Endeavor Entrepreneurs go through a careful selection process, which begins at the local level and culminates with an International Selection Panel (ISP), which is held either virtually or in person.

• To qualify for an ISP, entrepreneurs must demonstrate that their company has reached a clear inflection point and shows real potential for regional or global scale and influence. We aim to work with entrepreneurs that have the potential to grow 10x from where they are today. Historically, fewer than 5% of candidates who enter the initial selection process move on to an ISP.
• At the ISP, a candidate must receive ​unanimous ​approval from the expert panel to be selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur. On average, 70% of the entrepreneurs who reach the ISP stage are selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

Today, there are many organizations entrepreneurs may turn to for support depending on the stage of their company’s growth or the challenges they look to solve. Our community members can be affiliated with these organizations and Endeavor, and indeed many are. Endeavor is different from, and complements, other ecosystem initiatives in the following ways:

We focus on scale-ups, not startups

• Scale-ups are companies with clear product-market fit that have entered a critical phase of growth. Endeavor supports entrepreneurs who have reached a clear inflection point and are poised for increasing scale and influence. We typically begin working with entrepreneurs as they surpass $2.5M-5M in ARR and see the potential to grow 10x from where they are today.

We support high-impact entrepreneurs

• Endeavor defines high-impact entrepreneurs as those with the biggest ideas, the greatest potential to achieve meaningful scale, and who are motivated to generate a multiplier effect by paying it forward and paving the way for future generations of founders.
• We believe in the power of high-impact entrepreneurs to solve major problems in the world at scale but our criteria for selection does not focus on social impact.

We are not an accelerator, incubator, or program

• We are a community with no fixed application deadline or graduation date.
• We select entrepreneurs and not companies. As part of the process of selection, we get to know you and your company but your fit as an individual entrepreneur is even more important than that of your business.
• Once selected, we operate in a demand-driven manner and flexibly offer a range of different and highly-curated services, opportunities, and experiences that respond to your needs as an entrepreneur.

Endeavor Catalyst is not just another VC fund

• We have a rules-based investment fund, Endeavor Catalyst, that invests in Endeavor Entrepreneur-operated companies based on a set of basic rules. The ethos of the fund is to be entrepreneur-first in execution and in values alignment (i.e., Endeavor’s stake in a company should be thought of similarly to the founders’ stake with the exception that the proceeds from Endeavor’s investment is returned to our non-profit organization to facilitate its sustainability).
• Our position on the capitalization tables of hundreds of Endeavor Entrepreneur companies worldwide and our co-investment with many of the world’s leading VC funds makes us a knowledgeable and well-connected partner to  turn to for advice on fundraising and investors.

We are a community of, by, and for entrepreneurs

• Endeavor Entrepreneurs go on to sit on Endeavor boards, serve as international selection panelists, and invest in Endeavor Catalyst as LPs. Our entrepreneurs guide and adapt our model according to the needs of the next generation of entrepreneurs.

We are a global community

• Our community’s identity is rooted in the concept of #OneEndeavor: We — staff, entrepreneurs, board members, mentors — are borderless, multidimensional, and unified by our commitment to help one another find opportunities wherever we live.
• Over 500 Endeavor staff in our local offices and our global headquarters in New York, San Francisco, and Singapore operate as a unified organization with a shared mission, values, and model.

We measure success on multiple dimensions. For the companies Endeavor Entrepreneurs operate this includes we annual revenue, job creation, and growth rates. Just as important is the measurement of our entrepeneurs’ willingness to “pay it forward” by becoming mentors, investors, financial contributors to our offices, and even Endeavor board members. Today, hundreds of Endeavor Entrepreneurs serve as mentors in our network, and many also serve as Board Members or LPs in Endeavor Catalyst.

In 12 of our global markets the very first unicorn (billion-dollar startup) was founded by an Endeavor Entrepreneur; in 14 of our markets, two thirds of the earliest unicorn cohort is composed of Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Our entrepreneurs are serving as aspirational role models and mentors for the next generation of founders as well as investing in the future scale-ups that will, in turn, produce jobs and innovation in their markets. In 2024, there were over 70 $1B+ valuation companies currently operated or founded by Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

The 500+ staff in the Endeavor network operate as a unified organization with the same mission. The Endeavor network welcomes opportunities to work with one another across borders, and dedicates itself to facilitating valuable connections among our network. Once an Endeavor Entrepreneur is selected, they gain access to a dedicated and vibrant global network of peer and expert support that transcends borders, helping them reach scale, and multiplying their impact in their local ecosystems and beyond. Many of our former employees have gone onto work for Endeavor Entrepreneurs or become venture capitalists in their markets, furthering the Endeavor mission even beyond their full-time tours of duty.