David W. Berkus is an American

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

and venture capitalist from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He is credited with technological innovations in

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

for the

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and lodging industries and was recognized by that industry's Hospitality Financial Technology Professionals association with its International Hall of Fame designation. Inc. Magazine described him as a "

super angel Super angel (or "super-angel") was a term used in the early 2010s to describe venture capital investors who had once been angel investors and subsequently raised small venture capital funds. Super angels share some characteristics of both angel inv ...

" in 1996. He attended

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

in Eagle Rock, California, graduating in 1962. He then served in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

for nearly a decade while simultaneously managing his first enterprise, a

phonograph A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

record production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and

manufacturing company Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range ...

, which he created at the age of 15. He is responsible for leading companies as CEO, chairman or lead director. He was awarded "Director of the Year" for his board

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

efforts with over 40 companies over the years. He has formed, managed and sold businesses in the

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

and

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

industries. He specifically deals with

business operations Business operations is the ''harvesting'' of value from assets owned by a business. Assets can be either ''physical'' or '' intangible''. An example of value derived from a physical asset, like a building, is rent. An example of value derived fro ...

and venture investing and serves on a number of

corporate board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an Committee#Executive committee, executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such a ...

Early years

In 1957, Berkus founded his first company, Custom Fidelity, Inc., whose purpose was to produce and manufacture

phonograph records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...

. In 1971 he managed this company to its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

(IPO) under SEC Regulation "A," which pertains to

small businesses Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

. In 1968 he relocated the company from

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. By 1974, the company employed over fifty people under its record manufacturing operation and other related divisions, and he sold his interest in the business. During his time at

, Berkus held the position of

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

for the Occidental Weekly, as well as president of the

Kappa Sigma Fraternity Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraterniti ...

. In his senior year he received the Wall Street Journal Award for his accomplishments in the study of

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. In 1962, he graduated from Occidental College with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

. Berkus then served in the

from 1963 to 1967, serving as an aircrewman aboard P2 aircraft. He reached the level of E5, and then was awarded a

direct commission A direct commission officer (DCO) is a United States uniformed officer who has received an appointed commission without the typical prerequisites for achieving a commission, such as attending a four-year service academy, a four-year or two-year ...

in the

as an

Air Intelligence Officer An air intelligence officer serves to collect information about air operations and assist in the direction of their execution for maximum effect. The evaluation of target damage is an essential task of the air intelligence officer, who is expecte ...

from 1967 to 1972, reaching the level of O3, while still managing Custom Fidelity Inc. Having programmed an early

minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ...

for the record company in his spare time, he found a market for the programs by creating the earliest forms of packaged software. He sold his interest in the record company, and founded Berkus Compusystems Inc., in 1974 to market the computer software he had written. One of the several hundred early customers was a local hotel, the Miramar Sheraton, whose owner asked him to write software for reservations and front office operations. From that request, Berkus turned his attention to the hotel industry that had little previous automation in its past, and formed Computerized Lodging Systems Inc., in 1981. Through his work in these two companies, he helped to shape the minicomputer software industry, being recognized by the

Inc. 500 ''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...

list of America's fasting-growing companies in 1987 and 1988. His company held 16% of the world market share for hotel automation systems. He sold Computerized Lodging Systems to MAI Systems, Inc. in 1990 and continued to operate the company as a subsidiary until 1993, when he left to form Berkus Technology Ventures. His achievements were recognized by his induction into the highly exclusive (49 members as of 2021) Hospitality (HFTP) "International Hall of Fame" in 1998. , Marriott Hotels still used the computer software he wrote in 2,200 hotels, under the internal name, FOSSE.

Venture capital and corporate development

While Berkus often serves as

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

of several of his early stage companies, his primary focus has been as a managing partner or managing director of six early stage investment funds, including Kodiak Ventures, LP, Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC., three funds managed for the Tech Coast Angels of Southern California, and Wayfare Ventures, LLC. Berkus is current or recent Board Chairman or board member for numerous public and private technology companies, and has been active in a total of over forty private and public companies. He has made 206 investments in early stage ventures, often known as angel investing, for which he has an IRR of 105%, which includes capital contributions to his various funds (see above). He is also Chairman Emeritus of the Tech Coast Angels.

Philanthropy

Berkus is a longtime trustee of Occidental College and was a driving force in developing its newest and largest dormitory, a 274-bed hall which was originally named Rangeview Hall. In 2013 the dormitory was renamed Berkus Hall in recognition of a $5 million gift from Berkus and his wife and children. A second residence for senior women at Occidental College was named Berkus House in honor of a previous donation to the college.

Affiliations

In recognition for adding significant

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

value for emerging technology companies over the past decade, he was named "Director of the Year-Early Stage Businesses" by the Forum for Corporate Directors of

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, and Technology Leader of the Year by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Authored works

*Berkus, D., & Kelly, B. (1994), ''Better Than Money!'', Santa Barbara, CA: Synergy Press. *Berkus, D. (2006),'' Extending the Runway'', New York, NY: Aspatore Press. *Berkus, D. (2012), ''Basic Berkonomics'', Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press. *Berkus, D. (2009), ''Berkonomics'', Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press. *Berkus, D. (2011), ''Advanced Berkonomics'', Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press. *Berkus, D. (2013), ''Small Business Success Collection: Resources for entrepreneurs, investors and corporate boards'' (Vols. 1–8), Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press (resources for entrepreneurs, investors and corporate boards). *Berkus, D. (2014), ''Small Business Success Collection: Resources for entrepreneurs, investors and corporate boards'' (Vols. 1–8), (2nd Ed.), Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press. *Berkus, D. (2014), ''Extending the Runway'', (2nd Ed.), Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press *Berkus, D., & Shepherd, K. (2015), ''Get Scrappy'', Los Angeles, CA: Berkus Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkus, Dave Living people Businesspeople from Los Angeles American venture capitalists Occidental College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)