi Ghandour

Fadi Ghandour

Fadi Ali Ghandour is a Jordanian entrepreneur mostly known for being the founder and CEO of Aramex, one of the global logistics and transportation providers. Ghandour co-founded Aramex in 1982 in Amman, Jordan and has served as CEO since then. Aramex was the first company from the Arab world to go...

, Aramex

Aramex

Aramex is a global transportation and logistics services company providing a variety of express, logistics, freight forwarding and domestic distribution services. The company was established in 1982 and is headquartered in Amman, Jordan...

CEO, Diego Piacentini, Amazon

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

Vice President, Matt Bannick, Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network

Managing Director, Luis Alberto Moreno

Luis Alberto Moreno

Luis Alberto Moreno Mejía is the 4th and current President of the Inter-American Development Bank.-Life:Luis Alberto Moreno was elected president of the Inter-American Development Bank during a special meeting of the Bank's Board of Governors at IDB headquarters in Washington, D.C...

, President of Inter-American Development Bank

Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean...

and Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick

Made to Stick

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is a book by brothers Chip and Dan Heath published by Random House in 2007. The book continues the idea of "stickiness" popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point, seeking to explain what makes an idea or concept memorable or interesting...

.

The 2011 Summit will take place at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco in June. The theme of the summit is "Innovation has no boundaries. Ideas have no borders." Speakers will include Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman

, CEO of LinkedIn

, and Josh Silverman, former CEO of Skype

Skype

and Evite

Evite

Evite is a social-planning website for creating, sending, and managing online invitations.Evite was launched in 1998. The website is a free, advertisement-supported service. It was acquired by conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp in 2001. Liberty Media acquired it in 2010.- Usage :An event organizer...

.

As part of its services to entrepreneurs, Endeavor also hosts a range of immersion tours. In October 2010, Endeavor hosted a tour of Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley

for 42 of its entrepreneurs. This tour included visits to some of the region's leading innovators: Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

, Facebook

Facebook

, and eBay

EBay

Endeavor Global Board

Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
Edgar Miles Bronfman, Jr. , is the Chairman of Warner Music Group. He previously served as CEO of the company from 2004 to 2011. In May, 2011, the sale of WMG was announced; Bronfman would continued as CEO in the transaction. In August 2011, he became Chairman of the company as Stephen Cooper...

(Chairman),
Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

, Chairman & CEO

Michael Ahearn,
First Solar

First Solar

First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of thin film photovoltaic modules, or solar panels, and a provider to PV power plants of supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling...

, Chairman

Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Emilio Fernando Azcárraga Jean or Emilio Azcarraga III, is a Mexican businessman and the son of Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and his third wife, Nadine Jean a French citizen....

,
Televisa

Televisa

Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...

, Executive Director & Chairman of the Board

Matthew Bannick, Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network

, Managing Partner;
eBay

EBay

, Former President

Nicholas F. Beim,
Matrix Partners

Matrix Partners

Matrix Partners is a US based private equity investment firm focusing on venture capital investments. The firm invests in seed and early stage companies in the United States and India, particularly in the software, communications, semiconductors, data storage, Internet or wireless sectors.The firm...

, General Partner

Matthew Brown, CAISfunds, Managing Principal

Wenceslao Casares
Wenceslao Casares
Wences Casares is a technology entrepreneur, based in Palo Alto, California, with global business experience specializing in technology and financial ventures....

,
Bling Nation, Co-CEO;
Endeavor Entrepreneur

Paul J. Fribourg,
ContiGroup Companies

ContiGroup Companies

Formed in 1813, ContiGroup Companies, Inc was originally founded by Simon Fribourg in Arlon, Belgium, as a grain-trading firm. Formerly known as Continental Grain, ContiGroup has expanded into a multinational corporation with offices and facilities in 10 countries while employing more than 13,500...

, Inc., Chairman & CEO

Jason Green,
Emergence Capital Partners, General Partner

Reid Hoffman
Reid Hoffman
Reid G. Hoffman is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Hoffman is best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn, a social network used primarily for business connections and job searching.-Early education and career:...

,
LinkedIn

, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman

Peter B. Kellner,
Uhuru Management, Managing Partner;
Endeavor, Co-founder

William McGlashan,
TPG Capital, Managing Director

Arif Naqvi
Arif Naqvi
Arif Naqvi is the CEO of Dubai-based investment bank Abraaj Capital, the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Northern Africa. He has spent 27 years in the banking, finance and investments industry....

,
Abraaj Capital

Abraaj Capital

Abraaj Capital is among the world's 50-biggest private equity groups, and invests in the growing Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region, a region also known as MENASA. Abraaj manages about $6.6 billion of funds and stakes in about two dozen companies, including some of the best known in...

, Founder and CEO

Joanna Rees
Joanna Rees
Joanna Rees is a venture capitalist at VSP Capital in San Francisco, California.In addition to her role as the managing director at VSP, Rees filed campaign papers announcing her intent to run for Mayor of San Francisco in the November 2011 election.-Early life:Rees was born in Montclair, New...

,
VSP Capital, Managing Partner,

Linda Rottenberg
Linda Rottenberg
Linda Rottenberg is CEO and Co-founder of Endeavor, an organization that pioneered the field of High-Impact Entrepreneurship. Endeavor’s mission is to “lead the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best High-Impact Entrepreneurs around...

,
Endeavor, Co-founder & CEO

Charles B. Seelig, Jr.,
Dune Capital Management LP, Managing Director

Brian Swette,
Burger King

Burger King

Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...

, non-executive Chairman;
eBay

EBay

, Former COO

James Wolfensohn
James Wolfensohn
Sir James David Wolfensohn AO KBE FKC was the ninth president of the World Bank Group.-Early life:James Wolfensohn was born in Sydney, Australia, on 1 December 1933...

(emeritus),
World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

, Former President;
Wolfensohn & Co, Chairman

Endeavor Country Chairmen

Eduardo Elsztain
Eduardo Elsztain
Eduardo Elsztain is a prominent Argentine businessman.-Career:Eduardo Sergio Elsztain was born in Buenos Aires in 1960. His grandfather, Isaac Elsztain, had founded Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. in 1943 as an independent realty...

(Argentina), IRSA Inversiones & Representaciones S.A., Chairman

Carlos Alberto Sicupira (Brazil), InBev

InBev

, Board Member

Sven von Appen (Chile), Ultragas Ltda., President

Andres Echavarria (Colombia), Organizacion Corona

Organizacion Corona

Organizacion Corona was founded in 1881, making it one of the oldest business entities in Colombia. It is one of the largest conglomerate based in the South American country. The company manufactures ceramics for the home improvement market and is divided into six business units...

, Board Member

Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Onsi Sawiris is an Egyptian businessman and politician. He was executive chairman of the telecommunications companies Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding before turning to politics in May 2011...

(Egypt), Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., Chairman & CEO

Shobhana Bhartia
Shobhana Bhartia
Shobhana Bhartia is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times group, one of India's leading newspaper and media houses. She has also recently taken charge as the Pro Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani....

(India), Hindustan Times, Chairperson

Ali Al-Husry (Jordan), Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Director; Capital Bank, Former Chairman & CEO

Elias Cababie (Mexico), GICSA, Chairman

Adrian Gore
Adrian Gore
Adrian Gore is a leading South African businessman. He is the CEO of Discovery Holdings Ltd. and Chairman of both in the USA and Prudential Health Limited in the UK....

(South Africa), Discovery Holdings, Founder & CEO

Ozcan Tahincioglu (Turkey), Tahincioglu Holding, Chairman

Gabriel Rozman (Uruguay), Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services Limited is a global IT services, business solutions and outsourcing company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology in Asia and second largest provider of business process outsourcing services in India...

, Executive Vice-President of Emerging Markets

Select Members of Endeavor's Global Network

Jorge Paulo Lemann
Jorge Paulo Lemann
Jorge Paulo Lemann is the third wealthiest individual in Brazil. He is ranked as the 55th richest person in the world by Forbes, with an estimated net worth of as of September 2011.-Biography:...

, AB-Inbev, Board Member

Khaled Bichara
Khaled Bichara
Khaled Bichara is the current Group President and Chief Operating Officer of VimpelCom Ltd., as well as Group Executive Chairman of Orascom Telecom Holding....

, Orascom Telecom Holding

Orascom Telecom Holding

Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in the Middle East, Africa, Canada and Asia. It started its operations in Egypt by launching the first egyptian mobile operator in 1998, ....

, CEO

Fadi Ghandour
Fadi Ghandour
Fadi Ali Ghandour is a Jordanian entrepreneur mostly known for being the founder and CEO of Aramex, one of the global logistics and transportation providers. Ghandour co-founded Aramex in 1982 in Amman, Jordan and has served as CEO since then. Aramex was the first company from the Arab world to go...

, Aramex

Aramex

, CEO

Alejandro Santo Domingo
Alejandro Santo Domingo
Alejandro Santo Domingo is a Colombian-American financier. He is the son of Julio Mario Santo Domingo and Beatriz Dávila, and the half-brother of Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Jr.- Education :...

, Bavaria Brewery (Colombia), Chairman of the Board

Guillermo Romo
Guillermo Romo
Guillermo Romo is the President & CEO at Grupo Mega, one of Mexico’s leading businesses offering financial solutions for business sectors. Romo is also the former owner of Grupo Industrial Herradura, S.A. de C.V. which he sold to Brown-Forman Corp., the maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey for $876...

, Grupo Mega, President and CEO

Lorenzo Zambrano
Lorenzo Zambrano
Lorenzo Hormisdas Zambrano Treviño is the Chairman and CEO of Cemex, one of the largest global building-materials companies in the world. CEMEX's stock is traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange and listed on the New York Stock Exchange .Zambrano was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico...

, CEMEX

Cemex

CEMEX is the world's largest building materials supplier and third largest cement producer. Founded in Mexico in 1906, the company is based in Monterrey, Mexico...

, CEO

Hlumelo Biko
Hlumelo Biko
Hlumelo Biko is a South African businessman and investment banker. He is the son of Steve Biko and Mamphela Ramphele. Ramphele was five months pregnant with him when she learned Biko had been killed in police custody. She named him Hlumelo because it means "the shoot growing from a dead tree trunk"...

, Circle Capital, CEO

Ali Yıldırım Koç
Ali Yildirim Koç
Yıldırım Ali Koç is the youngest son of Rahmi Koç. After finishing the high school at Harrow School , London, he received his B.A. in Managerial Studies from Rice University , Houston, Texas, followed by his Master's degree from Harvard University...

, Koç Holding Corp., Chief Executive of Information Technologies

Suzan Sabancı Dinçer, Akbank

Akbank

Akbank is Turkey-based bank and was founded in Adana, Turkey on January 1948, originally to provide financing for the cotton producers in the Çukurova region. Growing and developing over time, the Bank opened its first branch in Istanbul in the district of Sirkeci on July 14, 1950, moving its...

, Chairman and Executive Board Member

External links

Endeavor website
Endeavor on Twitter
Linda Rottenberg on Twitter
Endeavor on Facebook
Endeavor on YouTube
The Not-for-Profit Capitalist Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2010
Fiscal Chaos Aside, Start-Ups Bloom in Argentina New York Times, December 25, 2008
America's Best Leaders: Linda Rottenberg, Entrepreneur US News & World Report, November 19, 2008
Linda Rottenberg on entrepreneurs (podcast) The Economist, 2008
Profile of Endeavor Entrepreneur Bulent Celebi Inc. Magazine, April 1, 2007
Boosting Emerging-Market Entrepreneurs BusinessWeek, May 23, 2007
45 Social Entrepreneurs Who are Changing the World Fast Company
Small Business: Better Than Charity Time Magazine, December 11, 2005

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