High-Impact Entrepreneurship

Endeavor is highlighted in The Economist’s special 14-page report on entrepreneurship this week. Note: links to the articles below require subscription to The Economist.

In the lead article, “Global Heroes,” Adrian Wooldridge points out that “(d)espite the downturn, entrepreneurs are enjoying a renaissance the world over.” He argues that now is entrepreneurship’s moment for “creative creation,” and points to the numerous opportunities the current financial crisis opens up for entrepreneurs. “Microsoft, Genentech, Gap and The Limited were all founded during recessions,” Wooldridge writes. He references the Endeavor Survey carried out in eight emerging markets last November, which found that while 85% of Endeavor Entrepreneurs felt the impact of the crisis and 88% thought the worst was yet to come, on average, they believed “their businesses would grow by 31% and their workforces by 12% this year.”

In “Magic Formula,” Wooldridge highlights Endeavor Entrepreneur Bento Koike for having built “one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of wind-turbine blades, in Brazil. He says that “today’s smart entrepreneurs start global.”

In “Saving the World” Wooldridge discusses the fact that “entrepreneurship is reshaping the voluntary sector,” by using business techniques to philanthropy. He points to South African Endeavor Entrepreneur Shane Immelman who “has built a successful company by trying to bring the benefits of education to poor schoolchildren in South Africa” with his company, Lapdesk.