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The Romanian Perspective at Endeavor’s Highest Stage

July 31, 2025

In 2025, the Endeavor selection journey came full circle for one Romanian entrepreneur.

This is his story.

Every month, 10-15 of the best entrepreneurs from our network come together and pitch their scale up companies to Endeavor. This is done in three, one-hour long interviews, with pairs of panelists who judge whether the entrepreneurs and their businesses have the right combination of ambition, mindset and, yes, “crazy”, to become Endeavor Entrepreneurs (EE), i.e. those who dream big, scale fast and pay it forward. This one of a kind event is dubbed the International Selection Panel (ISP).

The jury of this entrepreneurship olympics is made out of accomplished entrepreneurs, experienced investors or senior business leaders and c-levels from large multinationals and hyperscalers. In their judgment, the panelists are focused on three dimensions: the personal one, centered around the personality of the founder(s), the scalability of the business and its disruptive potential, and the stage of the venture – usually, at an inflection point, priming the business for blitzscaling. The entrepreneurs need to prove they can 10x their business from the selection point onward.

Since we started our work in Romania, we brought over 5 Romanian founded companies to these olympics. But an equally important target for us is how many of Endeavor Romania’s community members are qualified to become the judges of these ISPs, as this signals the capacity of our local ecosystem to act as a true catalyst for potential founders, thereby creating the conditions for more Romania founders to aspire to become EEs.

Over the course of Endeavor’s history, three Romanians and a Canadian had the opportunity to act as panelists on behalf of the Romanian community. The first was Dan Lupu, the investor who spotted UiPath’s potential (remarkably, Dan became an Endeavor panelist even before Endeavor had a Romanian chapter). The second and third were two UiPath alumni – Vargha Moayed (the chairman of Endeavor Romania and the former CSO of UiPath) and Marius Istrate (the company’s first CPO). The fourth was Sergiu Neguț, who came full circle: after being selected as EE in 2021, this year he returned to an ISP, this time on the other side of the table, as a panelist. In February this year, Sergiu joined Endeavor 102nd ISP, in Dubai.

Through his experience, Sergiu stepped into a room that quite literally shapes the future of global entrepreneurship.The discussions between the panelists and the candidates, and the ensuing deliberations between the judges (who have to unanimously agree on the selection) are often spirited, testing hypotheses, and challenging beliefs, in order to rightfully determine who gets selected and who doesn’t. In itself, the ISP is the end of a journey which entails a lot of pitches and evaluations, an incredibly selective process with a 1.6% success rate.

Sergiu’s presence showed that Romanian entrepreneurs are ready to be on the other side of the selection process, a quiet but significant sign that our ecosystem is maturing and gaining recognition. That Romanian founders, operators, and investors are scaling companies, but also shaping the conversations that decide which founders from around the world get a shot at performing at such level.

For him, the experience was both familiar and novel. He has spent years listening to founders, coaching early-stage teams, and making investment decisions. But the ISP brought a different level of urgency, intentionality and scale.

The entrepreneurs he met were not early-stage first-timers. These were founders with proven products, revenue, and momentum. Yet what made some stand out was clarity, on top of scale. Clarity about where they were going, and how they planned to get there. Clarity about the risks ahead, and the kind of leadership those risks would require.

The process is known for its intensity. Every entrepreneur who walks in knows that only full alignment from all panelists leads to a green light. Every panelist knows they hold a shared responsibility: to identify not only those who have built something impressive, but those who can pay it forward, scale faster, dream bigger.

Understanding the ISP Experience

The ISP is a multi-day, high-stakes evaluation designed to help Endeavor identify the founders who are ready to scale their companies globally and contribute actively to the Endeavor community.

Each founder participates in three separate interviews, each lasting about one hour, and each conducted by a pair of Endeavor panelists: seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, or executives from around the world. These interviews happen in a compressed timeframe, typically after panelists have had a few hours to review the founder’s materials and background.

The conversations are direct, often intense, and go deep into the business model, leadership style, strategic clarity, and growth potential. Founders are not assessed based on their presentation skills or the polish of their deck, but on how clearly they understand their company, the market they’re operating in, and the decisions ahead.

At the end of the process, the panelists gather to deliberate. To be selected, the entrepreneur must receive a unanimous “yes” from all interviewers. If even one panelist feels that the timing isn’t right, or that the founder needs more traction or clarity, the result is typically a “not yet.” Many of the founders are encouraged to return to a future ISP after reaching key milestones.

A Word to Founders Preparing for the ISP

For Romanian founders aiming to one day step into that room, there are a few takeaways.

One of the most telling parts of any ISP conversation is how a founder talks about their business under pressure. While the tendency is to talk about numbers and overexplain market share, this experience should showcase that the founders are able to draw a clear, connected line between product, customer, revenue, and opportunity. Founders who think in systems, not silos, stand out. That type of depth is about ownership.

Second, be real. The ISP is not at all performative. On the contrary, it’s a good opportunity for reflection and conviction. Founders who speak plainly, acknowledge what they’re still figuring out, and show how they learn tend to leave a stronger impression than those who stick to a perfect script.

Third, hold your ground when you believe in something, but equally important, know when to absorb feedback. Panelists are not there to trip you up. Their role is to challenge your thinking and push you toward better answers. The ones who benefit most from the process are those who see that challenge as an opportunity.

And finally but maybe most importantly, don’t play it safe. Especially not because of where you come from. One of the most common tendencies in emerging ecosystems is to adjust ambition downward in the name of being realistic. But in the context of the ISP, that can hold you back. Panelists are looking for founders who are already thinking globally, and who can show why their ambition is not a misguided dream but a plan.

Why Representation Matters

There is something powerful about seeing someone from your own ecosystem sitting on the other side of the table as a peer in global decision-making.

After Romania had been represented in ISPs by Dan Lupu, Vargha Moayed and Marius Istrate, Sergiu’s presence on the ISP reconfirmed that Romanian entrepreneurial experience is becoming globally relevant. It helps raise the bar for what local founders aspire to and what they are measured against. It also means that future Romanian candidates walking into an ISP room will be met with a kind of contextual awareness that only someone with shared lived experience can bring.

But this is just one layer of a broader shift. As more Romanian founders are selected, and more Romanian panelists are invited to serve, the visibility of the region rises. So does the quality of support and insight flowing back into the local community. The network effect becomes real, founders help other founders, mentors challenge and champion new voices, and success becomes collective.

The Bigger Picture

The ISP is only the beginning of a journey, but it does signal readiness. And when that readiness is recognized by a group of global leaders, it opens doors that can accelerate everything that follows.

For Romania, having a voice at that table means that the journey from local traction to global scale is something built, supported, and shaped by those who have walked it, and who are now helping others do the same.

The Bigger Picture

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