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
Have You Heard? Eyeballs Aren’t Everything.
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…
Ready, Fire, Aim. Really?
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,…
Can You Build a Company, Not Just a Product?
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…
My dad said: “Never take on a business partner.”
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…
Should You Include Your Sweat Equity in a Business Plan?
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…
What Is Your Biggest Error In Company Planning?
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,…
What’s the most important thing in a young business?
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…
So, do you have that entrepreneurial DNA?
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…
The Thrill of the Deal: Remember When…
You’ve worked for months to get this deal to the closing, anticipating the wire transfers to the shareholders that will come any minute. This could change your lifestyle and give you that much needed pause…
What Use is An Investment Banker?
Many CEOs have asked me if I felt an investment banker adds value if the buyer has already been identified. How investment bankers behave Investment bankers sometimes slow the process by requiring a cloud-based “data…