Dave Berkus
Dave Berkus is a noted speaker, author and early stage private equity investor. He is acknowledged as one of the most active angel investors in the country, having made and actively participated in over 87 technology investments during the past decade. He currently manages two angel VC funds (Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC and Kodiak Ventures, L.P.) Dave is past Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel networks in the United States. Dave is author of “Basic Berkonomics,” “Berkonomics,” “Advanced Berkonomics,” “Extending the Runway,” and the Small Business Success Collection. Find out more at Berkus.com or contact Dave at dberkus@berkus.com
Latest
Failure is the Greatest of Teachers
Not all companies are successful. The end game can be a failure of the business. In fact, many angel investors or venture capitalists look for and respect the lessons learned by entrepreneurs that have survived a failed business.
Growth Requires a Different Kind of Capital
Growing companies usually require more working capital during their periods of rapid growth. In past insights we have calculated the amount of additional capital needed for a business as it grows, and the additional capital required is often surprisingly large.
Create a Powerful Dashboard
From a sports car to an aircraft to a super tanker, successful operation depends upon the pilot’s understanding and urgent, timely use of a dashboard. Real time information is critical to real time decision-making, and increasingly in the modern business world, decisions are made by management without extended meetings or discussion with others.
Create and Nurture Your Collective Intelligence
At the MIT Center of Collective Intelligence, professors and graduate students are wrestling with an important opportunity—and gaining ground. With new collaborative tools available for use in the cloud, people are no longer isolated in their creative endeavors.
Measuring Your Power in the Internet Marketplace
There are a number of key performance indicators that help new generation company management see more clearly their progress and corporate health. Here are some of these measures, and how to calculate them. You will recognize the value of these for any business, even if they have not been in common use in the past.
Turn “Broadcast” into “Engagement”
Although there is still a place for display advertising in this new world, increasingly small businesses are discovering that creating buzz and engaging their audiences through social media are more powerful and cost effective.
The Power of Just ONE More Unit
There is such leverage in high gross profit margins once a company is past break-even. Every dollar of gross profit falls to the bottom line, increasing net profit faster with each transaction. The point is that once a company is stable at or above the break-even point, one incremental unit generates robust increases in net profit.
Cast Your Net Where the Big Fish Swim
This is one of those “My dad used to say” homilies. You’ve probably heard the accompanying “It takes just as much effort to sell a small deal as a big one,” over the years. The truth of this is more nuanced.
Safety First. Profits Follow.
Much of workplace safety is common sense. But there is a natural tension between economy of operation and provision for safety for employees, and the resulting risk to the enterprise must be carefully weighed.
Disaster Recovery and Other Happy Subjects
Have you been open in sharing your knowledge and talent with a backup, or even a potential successor? It is prudent and certainly a sign that you take this responsibility personally as a leader among your peers and subordinates.