David Lipschitz BSc Honours Computer Science MBA
Textile Diploma - NABCEP PV Associate
Westerford, UCT, Rhodes, Cranfield, CPUT, Oracle University, SEI, Udemy
Military Fathers and Their Sons, David's Forensic Analysis Book's YouTube Channel
David Lipschitz
Operating through My Power Station Technology (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town, South Africa
Cranfield MBA | Enterprise Back-Office SME (Subject Matter Expert) | Relational Database & Data Platform Architect | IT Neurosurgeon
Email: david@mypowerstation.biz | Phone: +27 74 119 3246 | Working in a Remote Capacity (happy to travel when necessary) | South African and British Citizenship and Passports.
Clients tap into my business, operations, and process knowledge.
"Using a river analogy for business, building the river banks (pipes, plumbing) is important, but managing the river flow (water, cashflow) is critical. I don’t just build the banks; I manage the flow. I use my Cranfield MBA, 40 years of systems engineering, and deep relational database mastery to ensure your money flows securely, your operations run with aviation-grade clarity, and your people get into a state of optimal, frictionless Flow."
In modern business, organisations are frequently obsessed with building "banks"—the physical structures of computer networks, databases, ERP software, and SaaS subscriptions (the pipes and plumbing) and the financial banks where capital is stored.
But a river is defined by its flow, not just its banks. If the water is stagnant, turbulent, or leaking away, the most expensive banks cannot save it. David’s focus is on managing the operational and information flow, ensuring that human understanding, communication, and database transactions run smoothly, securely, and efficiently.
There is a massive, quiet talent crisis brewing in the corporate world. While the technology industry has spent the last decade obsessing over AI, LLMs, and front-end frameworks, the foundational layer that powers almost every business on Earth—the relational database (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server)—is facing a severe shortage of deep, battle-tested expertise.
This talent gap is driven by three major industry forces:
The "Managed DB" Illusion: Cloud automation handles basic physical server setup and routine OS patching, leading companies to believe they no longer need Database Administrators (DBAs). However, cloud providers cannot automate complex query optimisation, indexing strategies, resolving cascading deadlocks, or designing schemas that scale securely from thousands to hundreds of millions of rows without locking up tables.
The Demographic Cliff: Up to 41% of veteran data professionals plan to retire or leave the field within the decade, taking decades of system muscle memory and institutional knowledge with them.
The "Glamour Gap" (AI vs. SQL): Bootcamps and universities push students toward flashy front-end or AI engineering, leaving very few new graduates who understand raw query execution plans or transaction isolation levels. Yet, AI and Big Data both fail without rock-solid data architecture.
By retaining David, you are not hiring a commoditised IT contractor. You are securing a Hybrid Manager who understands both the commercial strategy of the boardroom and the low-level locking mechanics of your core database engine.
Every business is driven by a human engine. At My Power Station Technology (Pty) Ltd, we operate on a fundamental truth:
“We all have an internal power station. Are we using it effectively?”
Our internal power station is our unique engine of motivation, creativity, clarity, and drive. Often, this internal generator gets buried under the weight of operational chaos, broken processes, and system performance lag.
David helps businesses and entrepreneurs activate and align this internal power station:
The Individual Power Station: Unlocking the intrinsic motivation of founders and team members, helping them catalyse what truly fires them up.
Power Station Alignment: Connecting human energy to the company's operational systems. When human energy and technical systems are misaligned, valuable momentum is wasted on friction and bureaucracy.
Optimal Flow: David acts as an IT Neurosurgeon, dedicated to "programming computers and unprogramming people." He helps teams eliminate mental clutter and tap into their natural intelligence—bringing their internal power stations into a state of high-performance, frictionless Flow.
Forensic Analysis for Operations: David decodes complex, messy, and ambiguous operational bottlenecks, treating process issues with the exact same investigative and debugging precision used to resolve database deadlocks.
Aviation Logic for Human Systems: Establishing strict, lightweight protocols, checklist frameworks, and visibility dashboards so that multiple projects and complex operations can be managed with 100% clarity, ensuring projects have clear "flight paths" and the business never crashes.
The IT Neurosurgeon Approach: Technology should simplify business, not complicate it. David's work focuses on unprogramming bad organisational habits, aligning people, database structures, and operational processes to restore Flow.
The Hybrid Manager Advantage: Bridging the strategic vision of leadership with robust technical execution. David translates high-level strategic goals into actionable backend capabilities, ensuring that any software or vendor database integrated into your architecture scales cleanly without adding unnecessary complexity.
To protect your freedom as a founder, business owner, or business manager, and ensure a high-level strategic focus, David’s services are not sold as "billable hours" or "contractor days." Instead, you purchase Strategic Access to his brain, his experience, and his operational oversight.
This model is designed to be highly flexible, shifting as your business needs shift, while maintaining strict safety boundaries for both parties.
[ ADVISORY & FLOW GOVERNANCE ] <--- Paid via Monthly Retainer
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┌─────────┴─────────┐
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[ Strategic Access ] [ Safe Guardrails ]
• Weekly Flight Checks • Advisory vs. Delivery
• Priority Response • 90-Day Tide Balancing
• Forensic Sounding • Maximum 3-4 Partners
To ensure this partnership is fair, predictable, and sustainable, we implement three core guardrails:
The "Flow" vs. "Plumbing" Boundary (Advisory vs. Execution):
In-Scope (Managing the Flow): Forensic analysis, query optimisation strategies, reviewing operational agreements (SLA/NDA structures), mentoring, strategic decision support, unprogramming bottlenecks, and workflow design.
Out-of-Scope (Building the Pipes): Hands-on technical construction (e.g., writing lines of database code, physically drafting 50 pages of flavour-testing manuals, or daily administrative task management).
Note: If extensive "plumbing" is required, David will help you scope the project, find the right technical resources, and manage them to ensure it is built to architectural standards.
The "90-Day Tide" Balancing Principle: Operations naturally experience seasonal tides. We do not count hours month-to-month. We measure the partnership's value over a 90-day cycle. If operational needs remain consistently high month-after-month, we mutually agree to adjust the retainer to a higher tier.
Capacity Cap (Aviation Safety): David limits his active portfolio to a maximum of 3 to 4 ongoing retainers at any given time. This cap guarantees that he always has the cognitive bandwidth and rapid-response availability to support your business when a crisis hits.
We initiate our partnership with a 30-Day Operational Diagnostic:
The Goal: We map your current "river flow," locate the active leaks or turbulent spots in your back-office, and align your team's internal "power station" with your business goals.
The Deliverable: A clean, actionable Operational Flight Map detailing how we will govern your information, systems, and database architecture moving forward.
The Transition: Following the diagnostic, we transition into our ongoing monthly consulting retainer.