The People That Wowed Founder of Paxel

Bryant on “Why did I decide to join Endeavor?”

“I was introduced to Endeavor by my sister Rika Christanto in Spain. She was the Co-Founder and COO of Ontruck, a leading on-demand logistics platform, who’s also an Endeavor Entrepreneur company. She suggested I meet with the Endeavor team which led me to meet Hutami Mahardima and Devina Hartono, the Entrepreneur Experience team at Endeavor Indonesia. The first thing that struck me (even though through video during Covid time) was that they were more interested in the impact that we’re making than the business result and financial performance. I thought, there was something different about these people. As the journey came, we started to get to know each other and the second thing I notice very upfront was that, they asked ‘How can we help?’ and ‘How can we add value?’ and they started introducing me and the other co-founders to 3 to 5 and more mentors, just like that! This is without me or Paxel Indonesia giving or offering anything or even doing whatever to them (Endeavor).”

Experiences like no other

“During the Endeavor selection process, I remember it was during ISP (International Selection Panel) preparations. You can see the mentors are there to serve and really help you going through this. What to prepare, how to present – I don’t know how to explain but, they want it so bad for you to succeed.

And then during the ISP, we met three different panels and in each panel, after we did short 5 minutes introductions and then the questions started to come in. There were just mindblowing because they asked ‘Have you thought about this?’ or ‘Do you see your business going this way?’ —  I can feel my brain being stretched here and there and wow! We thought 3 of us at Paxel (Bryant Christanto, Zaldy Masita , and Erick Soedjasa who were the entrepreneurs’ candidates back then) having done this for 5 years, never have we imagined these ideas.

(See the official announcement of Bryant, Zaldy, and Erick when they got selected here)

Then after the ISP, I visited one of the offline events, the 2022 Endeavor Outliers Retreat on June 24-26, 2022 at Scotts Valley, CA. In the beginning, I thought it was so far in San Francisco, and cost a lot of money, but my wife said that I have to do it – so I went and honestly I didn’t know what to expect. But then the first day I was there, I met unbelievable people!

So… I was there getting a tray of food and was waiting in line for buffet dinner and there was this guy whom I ended up talking and sitting down with. I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’. After one hour of talking about so many things, I started taking notes about scaling cultures, building international business, etc — and then there was another guy asking, “Do you know who he is?”, I said no. “He is the CEO of Globant!”. And I was like, ‘What is Globant?’. And when I did my research, I was just floored. His name is Martin Migoya, a humble and amazing person! One hour with him is worth more than the amount of money that we invested to be there and more effective than any other training program that I could’ve gone to in any university.”

The right community for High-Impact Entrepreneurs

Let me share another example. I was going to meet with Linda (Linda Rottenberg, Co-Founder of Endeavor) in a restaurant but then I realised that her place is outside of Manhattan and I was so late I felt so bad. Then she said why don’t I meet her at her place? And as soonest I came to her house, she had these selections of cheese and wine on the table and I was so shocked. This is an amazing person and she has a serving heart for entrepreneurs.

We talked a lot about life, our entrepreneurial and leadership journey, and she asked me “What do you think entrepreneurs need in Indonesia?” and I said that we need to know what a really healthy impact-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem actually looks like. And if you are the kind of entrepreneur that is really passionate about impact, then this (Endeavor) is the place to learn because of the 25 years of history of so many entrepreneurs that are actually grown and scaled very successful yet have maintained the character and integrity for the long term with great credentials and reputation even after building such great companies. That’s why I’m here. I want to learn how to do that, how to do it well, and how to do it properly, instead of taking a shortcut.”