Author Archives: Dave Berkus

Is it your brilliant plan or your execution?

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Dave Berkus

Mike Tyson: brilliant business savant “Everybody’s got a plan – until they are punched in the face,” famously stated boxer Mike Tyson.  My experience personally reviewing over three hundred executive summaries each year, all sent to me unsolicited, seems to … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche | 2 Comments

Have you heard? Eyeballs aren’t everything.

Posted on November 19, 2020 by Dave Berkus

Remember when? Back when we were all trying to figure out the real value of traffic on the web, investors – and acquiring companies – got a bit crazy with metrics used to value acquisitions and investments.  Since in most … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Positioning | 1 Comment

Create a great product – the three-step dance method

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Dave Berkus

Can you create a product in a vacuum? Creating a new product in a relative vacuum is an exercise in complete trust that you know what’s best for the customer, perhaps even without interaction with such a customer.  It’s probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Positioning | 1 Comment

Ready, fire, aim. Really?

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Dave Berkus

You’ve surely heard the variations on this theme.  “Ready, fire aim” was popular in the 1990’s, accredited to any of several authors.  I used the term to describe my efforts in the artificial intelligence field, experimenting with new devices, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Depending upon others, Hedging against downturns, Protecting the business | 1 Comment

Can you build a company, not just a product?

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Dave Berkus

Some businesses are built around a single idea.    And sometimes that idea is just too small a slice of the big picture to be interesting to investors.  There was a recent investor event where I was keynote speaker, on … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Ignition! Starting up | 2 Comments

My dad said: “Never take on a business partner.”

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Dave Berkus

My dad was a smart businessman, even if not formally trained. He occasionally gave me advice that turned out to be more than wise, looking back at subsequent experience and events.  His personal teaching event was a typical experience, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Depending upon others, Ignition! Starting up, Protecting the business | 8 Comments

Should you include your sweat equity in a business plan?

Posted on October 15, 2020 by Dave Berkus

Investors love it when entrepreneurs draw little or no money from their startups.  It extends the cash available for research and other necessary fixed costs and gives the fragile, young company more “runway” to get to breakeven. What are you … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignition! Starting up, Raising money | Leave a comment

What is your biggest error in company planning?

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Dave Berkus

The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error.  Or cost estimation.  It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Leave a comment

What’s the most important thing in a young business?

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Dave Berkus

Cash is everything to a new business.  How many times do we have to say this?  The days of being able to trust that there will be an investor or lender on the other end of a call or email … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth!, Ignition! Starting up | 1 Comment

So, do you have that entrepreneurial DNA?

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Dave Berkus

My immediate family members were entrepreneurs from as far back as I can trace.  Dad was a jeweler, then a furniture store owner.  Mom wrote books and articles from her college days until she could no longer see the keyboard.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignition! Starting up | 2 Comments