Purpose This study reconceptualizes entrepreneurial resilience as a dynamic and developable capacity that emerges from specific configurations of experiential, cognitive and motivational resources. Drawing on a configurational perspective, we examine how work experience, entrepreneurial experience, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and high-growth motivation combine to produce high levels of resilience among startup founders. We further introduce risk-taking propensity as a cognitive boundary condition, demonstrating how different risk framings shape the viability of alternative resource configurations. Design/methodology/approach Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), we analyze data from 128 founders participating in Lanzadera startup accelerator. After calibrating all resource conditions, we split the sample into high and low risk-taking groups to account for heterogeneous cognitive framings of uncertainty. We then identify configurational pathways through which experiential, cognitive and motivational resources jointly suffice to produce high entrepreneurial resilience. Findings We identify five distinct sufficient configurations for high resilience: three among high risk-takers and two among low risk-takers. Some pathways are shared across groups, such as the combination of entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, while others are unique, reflecting different compensatory logics. High-growth motivation and entrepreneurial experience frequently substitute for weak work experience or lower self-efficacy. High risk-takers exhibit a broader repertoire of viable configurations, whereas low risk-takers depend on more specific resource bundles. Research limitations/implications This study measures perceived resilience capacity rather than resilience enacted during real adversity and focuses on entrepreneurs from a single accelerator. Future research should examine resilience processes in real time, include additional resource conditions (e.g., emotional intelligence, social capital), consider more diverse ecosystems and apply longitudinal or multi-level designs to explore how resource configurations evolve across entrepreneurial phases. Originality/value This study advances a configurational understanding of entrepreneurial resilience by demonstrating that resilience emerges not from isolated traits or additive resource effects but from equifinal resource combinations whose efficacy depends on risk-taking propensity. We show how experiential, cognitive and motivational resources interact through compensatory and substitutive dynamics, revealing previously overlooked trade-offs in resilience building. The findings inform complexity-informed entrepreneurship theory and provide actionable insights for founders and support organizations on how to intentionally develop resilience through tailored resource configurations.
Donaldson et al. (2026) studied this question.