We recently connected with Robert Bergman and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?

I decided to start my own company out of pure boredom from retirement. I was on a flight back from DC and I was sitting next to an attorney who had just completed several hours representing a client in mediation. He explained that it was a waste of time and mired in emotional reactions instead of logic. I explained my background and work in international standards, where dozens of engineers from dozens of countries had to agree on technical solutions. I also explained how I used decision analytics methods to help get group decisions ( or social choice theory methods). At that point, we decided to start a company to apply those methods to dispute resolution (mediation). Since this was going to be a software solution or platform, we did not need a physical location to start.

Robert, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The problem we are solving is fairly basic in nature but complicated in reality. Disputes inevitably lead to an increase in emotional reactions as our Mammalian Brains react first to a perceived threat. Anger, of course, stems from feeling threatened and some form of inner pain, or other strong emotions such as fear, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and powerlessness. Unfortunately, independent of age and intelligence, most people react to these threats by regressing to “Child Logic.” Child Logic refers to the “magical thinking associated with earlier brain development and infuses our expectations with emotions rooted in our wishes and hopes, unmanaged by the facts of reality.” It is Child Logic that supports beliefs such as “Life should be fair” ,“I deserve justice”; or “I should get what I want.” It’s as if the emotional brain has hijacked the rational brain, and they are no longer effectively communicating with each other. Transcending Child Logic requires that we can distinguish between what we need (clear objectives) and what we want (emotionally driven objectives).

Unfortunately, there are no classes below the University level that teach people how to make logical decisions. Humans basically learn by trial and error or observation. The NextLevel Mediation software platform helps mediators, neutrals, attorneys, and arbitrators aid their clients in making logical decisions about their disputes.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The business is fairly new from the perspective of having a complete product to release. It has been self-funded and developed by only 3 part-time engineers (including myself). The other engineers were my son Jason and one of his colleagues from another job. To date, the most effective form of marketing has been connections with academic organizations, publishing white papers on key mediation-oriented websites, speaking at conferences, and LinkedIn marketing.

We also developed an online class using the TalentLMS learning management system to help new clients learn how to use the system. In addition, we integrated a CRM system to manage requests and track problems.

Any advice for managing a team?

Startups in general take a long time to get off the ground, especially in high tech. Keeping team morale high should be focused on setting realistic expectations. Most humans have a difficult time with delay or system lag time (time between cause and effect). Entrepreneurs are very optimistic when they take the risk of starting a new business. While it is OK to be optimistic about a business it is not OK to make optimistic decisions (decisions based on your ego). Delay, or system lag time, causes instability and tends to foster knee-jerk reactions like quitting too soon. My advice is to stick with your long-term strategy. A strategy is not a strategy unless you stick to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nextlevelmediation.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nextlevelmediation.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTUQ3og_gUY