Category Archives: Ignition! Starting up

Include your labor value in your plan.

Posted on December 12, 2013 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. But when forecasting … Continue reading →

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

Accurate assumptions lead to defendable plans

Posted on December 5, 2013 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 Finding your ideal niche, Ignition! Starting up, Raising money | 1 Comment

Big corporations are just slow to act.

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Dave Berkus

  By David Steakley  This week, David Steakley returns for another bite at the corporate apple,  with just the right amount of tart comments that will keep this document legal for now.  Read on!  – DB How do you judge a … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Ignition! Starting up | 1 Comment

Do you have that entrepreneurial DNA?

Posted on October 31, 2013 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 | 3 Comments

The Berkus Method: Valuing an Early Stage Investment.

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Dave Berkus

The Berkus Method was updated in November, 2016, and is available here… For those of us who’ve invested in early stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem.  There are many ways to project the value of … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignition! Starting up, Raising money | 17 Comments

Address the five risks to increase your valuation.

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Dave Berkus

In the creation of a new enterprise, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur.  Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each.  So it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Ignition! Starting up, Positioning | 4 Comments

Consider all resources before seeking investment.

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Dave Berkus

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. First, few startups can use that much money today with all of the virtual services … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignition! Starting up, Raising money | 3 Comments

Watch out for the gray areas in non-competes.

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Dave Berkus

   What if you are the seller of a previous business or shares amounting to more than an insignificant percentage of a previous business?  Certainly the buyer’s asset purchase documents included a non-compete clause, usually valid for two years from … Continue reading →

Posted in Depending upon others, Ignition! Starting up, Protecting the business | 1 Comment

Fail fast!

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Dave Berkus

Professional investors want to live by this rule. With the first round of funding, there should be milestones to be achieved.  If they are not achieved within the expected time, the reasons must be analyzed and acted upon to avoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Ignition! Starting up | 1 Comment

Entrepreneurs: Do it your way.

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Dave Berkus

Yes, this is a takeoff from Frank Sinatra’s song, where he did it his way and got away with it.  You’re building a company from your vision and a passion, and lots of people are going to tell you that … Continue reading →

Posted in Depending upon others, Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Ignition! Starting up | Leave a comment