CAIRO: Endeavor’s first international selection panel chose three Egyptian companies best positioned to benefit from the mentorship and network access offered by the NGO, which supports entrepreneurs.
The beneficiaries include restaurateur Omar Fathy’s Divine Worx; catering company El Matbakh, run by Tarek Khaddaj and Heba Jammal; and videogame designers Timeline Interactive, represented by CEO Ahmed Metwally and co-founder Mostafa Hafez.
The panel hosted an international board and welcomed entrepreneurs from Egypt, Turkey, Mexico and Jordan to evaluate their compatibility with Endeavor.
Low-cost housing constructor MIA and architectural design firm Tatiana Bilboa from Mexico, online recruitment site Akhtaboot from Jordan, and GPS vehicle tracking company Arvento from Turkey were also selected to join the Endeavor networks in their countries.
Initially launched in South America in 1998, Endeavor offers mentorship, network connections and access to potential investors to successful entrepreneurs in 11 countries. Endeavor Global’s New York headquarters help coordinate annual ISP’s and introduce Endeavor offices in new countries.
Elmira Bayrasli, VP, policy and outreach coordinator for Endeavor Global, explained, “One of the reasons Endeavor works so well is that we don’t apply a cookie-cutter model, we have a framework that is driven by finding local business leaders and local networks that will then define how their own framework is built. It’s really up to them to drive it forward in the vision they feel is best suited to that country.
She explained that while working for USAID in Bosnia, she felt dissatisfied with traditional flows of aid money. “I was uncomfortable telling Bosnians that they didn’t know how to do something, because they do know. But when coming from an international aid point of view, your job is to say, ‘This is how were going to do it,’ though that’s not often the best solution.
“What’s happening with the US government under the Obama administration is a paradigm shift, she went on, pointing out that Obama will soon host an entrepreneurship summit for Muslim majority countries in Washington DC.
“Groups like Endeavor support ideas that are already working in that country, rather than descending upon a country with an external agenda, she finished.
Ahmed Ezzat, managing director of Endeavor Egypt, highlighted aspects of Egypt’s entrepreneurial landscape, such as bankruptcy resulting in a loss of civil rights.
“Commercial law has not been invoked for a long time, they use the traditional civil and criminal law to resolve conflicts; it’s slower and has more severe punishments. Endeavor, along with many NGO’s concerned with business, are working on changing this legislation.
However, he reaffirmed that when selecting Endeavor entrepreneurs, the international standards are strictly adhered to.
“You can never make predictions, he laughed. “[The process is] very objective, no one can influence anyone [on the panels]. Every entrepreneur is judged on his own merits.
One of Endeavor’s primary goals is to take a small and medium businesses “to scale , or to help it reach the next level in terms of profit, employees and profile.
Endeavor chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group Edgar Bronfman Jr., said, “We’re extremely interested in facilitating the creation of jobs in the private sector. I’ve always believed that the more people that have jobs, the greater the opportunities for peace and the fewer opportunities for anger and frustration. This is true everywhere, but especially important in the Middle East. We hope that Egypt and Jordan will be the first of many [regional Endeavor networks].
He also spoke to the challenge of applying Endeavor’s formula in disparate international contexts; “The model that Endeavor created is consistent, but the local board is responsible in that country for implementing it. It will be up to Endeavor Egypt’s board to decide how to take our formula and adapt it to the Egyptian market.
Asked about where Endeavor plans to expand, Bronfman answered, “Some countries are more ripe for Endeavor than others. We go into a market once it has transitioned from international aid to international investment.
When asked how Egypt compares to other contexts in which Endeavor operates, he replied simply, “I can only say that I’m thrilled that Naguib [Sawiris] is on the board, he is one of the key guys here.
Endeavor Egypt’s board features other key members of the private sector, including Khaled Bichara, group CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding; Hythem El-Nazer of Boston-based private equity firm TA associates; Hassan Abdullah, vice president of Arab African International Bank; and Tarek Mansour, country senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mansour complained, “The whole idea of promoting entrepreneurship is lacking in Egypt, whether from the private sector or the public sector, even educational institutions, the whole system does not promote it and support it.
“Egyptian culture is not conducive to risk taking. [We are] really trying to work to overcome this. [We want people to believe that] you can be successful and don’t have to worry so much about taking the risks. But the culture says on the other side of risk is failure, which is so stigmatized.
Asked to identify the areas that Endeavor cannot impact, he named educational institutions.
“How do we get the educational institutions thinking about entrepreneurship and promoting it with kids? The British University of Egypt and one or two universities have an entrepreneurship program, so that’s one thing.
“I’m also involved in SIFE, a global NGO that promotes social entrepreneurship through universities. Each university picks projects based on a set of criteria, they compete at the national and global level.
“Egypt beat 26 other countries for a project involving Waraq Island north of Zamalek, a poor agricultural community. The team developed a nice integrated project there. Still, we need more groups like Endeavor to involve venture capital and angel investors.
