John Berkowitz on Overcoming The Challenges of Running a Business & How OJOLabs is Automating Decision Making

In Today’s Episode, We Talk About;

- John’s journey as an entrepreneur prior to real estate and starting Yodle at 21. 

- Exiting Yodle and the importance of being led by value not the goal to exit the business. 

- Entrepreneurial PTSD and the challenges founders face 

- The journey of OJOLabs and why John chose it as his next venture after Yodle.

- The difference between real AI and what people say AI is.

- Scaling and its connection to a lack of entrepreneurial desire. 

- What John is excited about, what he has changed his mind on and something surprising about him. 

- The value of earned trust, and why it’s what makes a real difference in business. 

What doesn’t exist today is a consumer trusting a product or company 

Guest Info

John Berkowitz is the Co-founder and CEO of OJO Labs, an Austin-based company that has quickly become a leader in conversational AI technology. With the application of its patented AI, OJO empowers people to make better decisions through the fusion of machine and human intelligence by automating lead conversations for agents and creating data-driven, personalized experiences for consumers. John’s track record of building and scaling successful, mission-driven technology companies with award-winning workplaces paved the way for the formation of OJO in 2015. John’s dedication toward building a positive work environment led to OJO being named to Comparably’s 2018 Best Company Culture list, and Built In Austin’s Best Places to Work in 2019. 

Prior to founding OJO, John co-founded Yodle, and was instrumental in building it into a $200M+ revenue leader in the online marketing space with more than 50,000 SMB customers and over 1,400 employees. In February 2016, Yodle was acquired by Web.com in a $342 million all cash transaction. Recently, John was named to Swanepoel’s SP200 and The Most Powerful Technology Executives in The Residential Real Estate Brokerage Industry list. John is actively involved in nonprofits, and currently serves as CASA’s board president, using his entrepreneurial background and resources to fight for the welfare of children in the communities he operates in.