Resilient audiobook cover - How to Overcome Anything and Build a Million Dollar Business With or Without Capital

Resilient

How to Overcome Anything and Build a Million Dollar Business With or Without Capital

Sevetri Wilson

★ 4.1 / 5(81 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
Entrepreneurship

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to Resilient — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Resilient

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Resilient

Mind Map

Resilient
Funding Models+
Pre-Launch Evaluation+
Hiring and Outsourcing+
Securing Early Investors+
Accelerators vs. Competitions+
Repeatable Revenue+
Series A Fundraising+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 10
What is a major advantage of bootstrapping a company instead of taking on investors?
  • A. It guarantees faster business growth and immediate market dominance.
  • B. The founder retains 100 percent ownership and full decision-making control.
  • C. It eliminates all financial risk for the founder.
  • D. It allows the founder to hire a large executive team immediately.
Question 2 of 10
According to the text, what is the best way to determine if there is a viable market for your product before launching?
  • A. Pitch the idea at a major startup competition to gauge investor reaction.
  • B. Hire an agency to conduct a nationwide, data-driven survey.
  • C. Identify ideal customers and talk to them directly about the problems they are experiencing.
  • D. Build a fully functional prototype and track how many people download it.
Question 3 of 10
What is a potential downside of hiring freelancers instead of full-time employees, according to Wilson's experience?
  • A. They generally demand a higher equity stake in the company.
  • B. They may not have as much buy-in or commitment to the company's vision.
  • C. They require expensive benefits packages and physical office space.
  • D. They are usually impossible to find without using an expensive agency.
Question 4 of 10
What crucial lesson did Sevetri Wilson learn from her first investor, Dr. Leonard Moore?
  • A. Securing investors is primarily about having a flawless product prototype.
  • B. Pitch competitions are the most reliable way to secure early funding.
  • C. Investors will only back founders who have a formal background in technology.
  • D. Relationship building is an essential part of fundraising.
Question 5 of 10
Why does the author emphasize the use of storytelling when pitching to angel investors?
  • A. It helps explain why the founder is the ideal person to solve the identified problem.
  • B. It distracts investors from a lack of immediate revenue or market traction.
  • C. It proves that the founder has a background in marketing and communications.
  • D. It is a legal requirement for filing an LLC and securing seed funding.
Question 6 of 10
What is one reason the author suggests accelerator programs might be a better alternative to pitch competitions?
  • A. Accelerators do not require the founder to give up any equity in the company.
  • B. Pitch competitions guarantee funding for all participants, making them less prestigious.
  • C. Accelerators provide funding, advisors, and network growth, even though they take an equity cut.
  • D. Pitch competitions usually last for three months, which drains too much of the founder's time.
Question 7 of 10
According to the book, what is the 'secret' to a company's success in its early stages?
  • A. Securing Series A funding as quickly as possible.
  • B. Establishing regular, predictable, and repeatable revenue.
  • C. Hiring a large, glamorous sales team to cut big deals.
  • D. Continuously pivoting the product based on initial investor feedback.
Question 8 of 10
How does the author suggest using 'contact marketing' to reach busy executives who have lots of gatekeepers?
  • A. Sending them a generic email blast every week until they finally respond.
  • B. Showing up at their office headquarters to request an impromptu meeting.
  • C. Offering them a small percentage of equity in your startup in exchange for a meeting.
  • D. Researching their personal interests and sending a creative, personalized gift.
Question 9 of 10
When seeking Series A funding, what should a founder focus on most regarding the amount of money to raise?
  • A. Raising as much money as investors are willing to offer.
  • B. Raising exactly how much is needed to reach the next major company milestone.
  • C. Raising slightly less than competitors to appear frugal and responsible.
  • D. Raising enough to completely buy out all initial seed investors.
Question 10 of 10
What actionable advice does the author give regarding managing an offshore team of freelance developers?
  • A. Hire a technical consultant or developer to manage them so you aren't taken advantage of.
  • B. Travel to their country at least once a month to oversee their work in person.
  • C. Pay them entirely in company equity so they have more buy-in to the project.
  • D. Avoid offshore teams completely and only hire local freelancers to ensure quality.

Resilient — Full Chapter Overview

Resilient Summary & Overview

Resilient (2021) is an intimate account of entrepreneur Sevetri Wilson’s journey from self-funding her first company to securing ongoing capital for her second. It provides early-stage founders insight into every step of building a business – from initial concept to securing the finances needed to scale.

Who Should Listen to Resilient?

  • Aspiring entrepreneurs
  • Innovators looking to turn their ideas into marketable solutions
  • Startup founders who need to raise capital

About the Author: Sevetri Wilson

Sevetri Wilson is a serial entrepreneur who started her first venture in her teens. She has founded two companies and is the first Black woman in New Orleans to have raised more than $1 million in venture capital. In 2010, Wilson received the Jefferson Award – what’s considered the Nobel Prize for public service – and she has been featured across news outlets for her work in business and technology.

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App