Resilient

Introduction 1
 
1 Coming From Where I'm From 3
 
Triple Threat 6
 
2 The Difference 16
 
Focus 25
 
3 Bootstrapping versus Raising Capital 28
 
Professional Services to Startup 28
 
On the Bootstrapping Process 31
 
Repeatable and Predictable Revenue, Regardless 38
 
Money Can't Be the Only Motivation 39
 
4 Idea to Product: Building a Startup 42
 
Starting With Funding 42
 
Starting Without Funding 43
 
What Not to Do When Starting a Company 44
 
You'll Never Get Going Unless 45
 
5 Building a Team 49
 
Hiring and Finding Freelancers and Others 49
 
Out of the Gate 57
 
Contingency versus Retained Recruiters 59
 
Get Out of the Way 62
 
6 I Hear You, But I Need Capital 67
 
Financing Terminology 68
 
Preparing to Raise 70
 
What Legal Documents Should I Use? 71
 
7 Raising a Pre-Seed $400,000 79
 
Pre-Seed, Better Known as a Friends-and-Family Round 79
 
The Pitch 85
 
8 Accelerators and Pitch Competitions? Bang or Bust 89
 
9 Raising My Seed Round 98
 
10 Product Market Fit 103
 
Sales: Remember Predictable, Repeatable Revenue? 103
 
11 Raising a Series A 107
 
12 Holy Crap--A Pandemic! 113
 
Prioritizing Mental Well-Being 116
 
13 The Murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and BLM 119
 
The Talk I Had With My Team 123
 
The Role of Philanthropy in Creating Equity 125
 
Systemic Issues Facing Black-Led Technology Companies 126
 
14 My Hopes, and Losing an Icon 129
 
The Role Technology Plays 129
 
On Building Generational Wealth 132
 
Appendix 137
 
Glossary 139
 
Rate Sheet 145
 
Online Resources 149
 
About the Author 151
 
Index 153

Sevetri Wilson is an entrepreneur and the founder of two companies: Solid Ground Innovations and Resilia. She bootstrapped her first company, SGI, to seven figures with zero capital and has raised over $11M to date for Resilia. She is the first Black woman in New Orleans to raise over $1MM in venture capital, and has raised the most of any female founder from her home state of Louisiana. She has been featured in Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence, Inc., Entrepreneur, CNN, and USA Today.