Dale Berkove didn’t step foot inside Sears think[box] for nearly two years as a student at Case Western Reserve, but he credits it as a major driving factor in his decision to attend the university. The mere knowledge the makerspace was there whenever he was ready to use it was enticing.
Now a fourth-year student majoring in data science and analytics, Berkove spends a majority of his time on the sixth and seventh floors of the innovation center. It’s where he works on SearchOwl Inc., the business he co-founded with roommates Jadon Wyant, Ryan Kaiser and Cullen Combi. They were later joined by Berkove’s high school friend Priya Francis from the University of Miami.
Their startup seeks to eliminate some of the frustrations of online shopping by offering an ad-free portal for skincare products. Their artificial intelligence-powered program is designed with users in mind and offers automated market research for brands.
The SearchOwl co-founders were among the university’s contingents to CES earlier this year and they continue to grow their company with resources and insights from CWRU’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Today (April 8), Berkove and his co-founders will pitch their company in the Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition. They are among the finalists in the Venture Track; last year the team placed second in their track.
Members of the community are invited to attend the competition from 5 to 8 p.m. in Sears think[box] to see members of SearchOwl Inc. and other finalists in this year’s competition.
Want to learn more about Berkove’s initiative? Visit sorcea.com for personalized, ad-free skincare recommendations. But first, learn more about Berkove and SearchOwl Inc.
Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
1. What stage is your startup in and what comes next?
To date, we’ve raised over $100,000 and have worked with skincare brands across the country. We’re currently preparing for the Morgenthaler Pavey startup competition and the Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston, Texas, on April 8 and April 10–12, respectively.
Some major upgrades to the shopping platform will be coming later this year that I’m really excited about. We will also be launching an app by the end of 2025.
2. What do you appreciate most about the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem?
The best part of CWRU’s entrepreneurship resources, by far, is the people. When we originally had our idea, we met with [the late] Bob Sopko and Brittain Elswick. Admittedly, the idea wasn’t great. But instead of telling us no, they gave us a laundry list of to-dos and opened up their networks. Since then, Michael Goldberg, Tiffany Cashon, Mindy Baierl, Will Tavel and Stacey Lotz have done the same, offering advice, introductions and encouragement.
There are tons of pitfalls and mistakes to make as a first-time entrepreneur. This semester alone I’ve walked into Tiffany’s office at least a dozen times to get her help on a question. Having the ability to walk into anyone’s office and get advice is one of the main reasons SearchOwl is where it is today.
3. What was the experience like earlier this year at CES?
CES was a truly transformative event, but the price tag meant the event wasn’t something we could have done on our own. It was truly a blessing that CWRU was able to give us this amazing experience for us at just 21 years old.
At CES, we were able to set up a booth and pitch our idea to thousands of people. We met some of the largest players in our space, and refined our elevator pitch. The experience was amazing and also bittersweet. While there, people from across the globe stopped by to reminisce about Bob Sopko’s impact on CWRU entrepreneurship and the yearly contingency to the show.
4. What has been the most surprising thing you’ve learned or encountered as an entrepreneur?
I thought of an entrepreneur as someone who built things. I wanted to build cool technology. But you very quickly realize that building is one of the last steps in the process. What you as an entrepreneur think people want versus what they actually want are two vastly different things. Then ask someone if they’ll pay for it and the difference can become even greater.
Last spring, we had the opportunity to participate in the National Science Foundation’s regional I-Corps program to learn about customer discovery. Now, we have hundreds of conversations with customers before I write a single line of code.
5. What are you most looking forward to for the Morgenthaler-Pavey Competition? Why would you encourage members of the community to come watch?
Every single day, amazing things are happening in the think[box] incubator and across CWRU research labs, but this innovation isn’t always visible. Morgenthaler-Pavey is the one night where the entire campus gathers to showcase and celebrate innovation, from first-years with business ideas to cutting-edge research and revenue-generating businesses.
Morgenthaler-Pavey was the first entrepreneurship event that my co-founders and I went to. Our goal immediately became to pitch the following year. If you already have an idea in mind or just want to witness the amazing innovation happening on campus, you can’t miss this event.
6. What do you plan to do after graduation?
After graduation, I’ll be working full-time on SearchOwl in Cleveland. We’ll be spending the summer preparing to raise our next round and managing seven computer science interns.
7. Have you had any internships or other experiential learning opportunities?
After my sophomore year, I built and released a game with Turning Tables Games. After my junior year, I worked as a Product Management and Analytics intern at Capital One—two very different experiences, one at a small company and the other at a large corporation. Seeing both sides of the coin has been invaluable as we build SearchOwl. Each has unique qualities and processes that we’ve incorporated to help us move faster and work more efficiently.