BY: Raquelle “Rocki” Harris
Planning, persistence and perseverance pays off. Entrepreneur Sevetri Wilson manifests this mantra as she heads two separate businesses, Solid Ground Innovations (SGI) and ExemptMeNow. Launched in 2009, SGI is a full-service firm that provides a la carte, part-time and full-time professional management and consulting services. ExemptMeNow simplifies the creation and maintenance of nonprofit organizations. They cut the time it takes to process the documents required for establishing a non-profit from 100 to 10 hours. Wilson’s newest “baby” was started in 2016.
Based in New Orleans, she is the first African American woman in Louisiana to raise $1 million in capital. This is an incredible feat as less than one percent of businesses owned by black women worldwide are backed by venture capital. Named after the doctor who delivered her, Wilson’s first name (origin name spelled Savitri) means “relating to the sun” in Sanskrit. Her name is apropos because she is rising and shining her influence. The 31-year-old, who is also a speaker, consultant and social influencer, is courageous in her professional and personal life. She has swam with sharks in water and in boardrooms. Although she has no background in technology, her innovative vision produced a software-based, technology-driven company. She recently shared her insight with Career Mastered Magazine about what it takes to secure venture capital.
On Raising Venture Capital
“When you raise venture capital, you’re going to institutions and accredited investors. You’re probably pitching to
20, 30, 40, 50 different people in which you might get five, six or more investors to bite. You’re essentially pitching your vision for the company. Raising venture capital is considered the hardest money to raise because there are so many steps along the way and so many validations along the way to get there. To be VC backed, your company has to be scalable. You’re basically saying that you’re building a $100, $200 or $300 million company.”
Venture Capital Funds Are Secured. Now What
“ExemptMeNow is a fast company, which means that we’re a high-growth company and in order for high-growth companies to scale, you have to raise money. So, I went out and raised $2 million and I’m going to raise another
$1 million over the next couple weeks, which will put us at about $3 million before it’s all said and done.”
“The purpose of getting money like that is so that you can hire people, you can increase your burn rate and spend more money in marketing. You can go to market in different states around the country. ExemptMeNow has roughly over 3000 clients in 30 different states, but we need to reach other states in the masses. In order to do that, we need a lot more money to fuel that type of growth.”
Tips on How to Raise Venture
You’re pitching the fact that you believe your company can scale and scale really fast and return a very large investment to your investors. And very large means 20 or 30 times “x,” which is what they’re banking on you returning. You’re trying to validate all these different things to investors and pitch them on why you’re the best person to do what you do. You’re trying to pitch why the market is right for it. You have to have a clear, concise elevator pitch on what it is you’re trying to sell and what you’re trying to do. Have a pitch that you can pitch in 60 seconds, a pitch that you can pitch in three minutes and a pitch you can pitch in 10 minutes, which talks about what your company is and its traction to date. A big thing when you’re pitching is that people want to know do you have a good team? Is your team capable of executing the vision? Is your market big enough—are there enough customers that want your product? Is your technology strong enough to service these people.”
“You have to have a solid team because most people are going to bet on the people running it before they bet on the idea of the company. Being able to pull together to prove, not only that you have a good team, but that you can build a good team. Can you recruit people to work for you? Are you a good leader? If I had to offer three keys, I’d say: Have your pitch together. Have your numbers for your traction and revenue (how you’re going to make money). And have numbers for your team. Those are the key things that you need to have down.”
Writing and editing are cathartic for Write Down To It, LLC founder, Raquelle “Rocki” Harris. She is passionate about black culture, minority-owned businesses, music and women’s issues. Her past contributions include For Harriet, SoulBounce and Nia Magazine. In addition to Career Mastered, she contributes to Rolling Out magazine and ThisisRnB.com.
She aims to blend multiple media platforms. Her top-rated podcast, “Rocki’s Reality,” airs on Motor City Woman Radio