Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans two continents—a place where Europe meets Asia, and East meets West. Shaped by centuries of trade, culture, and innovation, it was the perfect setting for this year’s Endeavor Global EX Retreat. The weeklong gathering brought together teams from over 45 markets, all connected by a shared mission: to support high-impact entrepreneurs and build thriving ecosystems worldwide.

Earlier this month, Tegan and I had the opportunity to attend on behalf of Endeavor Colorado. While we’ve collaborated virtually with many of our global peers, this was our first time meeting most of them in person — and the energy was electric.

For context, EX stands for Entrepreneur Experience, which encompasses how Endeavor supports founders — from their first touchpoint in the selection process to the many pivotal moments that come with scaling a business. Today, Endeavor supports more than 2,700 entrepreneurs globally, including over 80 unicorns. Collectively, these founders generate $78 billion in annual revenue and are transforming economies across sectors and regions.

The theme of the retreat centered on four goals: connect, build, align, and bring ideas home. Sessions focused on the two core pillars of Entrepreneur Experience — Selection and Servicing. We shared learnings, aligned on best practices, and explored how we can better support entrepreneurs through key inflection points such as fundraising, international expansion, and executive hiring. While founders operate in vastly different industries and regions, their challenges at scale are remarkably similar — and the network ensures they don’t face them alone.

One highlight was our visit to Insider, a global martech company co-founded by Endeavor Entrepreneur Serhat Soyuerel. Their story of scaling across 26 countries while maintaining a bold, human-centered culture was both impressive and inspiring.

We also connected with the team at Codeway, a rapidly growing mobile app company in Türkiye that bootstrapped its way to millions in revenue. Their disciplined, founder-led growth stood out in a world often obsessed with venture capital.

Perhaps the most powerful moment came over breakfast with two Turkish founders whose company was recently acquired by JumpCloud — one of our Endeavor Colorado portfolio companies. Now Endeavor Entrepreneurs through Endeavor Türkiye, they’ve joined a global network that helped shape their path, and are already giving back to the ecosystem. That connection — across countries, companies, and chapters — is the Multiplier Effect in action.

Part of how Endeavor supports these journeys is through Endeavor Catalyst, our rules-based co-investment fund with over $500M under management. Catalyst has backed more than 345 Endeavor companies across 34 countries, providing capital at critical moments to help them grow and scale.

We left Istanbul energized, aligned, and more committed than ever to our work in Colorado. The retreat reminded us that while our day-to-day efforts are local, our impact is global.

At Endeavor, we don’t just support entrepreneurs — we build ecosystems. And when great founders are backed by a global network that believes in them, anything is possible.

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