The Building of an Endeavor Platform
As we continue our series on Endeavor, on who we are as a team and how we operate as a business we felt the natural next step was to delve int what it is exactly that we endeavor to build and create. We want to discuss the mission and feel of the platform we are working to build, and the types of Companies we engage with to explore becoming a part of the Endeavor vision. That vision is to create an ecosystem of continuous innovation to keep pace with a threat environment that continues to evolve. Endeavor is building a mid-sized, multi-domain, diversified technology company.
Our business model is predicated upon building a highly differentiated, high growth, high value C5ISR /Cybersecurity products and solutions company. Unique value is provided to the government through access to top talent, products, and services driven by continuous innovation. In addition, the private sector benefits greatly from the same products and services.
We are building a mission-focused platform - and in our view - that mission is best served when a Company provides both the scale, efficiency, and the broad mission knowledge of a large company with the flexibility, deep expertise, and the innovation of a smaller company.
What are the attributes of the companies we engage with?
Specialized attributes that create exceptional value to the customer (a technology, or particular mission insight)
Deep vision and knowledge or particular pieces of the national security mission, often coupled with a deep (albeit narrow) set of customer relationships
They are actively helping to drive the national security mission - they are active participants in setting, meeting, and exceeding mission goal, as opposed to just meeting contract specifications. They are shaping national security tactics and solutions.
A track record of consistently exceeding customer expectations directly or through strategic industry partnerships.
Broadly, we seek to partner with owners who desire the options the Endeavor model provides:
Be a part of a larger group: grow their infrastructure base in order to compete on a larger scale, level up their ability to attract and maintain its talent pool, and level-up their overall growth strategy both organically and inorganically
Would like to take some chips of the table to mitigate future risk, rebalancing their decision making lens. When all of your family’s nest eggs are in one basket you may tend to be overly conservative with your strategy. Taking those chips gives founders security and allows their entrepreneurial brilliance to shine through again. Re-opening a door to take some educated risks. Reach for some new markets. Invest in a new idea. Make a key hire, etc.
How does Endeavor view its role in the building and operations of this platform?
Outside of Endeavor working to raise the equity and debt capital needed to finance the creation of the platform, and provide the growth capital needed to scale - Endeavor will also function as a key strategic partner for the platform management team. We provide expertise, capital and relationships to supercharge a linear company into an exponential one.
Endeavor will help to enhance the access, strategic thinking, executive mentorship, as well as the inorganic growth engine of the platform
At Endeavor, our focus is to change the shape of the company’s growth curve as quickly as possible without compromising the company’s culture and current capabilities. Organic growth refers to a company increasing its revenues, customers, market share or operations through its own internal resources and momentum. It's driven by factors like marketing, product development, hiring more staff or expanding to new markets. But organic growth tends to be gradual and linear in nature. Endeavor looks to engage with companies in order to focus on scaling - changing that growth curve.
To us, scaling a company involves growing at an accelerated, exponential pace. This rapid expansion is largely generated via M&A activities and joint ventures with the goal of rapidly increasing the company’s revenues and impact on the mission in a logical, systematic, and well thought through strategic manner.
While organic growth may entail lower risk, scaling enables step function-like growth and assumes more risk. Organic growth develops and leverages existing internal resources while scaling utilizes external assets and relationships for rapid expansion. Scaling can also overcome limitations around leadership experience, talent gaps, funding constraints, or the lack of resources to make the internal investments necessary to innovate around current products, solutions, or services.
Endeavor is looking for companies who are driven towards scale, who are hungry for the operational, strategic, and financial resources a partner like Endeavor can bring to bear.