The Malaysian judges were good. We were nervous when we started our pitch, but warmed up when the judges grilled us and we started to sweat. They hung us mentally upside-down and poked our brains to see if we had the right stuff. Then they charmed us and made us feel like we were buddies. At the end they pushed us and asked us how hungry we still were…
Endeavor is all about grooming high-impact entrepreneurs; well at this point we were receiving a lot of pounding from the judges.
In the end, this hammering turned out alright for us. Out of the four local finalists, we were the ones chosen to take part in the Endeavor International Selection Panel to be held in New York in August 2014.
During the Local Selection Panel (LSP), held on April 30th in KL, we were interviewed and grilled by Brahmal Vasudevan (Founder & CEO Creador), TS Wong (Founder & CEO MYEG), Afzal Abdul Rahim (CEO Time dotCom), Mark Chang (Founder & CEO Jobstreet), Michael Chan (CEO Bloomberg TV) and Gurdip Singh (Head of Strategy, CIMB), who then selected us to move on to the ISP leg.
Some vignettes that come to mind: Mark Chang asked the toughest questions and made us stumble. Afzal probed our ears and our brains and nearly waterboarded us. Brahmal in contrast was a charmer – you just want to please him.
We are not lacking in self-belief. Our core management team has been together for ten years and we have built our company by our own wits. But it still feels inspiring when you see much more successful CEOs and Entrepreneurs rooting for you to succeed and pushing you on during the judging.
Thanks to everyone in Endeavor Malaysia who helped us, Zaman, Anand and Shen Yong, and all the other mentors.
About the Endeavor International Selection Panel
Endeavor is a non-profit that is leading the global movement to catalyse long term economic growth by Selecting, Mentoring and Accelerating the best High Impact Entrepreneurs throughout the world.
The International Selection Panel (ISP) is the conclusion of a rigorous multi-step selection process that is at the core of the Endeavor entrepreneur mentorship model. At the ISP, top business and industry leaders from multiple countries will interview candidates about their businesses and potential for high-impact growth, and then deliberate on whether or not the candidates should become Endeavor Entrepreneurs.
After their selection into the Endeavor network, these successful entrepreneurs are given access to customized services, including introductions to local and international business mentors and volunteers from Fortune 500 consulting firms who will help them address key business needs. Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created thousands of jobs and built sustainable growth models in their home countries, transforming local economies and becoming role models for future generations of leaders.
