Category Archives: Growth!

Sometimes your gut is the best you’ve got.

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Dave Berkus

Years ago I led a deal and invested in a company that looked like it had lots of promise to disrupt the women’s clothing industry with special algorithms and an online store.  But something had bothered me from the very … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth!, Hedging against downturns, Protecting the business | 4 Comments

Good, cheap, fast. Pick any two.

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Dave Berkus

This one is attributed to Rod Adair, the famous oil and gas fire suppressing expert.  And boy, does it apply to most of us and our offerings. “Quality” products and services should not be positioned as “cheap,” or your potential … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Positioning | 3 Comments

Your business: Grow it and hold it?

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Dave Berkus

Taking money from professional investors such as angels or VCs usually requires that you agree to seek an exit for those investors in your plan, often targeting five to seven years as the ideal period for growth before a liquidity … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Growth! | 2 Comments

Double down!

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Dave Berkus

This piece of wisdom came from Jeff Bezos, founder & CEO of Amazon, during a board meeting for one of the companies where he sits as board member.  Jeff asked the question “Is there anything big or small, which is … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth! | 2 Comments

Patent litigation can kill the small guy.

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Dave Berkus

When you think of patents, you think of added value to the corporation in the form of protection of its intellectual property.  In fact, many corporations spend millions developing surrounding patents to form what is known as a “patent thicket,” … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Growth!, Protecting the business | 3 Comments

There’s gold in re-purposing intellectual property.

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Dave Berkus

Several times a month, I’d have lunch with one of my CEOs, and each time we’d find ourselves digging into the intellectual property developed by the company over the years, just to refresh ourselves about what the intended use was … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth! | 2 Comments

Whatever it is, try to deliver it via the cloud

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Dave Berkus

By David Steakley Editor’s note:  Popular contributor, David Steakley, returns this week with his take on the importance of cloud delivery for technology businesses. – DWB Everyone knows that software-as-a-service has displaced the old style of delivering enterprise software. You … Continue reading →

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Bottom up budgeting creates waste. Top down!

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Dave Berkus

Many people believe that bottom up budgeting leads to waste and misdirection. The advocates of top-down budgeting are strong in their belief that if you give each person or department no guidance, they will budget to their wants or specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth!, Protecting the business | 4 Comments

White-label it: Make it ‘YOU’ inside.

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Dave Berkus

By David Steakley This week’s insight comes from David Steakley, who has contributed several great posts to Berkonomics this year.  David is an active angel investor in Texas and is a former management consultant, where he obviously plied his trade … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth! | 2 Comments

The five kinds of risk in building your business

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Dave Berkus

If you could predict a crisis within your business before its occurrence, wouldn’t you move to prevent or reduce its impact?  Making such predictions is a skill that can be developed, and here’s one method of doing so. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in Growth!, Hedging against downturns | 3 Comments