Linda Rottenberg

The vast majority of the entrepreneurs in this book, medical and a disproportionate number of the world’s entrepreneurs, health are based in the United States. Linda Rottenberg noticed this fact while living in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. But for her, this wasn’t a passing observation. It was the beginning of a global opportunity. If you spend any time with Linda, you’ll quickly be zapped by her electric personality and fearless approach to getting people to say yes. Linda is a gale force wind — a warm one.

Linda cofounded Endeavor Global in order to catalyze “high-impact” entrepreneurship throughout the world. In doing so, she was targeting a market sector that had scarcely been defined up until then. She wasn’t looking to provide aid to the world’s poorest nations, or to make investments in highly developed venture markets. Endeavor set its sights on economies with up-and-coming middle classes, but where there was a clear lack of organized entrepreneurship behind the cultivation of new, high-growth businesses. Without local investment ecosystems, potential entrepreneurs couldn’t get started. Endeavor was built to nurture a new class of local entrepreneurs, and to provide them with access to a global network for training and financing.