Startup survival remains a significant challenge in emerging economies due to economic uncertainty, resource constraints, institutional weaknesses, technological disruption, and intense market competition. This conceptual paper examines entrepreneurial resilience as a potential explanatory mechanism for startup survival and develops a predictive conceptual model based on the integration of Dynamic Capability Theory and the Resource-Based View. The paper conceptualises entrepreneurial resilience as a multidimensional capability comprising adaptability, resourcefulness, innovation capability, emotional regulation, proactive decision-making, and social/network support. It proposes that these dimensions enable entrepreneurs to respond to adversity through adaptation, resource mobilisation, and strategic renewal, thereby strengthening the capacity of startups to maintain operations and remain viable. The proposed model positions entrepreneurial resilience as the capability base, adaptive entrepreneurial action as the underlying mechanism, and startup survival as the outcome. The paper contributes theoretically by integrating psychological, strategic, resource-based, and relational dimensions of resilience into a unified framework for understanding startup survival in emerging economies. It also provides theoretical propositions that can guide future empirical investigation and inform entrepreneurship development programmes and policy interventions. The paper concludes that entrepreneurial resilience should be regarded not merely as an individual psychological attribute but as a strategic capability that can enhance the capacity of startups to survive and adapt under conditions of uncertainty.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial resilience, startup survival, emerging economies, dynamic capabilities, resource-based view, entrepreneurship.