Ep. 14 : A tight affiliation of 170 MSPs

S2E3: Building an Effective Sales and Marketing Program

I’m cautious about interviewing companies that provide services to MSPs. After all, you get bombarded by sales content day in and day out, and I don’t want to add to the noise. But when I interviewed Megan Killion of MKC Agency in Orlando, a revenue consultancy specializing in scaling MSPs and other channel companies, I was super impressed by the combined sales/marketing paradigm that she uses. Megan champions ethical marketing practices, elevating marginalized talent, and empowering businesses to thrive in competitive markets. She also has an offer for our podcast listeners: 20% off the first 4 months of her newest program IF you complete this worksheet before your first call with her (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gmqzRXv54EdZBFGtUxZAnqc-wLpMaIjDHIpv7H9tZFY/edit?usp=sharing, NOTE that you will need to request access). Here's what I learned in this episode: * Why sales needs to be a function of your business instead of just outsourced * MKC's value add is helping create a scalable internal program * How Megan designed her sales offerings, and how you should too * Megan's take on hiring sales talent the wrong way * Megan's secret sauce for finding sales talent the right (and easy) way * Can technical people become effective sales people * Why technical owners are unlikely to create effective sales organizations without help * Does the hunters vs farmers framework make sense * Prediction, project planning, copywriting, social skills, time management: these skills and more are required to be an effective sales resource * What size MSP is best positioned to benefit from her services * What constitutes ready for growth * Embracing the 'suck' of the middle (organic growth is not easy) * You must understand your clients to build messaging * How will AI affect your sales process * The difference between inbound and outbound and how they go together Financial Modeling Service provides M&A and Intermediary services to IT companies. As a former IT company owner, Jeff Greenspan understands your business and will work with you to achieve an optimal result based on your specific needs. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com [Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com] or through his contact form at https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/ [https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/].

S2E1: A Billion Dollar Startup

S2E2 features a conversation with the US team of Ionos [https://www.ionos.com/], a hosting and cloud provider looking to compete with Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. I'd heard that Ionos was a billion dollar company, but when I checked their market cap in late December, it was just over $3B! What's up with that? So I sat down with Seth Helgesen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethhelgesen/], Zachary Watson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-watson-42800632/], and Brian Wick [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-wick-54620413a/] to get a better understanding of Ionos's potential value to you. Takeaways from the episode include : * What are the key Ionos differentiators * Is any hosting equipment required * Where are the colo facilities * Is redundancy available * Ease of migrating to the Ionos platform * What security features are built in * Who does Ionos integrate with * How does pricing work * Direct and distribution channels * Partner/Reseller programs with marketing dollars * What does the roadmap look like * Support for monolithic legacy applications * Object storage just launched * A special offer for podcast listeners  Financial Modeling Service provides M&A and Intermediary services to IT companies. As a former IT company owner, Jeff Greenspan understands your business and will work with you to achieve an optimal result based on your specific needs. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com [Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com] or through his contact form at https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/ [https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/].

S2E1: An International MSP

With his company Olive and Goose, Ankur Kothari provides proof that you really can run an MSP from anywhere. From his not-quite-humble beginnings at Microsoft, he's built an impressive three-division IT company headquartered in Seattle but with an international clientele. And when he's not strategizing, he's enjoying the intellectual flavors of Barcelona, learning both Spanish and Catalan while connecting with the vibrant but quite different European startup community. Takeaways from the episode include: * What roles does Ankur play in his company, and how that differs from expectation * Europe is ahead of the US from a sustainability prespective. How might that affect US MSP's relationships with their clients in the near future? * Be faster to hire, and faster to change * The most common error made by young MSPs * How Olive and Goose drives organic growth * How to create a beachhead in a new area * The hunter/farmer model *  The opportunity that AI presents for MSPs who are able to assist their customers with adoption * Ankur's take on rollups for higher EBIDTA multiples * Growth opportunities, no matter the type, must be evaluated to ensure that they offer value to all of the firms stakeholders Financial Modeling Service provides M&A and Intermediary services to IT companies. As a former IT company owner, Jeff Greenspan understands your business and will work with you to achieve an optimal result based on your specific needs. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com [Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com] or through his contact form at https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/ [https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/].

Ep. 14 : A tight affiliation of 170 MSPs

One way that MSPs increase their scope is by joining an affiliation group. There are many forms, and the levels and types of integration with other firms varies. In this episode, we interview Tim Conkle, whose company The 20 consists of both an MSP alliance with (currently) 170 members, and an MSP rollup that just completed their 37th acquisition. Tim is an interesting and passionate MSP, and this episode provides the opportunity to learn: * How does The 20 work * What are the three things MSPs need to do to be truly successful * What does 'better together' mean, and why * How Tim thinks about economies of scale * Removing friction and technology debt * Running both Connectwise and Kaseya inside the box * What tools they've homegrown and why * 2% of helpdesk calls are not the people who they say they are! * Benefits of joining the affiliation Financial Modeling Service provides M&A and Intermediary services to IT companies. As a former IT company owner, Jeff Greenspan understands your business and will work with you to achieve an optimal result based on your specific needs. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com [Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com] or through his contact form at https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/ [https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/].

Ep. 13 : Dominating a Mid-size Market

There is incredible variety in the MSP space! Today's guest, Brian Strong, isn't buying and he isn't selling, he's just trying to run a top-notch MSP. Brian is the CEO of Ten Hats in Knoxville, TN, a company wholly owned by a large local healthcare provider. A significant pivot was required when he came on board, which presents an interesting opportunity to learn:   * How an economic upheaval presents both downsides and upsides    * How personal disasters also present downsides and upsides    * What it takes to turn around a company hemorrhaging cash    * The risks of losing clients outside of your geographic market    * Why Ten Hats uses a 'building block' approach to providing services * Don't micromanage people, micromanage the numbers * The critical CEO-level task set * When to add new tech people, and how they grow specialists   * Which metrics Ten Hats looks at   * Why go to peer groups? To see what you're doing wrong! * How to evaluate new technologies    * What changes does Brian see coming to the industry   Financial Modeling Service provides M&A and Intermediary services to IT companies. As a former IT company owner, Jeff Greenspan understands your business and will work with you to achieve an optimal result based on your specific needs. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com [Jeff.Greenspan@financialmodelingservice.com] or through his contact form at https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/ [https://financialmodelingservice.com/contact-us/].