<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105036530465709300-search,00.html?collection=wsjie/30day&vql_string=endeavor(article-body)”>WSJ writes about Endeavor, a non-profit organisation which is “using an approach that’s part venture capitalist, part social butterfly.”
Studies have shown that entrepreneurial firms are responsible for the vast majority of new jobs in countries that provide a hospitable climate for start-ups. They also account for most business innovations and inventions. The lack of an entrepreneurial culture is often cited as one of the reasons Latin America’s economic growth has lagged behind that of many developing countries in Asia.
Ms. Rottenberg, a 34-year-old Yale Law School graduate, and Mr. Kellner, 33, one of the early foreign investors in Russia’s oil industry, figured they could help change that by cultivating promising local Latin entrepreneurs to serve as role models. They plug them into an impressive network of business contacts in the region who have agreed to support local Endeavor franchises in their countries. Local board members, ranging from Eduardo Elsztain, Argentina’s biggest real-estate investor, to Emilio Azcarraga, head of Mexico’s Televisa SA media conglomerate, to Pedro Aspe, Mexico’s former finance minister, not only donate money to keep Endeavor staffed up, but also can open the door to business opportunities and capital for chosen entrepreneurs.
