Paths to Sustainability

Last weekend, we had a workshop on investment and fundraising with the Purple Prize 2020 cohort. We covered topics ranging from grants and philanthropy to regulation crowdfunding (RegCF).

Over the next few weeks we’ll be releasing some of the key takeaways from the workshop. First up: Insights on “Paths to Sustainability” with Mark Watkins, the CEO and Founder of Bookship, a social reading app. Here are our key takeaways.

1. There are 3 things that make a company sustainable in the long run. Gotta have all three to be successful: 
   1. Product-market fit
   2. Path to profitability
   3. Emotional resilience 
2. There are three paths to financial sustainability:
   
   
3. You need to have emotional resilience:  surround yourself with the right people, work on something you are passionate about, invest in yourself, read books. 
4. You need to have emotional resilience:  surround yourself with the right people, work on something you are passionate about, invest in yourself, read books.

Markʻs recommended books: 

• Product/Market Fit
  • Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
  • The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• The Path
  • The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
  • How to Have a Happy Hustle by Bec Evans
• Emotional Resilience
  • The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
  • Wind, Sand & Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

If you are interested in learning more or viewing this recorded session, please email us at purpleprize@purplemaia.org. 

Mahalo.