Analytics/Analysis

I recently joined Craig Fulton, M&A Advisor at Evergreen for a visit that is literally an evergreen story with it’s story oif MSP M&A stability and longevity. This is a hot listen in a super hot area of the MSP ecosystem.

But first, a bit about Fulton.

 “Passionate Leader * Driven Problem Solver * Inspiring Story Teller. As Advisor, Evergreen Services Group, Craig Fulton aims to help MSP’s succeed in growing their businesses and exceed their goals. He credits his 30 years in the technology sector,

Always a pleasure to meet up with Michelle Accardi, CEO of Liongard. Been a hot minute since we spoke and this is an update for the thriving ISV in the Small and Medium Business (SMB) Managed Services Space (MSP). Whole bunches of change goin’ on since we last did a podcast in November 2023 at ConnectWise as she celebrated one year in the CEO role (see the link to this interview in the Resources section at the bottom).

I admit I needed to reconnect with Auvik again. I tracked ‘em closely in the late 2010-teens up to the pandemic and still regret missing its pre-pandemic three-day conference in Santa Barbara, CA (which is even more pleasant then lovely San Diego where I conducted this interview at the recent GTIA ChannelCon event). I had a hot moment with Auvik a couple years ago at Connectwise IT Natiion that you can revisit HERE.   My last two recent interactions with Auvik had my spidey senses got  going that something was up. It’s presence is much more active now than it was for a couple years.

Reporting from the recent GTIA ChannelCon event in San Diego, we caught up with the spirited Coro team of Heather Harlos and Benjamin Morrell and Demetrios Georgiouto to help understand what’s up at Coros. They have been making big moves since friend of the family Joe Sykora arrived as CEO 17+ months ago.

We have a check-in with Mark Alayev, co-founder of Thread. A great summer listen! In the past - I've called this emerging small-medium business (SMB) in the Managed Services space as "one to watch." It's got an agressive internal and external culture charging ahead and this summer the pace tripled on a couple fronts including engineering producitivty and weekly feature releases. And while we do discuss the technology side, Mark waxes poetically on the philosphy side too. That's a rare quality in our space as so many founders in our space are myopically focused on product and never really elevate to a true industry leadership role. Let's rock! 

Long-time SMB Nation member Phelim Rowe has emerged as a leading industry analyst and has grown his intellectual event model over the past several years. It’s serious business ‘cause he’s a dapper British dude across the pond who takes his body or work seriously and you will be dazed and amazed with his efforts. What stands out to me is his geo-targeting his event conent so he has West Coast SMEs in the MSP world for this event. Join me!

Harry Brelsford | CEO | SMB Nation & O365nation |
Hey, hey, Nation, Nation, back with our friend across the pond, Phelim Rowe. Phelim, always a pleasure. Thank you. You have an event coming up that we want to drive some attention to, but before we do that,

Jason Bystrak, Senior Vice President, Cloud & Advanced Solutions+ Business Unit, is a long-time friend of the SMB MSP family and we caught a hot moment at the recent D&H Next+ event in Austin. It was a thought leadership conference that was smaller by design. About 200 partners and senior executives from the different line card vendors that facilitated real conversation compared to larger MSP events that have become noise and get drunks. The best part for me? NO EXPO HALL – thank God. Made the even feel like an Executive MBA Saturday session.

I gave my maintenance guy Jeremy my barely used HP ProLiant MicroServer (aka Home Server) from the old Windows server team days in Redmond. He asked me to keep my eyes open for CPU power.

Matt Linn, co-founder of Thread, discussed the company's rapid growth and recent activities since a capital raise four months ago. Thread is expanding its team and partner base, with a focus on R&D, particularly in voice AI and client intelligence. The company hosts weekly AI service unleashed community calls, attracting over 100 MSPs, which help shape product development through direct feedback. Linn emphasized the importance of value and investment in maintaining community engagement. Upcoming developments include agents to handle administrative tasks, allowing the team to focus on enhancing customer service experiences.

I’ll start this analysis the same way I’ll end it: GO HOME AND TAKE TWO PEOPLE WITH YOU! It’s that time of year - the start of the 7-month festival season in Austin.

Context

Before I get to my specific event analysis, let me start at the macro-level. Overall, the Austin March festivals and events are strong.

What if? What if automobile manufactures had both direct sales (e.g. Tesla) and a channel (e.g. CarMax)?  Such a strategy would cause tension to say the least. 

Yet this is already occurring in our beloved Small and Medium Business (SMB) - Managed Service Provider (MSP) ecosystem. I don’t know if the SMB MSP community sponsors all went to the same weekend seminar at a third tier airport hotel in a function room but I’m hearing the strategy articulated more than ever. 

Harry Brelsford, a veteran in the cannabis industry since 2014, discusses the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 300, which regulates hemp products. He supports the new regulations, including licensing, testing standards, packaging, labeling, and enforcement procedures, which he believes will improve safety and transparency. Brelsford highlights the need for tracking and traceability from seed to sale, similar to systems in states like Washington. He criticizes the proposed $20,000 annual licensing fee per location as punitive, particularly for small operators, and encourages public input on the regulations.