Lessons from Inside Endeavor’s Romania Scale Up Program

Being a founder is far from easy, especially when taking a company from 0 to 1, to make the first million. Scaling to €10M, €100M, and beyond? Even tougher. These transitions require not only strategy, but also a shift in mindset.

Romanian founders are really good at hustling within their (small) teams. Growing up in a culture where institutional support has historically been unavailable, many learned to rely only on themselves. However, scaling requires asking for help beyond their circle, acknowledging gaps, and learning from others. And that’s hard. Really hard!

Romania’s entrepreneurial ecosystem faces some unique challenges:

• The “Do It Yourself” Legacy

This is a survival instinct (not driven by pride), shaped by decades of “do it yourself or it won’t get done.” But this mindset becomes a bottleneck when scaling. You can’t build a €100M company alone!

• Missing Playbooks

Few local examples of scaled exits or IPOs exist. Although many claim to have the “playbook” and offer free theoretical advice, founders still lack role models to answer critical questions based on real experience:

1. • How do we decide which market to expand into beyond Romania?
   • How do we structure a global sales team?
   • What adjustments are needed in our distribution strategy for different geographies?
   • How can we implement a framework for pricing and unit economics efficiently? etc.

UiPath stands out as one of the very few local companies that reached a global scale, effectively acting as a “school” for those looking for relevant lessons. But one example alone isn’t enough. We need more real-life success stories and operational expertise to guide our ecosystem forward. This is where the Romanian diaspora can also play a powerful role, bringing in diverse perspectives, market insights, and valuable networks to help founders scale.

• The “Scale Fast” Trap

Many founders chase rapid growth in new markets without laying foundations. We’ve seen companies focus heavily on immediate sales without a GTM strategy focus and a clear understanding regarding their product’s core value. 

To borrow from Warren Buffett’s analogy: “You can’t have a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” In a nutshell, diluted focus brings diluted results.

After 8 months at Endeavor, I’ve seen how isolating scaling can feel because the weight of “what’s next” falls heaviest on those steering the ship. Honestly speaking, the loneliest work happens in the gaps between strategy sessions and investor updates.

Yes, our founders have talented teams beside them. But when you’re going to sell, hire, or build partnerships in markets you’ve never set foot in… no amount of internal hustle replaces the clarity of someone whispering, “I’ve survived this storm. Here’s how.”  

However, I’ve also witnessed the quiet magic that happens when founders stop hustling in silos and start leaning on a tribe of allies who’ve walked the same path, through our Scale Up program, which was designed to tackle these challenges head-on. 

With eight companies currently in the cohort, our focus isn’t just growth – it’s sustainable growth! Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Personalized Roadmaps, Not One-Size-Fits-All

We start with a deep dive into every company from operation to team dynamic to unit economics to market positioning etc., to prepare a tailored plan.

Example 1: A founder struggling with international expansion needed a sales team structure tailored to cultural nuances in country X. 

Example 2: Another founder needed help redefining their strategy for attracting partners and adapting their pricing by localizing discount tiers for both price-sensitive and price-insensitive markets.

• Mentorship You Can Rely On

The value of our program lies in Endeavor’s global network of entrepreneurs who successfully expanded their business globally. These mentors don’t just teach, they relive their scars from scaling globally, failing, and rebuilding. 

For instance, pairing a founder struggling with enterprise sales to a successful founder who survived the same grind in a different market and can share their learnings. Or having sessions on “ugly” scaling truths: firing misaligned hires, sunsetting products, negotiating equity splits. When a founder hears:

• • “I lost €2M making that mistake, here’s how to avoid it..” 
  • “I wasted two years chasing enterprise clients without a clear ideal customer profile, let me show you how to qualify leads faster…” 

This saves both time and money and, sometimes, more importantly, it saves sanity.

That’s the power of Endeavor’s network: real-time troubleshooting with people who’ve already paid the “taxes”, so others won’t have to.

• Creating a Safe Space to Stumble

Trust is built in small moments, not only in boardrooms. We do:

• • Mastermind sessions: Where CEOs shared their struggles and wonders. No slides, no pitching, just raw stories. Personal & Professional.
  • Deeper Involvement: Beyond regular check-ins with founders, depending on their openness, I visit their offices or join their team strategy calls. This helps me better understand where we can add value by seeing firsthand where they’re stuck. In Endeavor, we focus more on the tough parts than on what’s already working.
  • Founders Bootcamp: We made sure that founders had the time to connect with each other and find common ground, which is something we actively encourage in entrepreneurs. The Bootcamp also had a more hands-on component, with sessions on topics ranging from strategic planning to moonshot setting to leadership. On top of that, we had a surprise guest, Pablo Fernandez Alvarez, who inspired us with his story of life, sports, and entrepreneurship. 

Trust isn’t built overnight. It’s built when someone says, “I’ve been there too,” and means it.

What Founders Actually Need (Beyond Capital)

After working closely with these eight companies, here’s what we’ve learned:

• Clarity Over Hustle

Many founders fixate on sales targets without a clear strategy. A commercial strategy that’s more than “sell, sell, sell.”

• • Who is your ideal customer? How do you prioritize them?

• • What problem do you solve? Is it a “must-have” or “nice-to-have”?

• • Is the organization ready to adopt your product?

We’ve heard answers like “I don’t know why customers are buying my product and I’m scared to ask them”. Our approach was to help teams test assumptions with their ideal customer profiles (& from the targeted countries), like whether their product truly solves a pain point or just looks good on a pitch deck. The “aha” moments often come from these collisions of theory and reality.

• Building Your Scaling Tribe

Even the most driven founders can’t scale effectively without the right people:

• • Employees who’ve walked the path: Hiring talent who’ve worked in high-growth companies helps you avoid reinvention. These individuals bring tried-and-tested “playbooks” for scaling systems which can shortcut trial-and-error cycles.
  • Investors who are co-pilots, not ATMs: Capital matters, but strategic investors matter more.The best ones open doors, share war stories from scaling in your sector, and flag your blind spots in your strategies.
  • Partners who multiply your reach: Partnerships go beyond handshakes. It’s about leverage, from connections with relevant corporate partners to distribution channels to other potential collaborators.

• A Community of Allies

Scaling is lonely. Founders need peers who “get it.” We connect them with Endeavor’s global network, founders who scaled in the same niche, and provide a platform to test assumptions about markets, strategies, or products, leveraging the expertise of those who have navigated these critical steps.

Conclusion:

Ray Kroc said it best: “The two most important requirements for major success are: first, being in the right place at the right time, and second, doing something about it.” The Scale Up program aims to be that “right place.” 

While some participants join with the expectation of immediate sales growth, the program’s true value lies in helping develop clear strategies and gaining a deeper understanding of the markets they are preparing to expand to.

It’s not about copying someone else’s playbook, it’s about asking, “Who’s navigated this before, and what can I learn?”. There’s no guaranteed path to success! But we can stack the odds in the founders’ favor. 

Learning from others who’ve been in your shoes opens up more options, generates new ideas, and helps minimize errors, ultimately saving time, money, and sanity. 

You don’t need to have all the answers. Just the courage and wisdom to ask the right questions.