Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus is a Internationally recognized speaker, author, angel investor, corporate governance guru.

[Ros Cardinal @CardinalRos]

Dave spoke about the importance of style flexibility — the ability to adapt leadership behaviour to the situation rather than relying on a single default approach.

Read more 👉 https://t.co/n84x7m9URw

#GreatLeaders #Leadership #LeadershipLessons

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

Revenue can hide sloppy execution for a long time. board materials usually can't.

if the numbers are clean but the reporting is vague, inconsistent, or always late, that's the tell.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

When everyone's posting their funding round like proof of survival, i watch for whoever quietly extended runway and went quiet.

that one's usually more interesting.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

Founders pitch valuation like it's a reward for effort. investors price it like a discount for risk that's still on the table.

Those are two completely different conversations, and they're usually happening at the same time.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

The average successful founder is 42 years old. https://t.co/34w4ocQCws

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

the real question isn't whether you'll feel alone at the top.

you will. that's part of it.

the question is: are you building relationships that can actually exist at that altitude?

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

the CEOs I've seen thrive at the top have one thing in common.

they built architecture around the solitude. a peer group at the same altitude. a board they actually use. a coach with no stake in the outcome.

they didn't escape the pressure. they built relationships that could survive it.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

most lonely CEOs aren't lonely because of the role.

they're lonely because they performed confidence for so long they forgot how to say "I don't know" to anyone.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

"lonely at the top" is half true.

the solitude is real. midnight decisions, weight you can't share with the team, things that only land on your desk.

but the isolation? that's a choice.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

42% of startups fail because nobody wanted what they built.

not because of competition. not because of funding. because founders spent months — sometimes years — building something the market never asked for.

here's what the failure data actually shows 🧵

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

23% of startups die because of the wrong team.

and it's almost never a skills problem. it's a stage problem.

the person who's right for year one is rarely right for year three. the best founders know the difference — and make the call before the market makes it for them.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

the best pitch i ever heard was 47 seconds long.

no deck. no slides. just one problem, one solution, one number.

fewer words, greater effect.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

editing is not a writing skill. it's a thinking skill.

the sentence you cut was the one you hadn't thought through yet.

fewer words, greater effect.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

a lighthouse doesn't explain itself.

it just cuts through the fog.

that's what great communication does. one clear signal. no noise.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

raising a round isn't a milestone. it's a new set of obligations.

the founders who treat a term sheet as validation are the ones who spend the next 18 months building for investors instead of customers.

capital accelerates the direction you're already going. make sure you like where that is.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

@franguzmanx Proud to support Francisco and V30. Using it regularly to schedule posts I've written with the help of V30 and pho-realistic images created using V30. A bargain at its PRO monthly rate.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

product-market fit isn't a finish line.

it's a moving target. what fits at $1M ARR stops fitting at $10M. the customer who validated you early is rarely the customer who scales you.

the founders who survive know the difference between fit and momentum. most conflate the two.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

padding is a tell.

when someone talks longer than the room needs, they're not informing you — they're stalling because they haven't decided what they actually think.

say less. mean more.

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

The Leader’s Toolkit by Dave Berkus - Book Review https://t.co/Ct8qkdxbx5

[Dave Berkus @daveberkus]

2026's Top Leadership Development Book: The Toolkit for Decisive Styles That Crush Boardroom Chaos https://t.co/kRHbzx0Mrg