Welcome to the Stage: Maggie Belshé
Birmingham Lead-Endeavor Atlanta and 2015 Venture for America Fellow
Spotlight: Endeavor Birmingham
Endeavor is an entrepreneurial focused non-profit that helps the fastest-growing entrepreneurs create lasting enterprises by providing the resources they need to scale without dilution. This includes access to a world-class mentor and peer network, entrepreneur-friendly capital, and global markets. Founded in1997, Endeavor supports over 2,000 entrepreneurs across a variety of industries in 30+ countries around the globe.
Endeavor Birmingham is the latest Endeavor office to open as an extension of its Atlanta office. Endeavor Birmingham recently had it’s the first entrepreneur to join the global network last fall, when Tony Summerville, founder, and CEO of Fleetio, was added.
Meet Maggie Belshé -Birmingham Lead-Endeavor
Maggie Belshé currently serves as a member of the Entrepreneur Selection & Growth team and runs Endeavor operations in the Birmingham market. In addition to selecting and supporting high-growth entrepreneurs for the Endeavor global network, she’s on a mission to develop partnerships and programs that support Birmingham’s highest potential entrepreneurs at every stage in their journey to scalable and sustainable growth.
Maggie is a graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University, the New Sector Alliance Summer Fellowship for mission-driven leaders, and the Venture for America fellowship. Prior to joining Endeavor, Maggie was part of the local start-up ecosystem as Director of Marketing and Communications for digital health coaching company Pack Health and as Community Liaison for Venture for America’s first Birmingham class. In her free time, she serves as an advisory board member for the downtown YMCA and as a member of Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s “Gather Squad”.
Maggie has been a great friend and source of advice to me these past two years and is someone that everyone involved in the tech community in Birmingham, should absolutely get to know. I am really excited to share her insights and her vision of Endeavor Birmingham and how it’ll positively impact the Birmingham entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Welcome to the Stage, Maggie Belshé !
1. Birmingham is incredibly fortunate to have Endeavor come and help develop our entrepreneurial ecosystem. What would you say your long-term vision is for Endeavor in Birmingham and how can entrepreneurs get involved?
The long term vision is that by leveraging Endeavor’s world-class network, more Birmingham entrepreneurs will become major players in their industries, leaders in the broader business community, and investors in our next generation of founders.
Endeavor’s model is based on decades of research showing that when entrepreneurs scale their businesses and pay it forward for other founders, economic opportunity multiplies and the whole ecosystem thrives! We’ve gotten a taste of this here in Birmingham with the recent successes of Shipt and Therapy Brands, and Silicon Valley offers a classic case study of how that multiplier effect can compound over time.
Endeavor selects and supports growth-stage entrepreneurs because that’s where we see the highest economic impact. These are typically businesses with over $3M in annualized revenue and impressive growth rates, spanning a range of industries – from fleet management to sustainably sourced coffee.
That said, we encourage entrepreneurs to connect at any stage in their journey. We recently opened applications for ScaleUp Birmingham – a non-dilutive 6-month program for entrepreneurs who’ve achieved strong product-market fit and proven high growth potential with the resources and confidence they need to take their companies to the next level. For earlier stage founders, we’ll recommend other regional resources and programs and would love to be kept in the loop as you grow!
2. Endeavor is a global network of incredible entrepreneurs, so what does Endeavor look for in entrepreneurs before selecting them to join their network?
Endeavor has a multistep process to determine if founders are a good fit for the global network. In addition to getting to know the business and market opportunity, our first step is to learn about the entrepreneur's challenges and aspirations to ensure Endeavor can add value to the company as it scales.
What I love about the process is that selection almost immediately becomes a service: entrepreneurs who make it through this first opinion review are then connected to 3-5 Endeavor mentors for a series of calls that drill deeper into their business challenges and goals, adding value every step of the way.
We’re looking for founders whose businesses are at a key inflection point, poised to scale regionally or globally, to create significant growth in jobs and GDP. Equally important, we’re looking for entrepreneurs who will inspire future leaders with their passion and integrity, and are aligned with Endeavor’s mission to pay it forward for the next generation entrepreneurs!
3. Having been in Birmingham since 2015 when you first arrived here as a Venture for America Fellow - what has surprised you the most about the city as well as our tech ecosystem?
I’ve had incredible opportunities through Pack Health, Venture for America, and a range of community organizations here in town to get to know a wide variety of really incredible people. People here are welcoming to newcomers and excited about Birmingham’s story in ways that just blew me away from day one!
What made me stay is the way I’ve seen that story evolving – public-private partnerships geared towards inclusive economic development, workforce development programs that get rave reviews from both participants and the businesses that hire them, startup founders donating their precious time to mentor younger entrepreneurs, and of course what we’re seeing now with #BhamStrong. On a personal level, I’m as excited about the energy around local businesses as I am about the emerging technology ecosystem! I think those things go hand in hand.
4. What’s your advice for first-time founders in the Southeast?
From customer discovery to community building, curiosity and follow-through are two differentiators that cannot be overestimated. Actively listening to potential customers can accelerate your path to product-market fit. Do the same for your paying customers and you turn them into loyal promoters. Proactively and thoughtfully connect people in the community, unexpected doors start to open up.
One caveat is that it’s important to be direct and specific when you have a question or request. If you’re thoughtful and realistic about who you’re talking to, being clear about what you’re looking for isn’t rude - it actually makes it easier to respond!
Interested in learning more? Head over to ScaleUp Birmingham to learn more and apply!
Happy learning and wash your hands!