Who we are
We have decades of experience at the intersection of technology, product, people, process, strategy and tactics. We deeply understand the challenges and opportunities of SaaS businesses - especially during early stages, investment rounds, at inflection points and pivots, and during M&A activity. We understand the mindset, goals and concerns of the founders and management team, the board of directors, the investors, the tech and product teams, those who rely on the tech and product teams, and potential acquirers or acquirees.
Our assessment, advisory and due diligence assistance is holistic. That is, we work with all of the key stakeholders based on the specific situation and need, and we focus on alignment - of interests, of strategy, of tactics, of communication.
Oftentimes, getting to the heart of a discovery process - especially if it has tendrils into multiple teams and stakeholders - is a significant challenge for insiders. You are necessarily focused on the day to day, the next release, the next sale, the state of the potential acquisition or investment, the people and the politics, the finances, the competition, the brush fire du jour. You can be very well served by engaging a partner who is a dispassionate but experienced outsider who understands the challenges and pain points, who can find and speak the truth, who is willing and able to tell you what you need to hear (as contrasted with what you want to hear), and who can provide concrete and actionable findings and recommendations. We would welcome the opportunity to be that trusted partner to you.
We’d love to help you. Let’s have a conversation.
Dan Berg, Principal and Founder
After more than 35 years of increasingly senior technology, product, operational and leadership team roles in early and mid-stage SaaS, data, and related businesses, Dan founded Intersect Advisory Group in 2023.
He saw a recurring pattern across companies he worked for and many more that he partnered and did business with where seasoned and candid independent expertise and advice would be valuable. In his experience, larger, more mature, established companies and/or their PE investors/owners have well-developed centers of operational excellence that understand not just business and finance but technology and product. But in younger, earlier companies, this depth of independent expertise is often absent. Hence, a desire and opportunity to put his decades of experience and a-ha moments to use in a broader way.
Dan got his start as a software engineer, then an architect / designer, pre- and post-sales consultant, product+tech team manager, and most recently has held numerous CTO, CIO, and similar senior roles in small and mid-sized companies where these positions have had broad responsibility and visibility into the entirety of the companies’ operations.
He has built and led teams at the intersection of software, product, “big data”, info security, cloud and infrastructure, pre- and post-sales consulting, process and project management, and more. He has spent many years in the “C-suite”, has been a founder, board member, trusted advisor, acquirer, acquiree, coach, mentor, architect, business partner, and technical partner in the business development and sales process.
In the spirit of truth telling, Dan has been part of notable successes and regrettable failures. He has basked in the glow of significant product technical, team-building and company-building accomplishments, acquisitions and exits, and he has licked his wounds and learned a tremendous amount from individual and collective mistakes. In an example of conventional wisdom actually being correct, the failures and mistakes are where the real learning occurs.
Dan collaborates well at all levels, with all stakeholders, with a refreshing degree of approachability, calm, clarity and candor. He works with a broad network of long-time, trusted and amazingly competent subject matter experts who can be enlisted as needed depending on the specific engagement, whether it be technical, people and/or process assessment, due diligence, coaching, or alignment.