Welcome to Season 3 of The J Curve, a podcast about entrepreneurship in Latin America. Today we sit down with Allen Taylor, Managing Partner at Endeavor Catalyst, to explore his 18-year journey with Endeavor and the rise of emerging markets as thriving hubs for entrepreneurship. We discuss Allen’s personal path from California to becoming a global advocate for high-impact entrepreneurs, the creation of Endeavor Catalyst, and how the model fosters economic development through the multiplier effect. Notably, Allen shares how Endeavor Catalyst’s first $6 million pool achieved an impressive 8x cash-on-cash return, investing in companies like Globant and Yemeksepeti.
This conversation dives deep into crafting sustainable investment models, the untapped opportunities in Latam in sectors like agribusiness and enterprise SaaS, and the importance of long-term thinking for emerging market growth. Whether you’re a founder aiming to scale globally or an investor seeking to unlock new markets, this episode is filled with powerful lessons and practical takeaways.
We discuss 👇🏻
1. Think in Decades: Why Building Billion-Dollar Companies Requires Patience, Resilience, and a Long-Term Vision – and What’s Broken in the Classic VC Model
2. The Multiplier Effect Unlocked: The Three Defining Traits of Hyper-Successful Entrepreneurs
3. The $6M Bet That Returned 8x: How Emerging Markets Became Venture Capital’s Best Kept Secret
4. Scaling from $6M to $500M AUM: Inside the Endeavor Catalyst Playbook for Building a Global Venture Fund in Emerging Markets
5. The Next Big Markets: Where Endeavor Catalyst Is Placing Its Boldest Bets – From LATAM to Egypt and Beyond
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Follow Olga on LinkedIn or Instagram Olga is an entrepreneur, venture capital investor, mentor at Techstars and founder at The J Curve, Latin America's leading English speaking podcast about tech builders. She's been investing in the USA, SEA and Latin America for over 13 years. Companies she backed include tech unicorn ClassPass (acquired by Mindbody) and Vitalk (acquired by Gympass).
