00:16 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Welcome everybody to the very first star studded super show from SuperOps. Now you may notice that the head of community, Nancy Henriquez, is not with us today. Unfortunately, she had a family emergency, so our hearts are with her right now as she's dealing with some family situations. But we are still going on. The show must still go on and we are super excited to have you here with us today, as we have brought together some of the superstars of the channel where we're going to be talking a little bit about. 

00:47
The biggest conversation that's out there is community, and so I have brought together some amazing folks with us today and I am happy to share with you some of those faces. So as they enter from the green room, I'm going to welcome them all in at once. So if you guys want to all come forward, I am excited to bring these folks here today. We have some very great folks with us. So welcome guys. How are you? How are you Awesome? Hey, so obviously you know, as we see and we think about community and we learn about community, we have all found love in our communities. 

01:27
One of the big things that we're going to elaborate on today is those things, and why do we start them? Why do we bring them to the forefront? And really, some of the reasons and one of the things that I want everyone to understand is a little bit about you guys. So we're going to kind of do a little round of introductions here today for those of you that may not know, because this is the first time so many communities have come together on a live stream to talk about what they're trying to do to help move the managed services industry forward. So, in no order, Marv, welcome to the show man. How are you? 

01:59 - Marvin Bee (Host)
I am good. I am good For those that do not know. My name is Marvin B, also known as Uncle Marv, and I host the IT Business Podcast that was formerly Podnutz Pro. That's how far back it goes to 2016. Not really a community. I just kind of like poke around in all of your communities and just report on what I see and try to help people run their business better, smarter and faster. 

02:27 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I love it, Marv, and we love that man, we love that about you. So, paco, paco Lebron, in the house. What's going on, my man? 

02:36 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
You know better than good, better than most, as I like to say. But everyone, my name is Paco Lebron. I am the managing partner over at MSP on Plugged. We are a community for fast emerging MSPs and kind of going through on a podcast which I co-host with my good friend and colleague, Rick Smith, who is also an MSP, and we'll go ahead and try to provide as much value as we can through those mediums of the podcast and kind of conjoin together at our annual event every fall, and this year will be no less. 

03:07 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
All right, we're looking forward to hearing more about that. And we got with us another amazing, awesome person, eric Anthony, brother from All Things, MSP. What's up, my man? 

03:17 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
Just live in the dream. Live in the dream, sir, tell us who we are For those of you who don't know me, I'm Eric Anthony. I'm the founder and content creator at All Things MSP, also, I guess, co-host of the podcast. And you know I started All Things MSP six years ago to kind of just give back and help MSPs with the non-technical side of their business. So that's kind of what we focus on over at All Things MSP. I love that. 

03:44 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
We'll hear more about that here soon. And Eric Simpson man, the man, the myth, the legend. What's going on, brother? 

03:50 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
Oh, you know, fighting the good fight, just trying to take over the world one day at a time, like all of the rest of us. So I head up MSP Mastered, which is an organization to help MSPs to be all that they can be. I also head up Channel Mastered, where we help vendors in the channel connect with MSPs, work together better with MSPs. And then I'm also the co-host of the MSP Chat podcast with my partner in crime, rich Freeman. 

04:20 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Awesome, man. Well, this is awesome, you know, and I love the fact that so many of us have gotten together. You know, I think over the last few years, you know, and again, I remember my foray into the managed services arena there wasn't it felt like there was a lot of dissension amongst the ranks. Right, there wasn't a lot of sharing, there wasn't a lot of caring, and I don't know that we didn't care, it's just. There was just a very different time. Right, we weren't used to collaborating. It's just so cool to see, even right now, one of the first times where all these communities are coming together for a genuine, you know, live stream, together, even though we're all talking to maybe the same folks, that this is the beauty of what I think community is doing and bringing those things together. So really, really awesome to have you guys with us tonight. 

05:05
You know, and I'm curious, you know, for a lot of those folks that may not know why you might have gotten started Again, I know why some of the reasons that I share with the community and why I pushed to try to share content. You know, Marv, what was the thesis around why you started your community, brother? What was why? What was that why? I know you kind of what you do, but why did you start? 

05:27 - Marvin Bee (Host)
Well, I started because I was part of a group back. I don't know when I joined, maybe it was around 2014, 2015. Paco was a part of that group and we were kind of a little shared community and there was one podcast that was strictly focused on, you know, computer repair shops. But there was a podcast previously focused on starting and supporting businesses and the host of that had gone on hiatus and people were asking for it to come back and the host he didn't want to really do the work, he just wanted to show up and be the talent. And I said, well, I'll take care of the work part, you just show up and be the talent. 

06:10
So we started the show back up and then after about a year he's like you know what? I really don't want to do this. Why don't you take off and do the show yourself? And I'm like crap, man, thanks. So that's kind of where I got started. But it was really under the vein of when I joined the community. It was finally finding people that were doing what I did and going through the same daily battles and frustrations and fights, and the group was willing to share and help each other. So when it came time for me to step up and do the podcast. I said you know what?” That will be my way to give back, so that I can return the favor. 

06:52 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I love that, brother. I love that, and I think most of us here are all a product of that moment right, and I think that that's kind of pushed us into this, you know, being comfortable with uncomfortable moment where we actually had to, you know, do the thing that we wish we saw. Eric. What's your story, brother? Why, you know, why did you start all things? MSP man? 

07:13 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
So I started it because, if anybody knows my story, I switched from being an MSP. I sold my MSP in 2013 to kind of join the vendor side of the channel, did a whole bunch of stuff for what was back then GFI, max Logic, now, and then, when SolarWinds bought us, I found myself in a non-customer facing role, and so I didn't really have an outlet to share as much as I had been previously with MSPs in terms of helping them out with their business, and so that's when I decided to start all things. MSP started as a Facebook group and then I really kind of got into some video production type stuff as a hobby, and then that drove to the YouTube channel and the podcast and the live stream. So that was kind of the whole evolution of that. 

08:04 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
And it's grown a lot too. It's awesome to watch man. 

08:09 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
It's. You know it's really fun when it's organic, right, and that's been kind of the thing that I've enjoyed the most about it is it's really just been organic and just helping people. You know it's about lifting everybody else up so that everybody gets a little bit better. 

08:29 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Yeah, I love that. You know, one of the things for SuperOps is that similar thing. Right, we get a lot of people asking you know where are some of the places that I can learn from? And you know, obviously we wanted to share that advice and you'd be like, hey, not only just SuperOps community, but there's so many other wonderful communities that are out there, and that's really why we wanted to bring everyone together was just to illustrate what there's so many wonderful places you can learn from, eric. When you started, brother, what was your like, what was your thesis Like? What was the pressure behind you? 

08:59 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
You know I am, I came from the enterprise and decided in 1997 that I wanted to start my own IT company. We were just kind of break-fix, project-based organization Around 2004,. We started thinking about creating flat-rate IT, which was kind of the precursor to MSP. We didn't know there was an acronym for it, right but we were really starting to expand beyond kind of the looking inward in our business and started to look outward and started to see these small user groups which started popping up and started participating in them and then started going to like our first events like Harry Brelsford's SMB communities and really started striking a chord with me and so we also exited. We were one of the first MSPs, I guess you could say, and we sold that in 2007. 

09:58
But along the way we created MSP University and this was our effort to share everything that we had learned in making all the bad mistakes and selling managed services and finally sharing all of our knowledge. And we did that for eight or nine years and we went all over the world doing workshops and boot camps and live virtual events. We did a lot of webinars and that's where it really struck a chord with me, because one of my motivators in my behavioral profile is helping others, and so this is kind of how I started to get more involved in giving back. I think I've given away more calculators and checklists than a lot of folks had at that time, just trying to share and collaborate with folks, and it's something that I really enjoy. I used to be that people hating engineer. 

10:54 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
It's a secret between all of us, right, you know that person. I don't know if all of us would admit to that here. 

10:58 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
I don't know, but I came through the other side and now I just enjoy working with people and entrepreneurs, and it's something that is personally gratifying for me, so that's what drives me to do what I do. 

11:11 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Love it. I love it, man. I love the passion that pushes us forward. Speaking of passion, paco man, a lot of what you're doing, brother. This is inspired by that and I know we've had those chats. Talk to us, man. What lit that little cool little fire? Emoji for you, brother. 

11:31 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
Got you? No. So I think really for us, similar to what Marv said. So we were like at the time I was just started off with the MSP, thought I knew everything from tech until I found the PODNUTS network, currently run by Door to Door Geek now, and so through listening to Marvin and John Dubinsky and my former business partner Jeff Halasch at the time when they were the host of those shows, I learned so much more from that. 

12:07
Sharing the collaboration and, as you just mentioned, it was a time where there was a lot of thought of competitors and you can't really share as much if you're in the same area and things of that nature to really more of the space of there's more collaboration, there's a lot of worth of sharing and things of that nature. So soon after that, became more involved, started appearing on the shows and stuff like that, and then me and Jeff kind of left that and formed MSP unplugged before he had exited and so really what kind of sparked the fire per se on really transforming that community was? I think at the time there was two problems. There was one where opinions were being stated as fact and was a very pet peeve of mine where I would hear people say you have to do it this way in order to be successful, and I thought that that was just pure BS. I think that I felt that up to a certain point, there was a way to do it and then you can go and there's refined things and stuff like that, so that was one of them. 

13:12
The other piece of it was there wasn't a lot of respect for the fast emerging MSPs. 

13:17
Back in the day, when you're looking at the timeframe of 2014, 2015, it was really focused on the more established MSPs, the ones that had multiple employees, and so for those that were entering the space, there was a lot of confusion with solopreneurs and smaller shops that they were just run by fly by night. 

13:39
They were the pizza techs, they were the men in the vans and trunk slammers and there was a lot of offense to that, where I even think that there was some media publications at the time to try and establish credibility. When we started our stuff that said, no, yeah, you're all the trunk slammers. No, that's not the valid truth, and so it took a lot of fighting uphill. I think now the community has become a lot more understanding, sharing and to that demographic, but prior to then, there really wasn't a voice, and so that's what started us to kind of continue that and really fight for the fast emerging MSPs that do want to try and do it the right way, and with the way that technology is now, there's no reason why they can't perform a successful business their way. 

14:25 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Totally got it and I agree 100%. That kind of leads me to one of the questions that I have, and I think that as we start to look at some of the challenges, we're starting to kind of a little bit in touch into why we started it. But as we look at the current temperament, I want to ask you guys and I'll throw this to the group, but I'm going to ask this question, but I'm going to ask you right away on one of the issues that I think is as big as one of the questions I want to ask is what's missing in our industry and I want to throw this to everybody here in a second, but I will say that for everybody that's watching this, this looks like there's a whole bunch of males on this panel. That was not supposed to happen. Nancy is the head of this thing and she's the female leader on this. I fully support women and I think that that is something that's truly missing. 

15:14
When we were thinking about putting this together, we thought about the shows that were out there. Some of the women they have other requirements and that's one of the things where we were like man, it's going to be really tough to have a whole bunch of guys on the show when we know there's really great women leaders, and I think that that's starting to shift. But I still think that that's an opportunity for us to empower some of the females to actually get their stuff started. So I'm going to throw it to the group as a question here. And what do you guys think is missing in the industry, man, and what's missing in the community? Is that maybe we can, as a group, talk about, or what are your thoughts? 

15:48 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
Yeah, I'll throw it in. 

15:50
I think that, for in the industry as a whole, I think we're starting to move that needle. 

15:57
But really diving into each individual's story, I think that there's a big highlight of hey, here's what I did, I did this, I did X. 

16:06
But a lot of people are not very comfortable, in my opinion, sharing the full side of that whole story and I think that's where you grow a lot of listeners and community members and just people who you pass by other fellow MSPs. They tend to gravitate to those that they can resonate with, but it's usually an authentic way and it's very rare for someone to come out and completely tell their whole story and I think that's just more of maybe a fear of what they're concerned, of their image or what they have built, or maybe they've gone so far in telling this brand that, if they did, they feel like they may be knocked down a couple pegs, I don't know, but I think that's really what's missing. Is that again, I think it's getting better, but I think really coming from hey, look, I was there with you and here's why I was there with you, versus just hey, I know where you're coming from and there's really no context to it. I think that we can do a lot better than that. 

17:00 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
What are the thoughts you guys got? 

17:02 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
So I would say standards and I almost hate to say it, but because a lot of times, standards mean regulation right, and I don't know that we're ready for regulation, but I definitely think, because we are so critical and because cybersecurity is so much of a thing when it comes to protecting individuals and the companies that we serve right, because the companies that we serve have customers, and if they don't have the right cybersecurity in place, those end customers aren't protected either. And so I think there's a lot to be done around making sure that we raise the level of competence of everybody in this industry, and I think it's something. I don't necessarily want to see it driven by legislation, but I think some kind of standards in addition to the cybersecurity standards that we're all trying to apply, some type of framework with now. So that's what I think is missing. 

18:05 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Other thoughts. Marv, you got anything? 

18:07 - Marvin Bee (Host)
Well, I was going to say support is one of each other and support in the space and time that you're in, kind of like what Paco said instead of the larger, established people looking down on the new and emerging, hey, reach down and give them a hand and comfort them. Where they are, they're going to have to go through growing pains. One of the things I see, also in terms of communities and vendors we talked about it before the show coordination. Everybody is trying to do something and we're stepping on each other from time to time and we're pulling from each other's audience. Now, granted, I know everybody needs to have their thing and be able to do their thing, but can we not work together just a little bit and not always step on each other? The industry is big, but it's not that big, true? 

19:06 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Well, hopefully, this is a step in that direction, right? The only way you change it is by taking that first step, and I like to believe that we're breaking ground here. I've never seen this before, so I'm happy that you're mentioning that and that we're actually activating that change, right, eric? What are your thoughts on some of the things that are missing, brother? 

19:26 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
Yeah, you know, I harken back to the days when everybody it seemed like everybody was more kumbaya, collaborative, and as I see so many more vendors entering the space and trying to either create their own partner programs and siloing, you know, I see a lot of segmentation. I see a lot of vendors that are overlooking the emerging partners, their partner programs. They're looking for MSPs that are, you know, 20 million and above, and if you're not one of those, then you know we really got nothing for you. So I'm not sure that that is something that you know. We as community leaders and things like that can change per se, but we're more attracted. I guess it's more attractive to be newer, younger, smaller MSPs, to participate in programs that are run by vendors that incorporate all of them, that welcome all of them, that have something to give, and that is harder to find now than it used to be. 

20:41 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Yeah Well, and I think some of the challenges there is, you know some of the ways that some of the companies have are invested in or have built their cultures around, you know, and that's it is a challenge, right, and that's where we all have to push together to try to change it. I love that that you said that you know one of the big things too, and as we shifted a little bit I want to just talk about, but I do want to recognize John Reads out in the crowd. He's like saying nice group, what's up John? He says what's up to Uncle Marvin, paco Bill Campbell out there, much loved man, it's good to see you in the audience, brother, and for some of you other, say hi, tell us where you're from. 

21:21
As we start to seek communities and industries shifting and changing, obviously this sounds like we're taking a step toward the future right here, right now. So many things are changing. We're starting to come together a little bit more because the future is a little bit scary and I don't think any of us have any idea what it holds for us. So we're kind of I feel like we're banding together a little tighter. But how do you seek communities in the industry changing and say the next couple of years, let's get some ideas from. What are you guys seeing? Like, what are you feeling from your communities you know, I know from ours, everyone's in learn mode Like they're like trying to absorb this new era and try to like okay, how are we going to do this moving forward? And this is why we decided we want to do something like this with you guys. Just try to band this together. But what are you guys seeing? What are your thoughts? 

22:11 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
I'll tag in first. I'm seeing a lot. You know, I gave kind of the well, here's what's missing and it's kind of the segmentation, the siloing. But I also, on the flip side, I'm seeing more and more vendors really double down on thought leadership, on the content that they're delivering on the support that they are offering. You know, super that's a great example, right, you know, starting to really reach out and tag in folks for their opinions and collaboration. I'm starting to see a lot of vendors that have gotten past that kind of growth roadblock potentially and now see, oh, wow, we not only need to enable our existing partners but we need to be enabling more of the community, because they know that the more that they give, the more, you know, connection, trust, confidence they'll be building and attracting partners to their programs. So on the flip side, I'm also seeing more vendors really taking a stab and standing up leaders with titles and roles that are all about community and things like that. So that's refreshing. 

23:22 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I will say I sorely miss our head of community right now because she feels like she's like the heart of some of the stuff that we're doing and she is very missed. So, Nancy, know our love is with you tonight and we hope your family is doing well because you are missed. But you know you're right and then that you need those components to activate the care and the family. You know we had an event recently where somebody came to me and they said, Juan, you know what you're doing and you know this team you put together You're creating family and I love this and I was like, you know, a little tear kind of fell and I was like, man, this is exactly what we're trying to accomplish, right, and I'm not trying to prop us up, I'm just saying, when you care enough, like people can tell and I love that you're saying that, eric, because I feel like that what are some of the things you guys are seeing? 

24:09 - Marvin Bee (Host)
you know, obviously, and this stepping forward, Well, I'll say that the fact that vendors are now being nicer to each other, helps a lot that you know you don't go to conferences and you know the booth bashing isn't happening as much. 

24:27
We're finding out that they have to live with each other as well. You know they may spend 48 weeks out of the year seeing each other at different events and they're learning to realize it's a big community and there's enough business out there. You know all of them. And that's refreshing from our standpoint because we don't have to feel the pressure of oh can't talk to you because this partner over here said something and if they see me with you I may lose my discount. So that is refreshing. 

25:02 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
That's a great batch Marv. I remember, hey, breaking up fights between my leaders of vendors. You know vendor organizations like Mander, you know, and some of us that go back as far as I do, know exactly what I'm talking about. Those were the rough and tumble days, baby of married services. 

25:23 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
Sounds like you're missing some nostalgia there, eric huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I wanted to add on that, you know, I think that from listening to what our community members are saying is they're looking to see what's the next phase, like they can start to tell there is this turning of the dial right, and it's kind of like how we went from, you know, pcs to internet, obviously, network to cloud, and now we have the world of AI that's starting to come around. You know, I think everyone is trying to figure out, at least from us, is that there isn't ever. The MSP needs to evolve. The question is where do you evolve? Right? And so, you know, for myself, even you know, I attended an event this past week and I wanted to learn the perspective of how is everyone considering AI, for example, what is their perspective of this topic? 

26:22
Right, and there's a lot of these terms thrown around for many years cloud, ai, automation, et cetera but there's a different version or perspective to it. Right, there's different vendors that adhere to it, different styles, different ways of implementing it, right, and so I think, from what I've heard, is that the leaning forward and the leaning in has really started to take shape, but they're very like I think someone said the learn mode. Right, they're really trying to understand what is next because they know it's coming, but they're trying to just put their hand on the button just enough to make a good bet so that they can further themselves the next three to five years. 

27:05 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I 100% agree with you, and I think that I talked about this in 2023, I said this will be the year of Amazon's education, because it was a real cybersecurity foray, right. And then I double clicked on it in 2024 and said I feel the same way, right? I feel like this is reeducation. Right Now, we're having to relearn some of the things that we've done before really starting to dive into cybersecurity and really dive into these modern methods, and I love that you're seeing that and I feel that I can. It definitely feels like we're all relearning and clicking that learn button again. Eric, what are your thoughts, brother? What are you seeing that shifting or changing, bro? 

27:42 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
So the way I've looked at it recently is I actually want to take two things that Paco said and put them together. Right, Because he talked about evolution and we evolved so quickly in this industry. Right, we are moving at a very fast pace and a lot of the time it's hard for people to know where they fit. And so I also want to go back and grab the piece that Paco mentioned about people telling their story, and telling their story in a way that lets other people know that there's good and there's bad. There's not just a right and a wrong. 

28:19
There's different ways of doing things, and I think, as we evolve, I think it's the job of communities to give a forum and encourage those people to tell those stories so that the other people can see those stories and evolve along with the ones that they recognize and kind of say, well, that one I don't recognize and it doesn't fit in my business model, so they can find their story right. There's so many different nuances to all the different types of MSPs that are out there. We go from break fix to fully manage to MSSP and all the different flavors in between. If we hear enough stories, we'll find the right one that resonates with us so that we can follow the path that is the right one. 

29:09 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I 100% agree. It's interesting that you say that, Eric, because I love what you're saying. It's find the community that you belong in right and in so many ways, and we even hear that John Reed's got a good comment. This is why we do what we do, because it's always changing. I think we lose a lot as we grow our company and I tried not to do that as I scale my MSP. That's why I was given away a lot of what I was doing while I was building it, because it was like I don't understand why we're not sharing. 

29:37
But I get it and it's hard, right, it's hard not to I go back and tell the story. I'm like, hey, you want to hear how to burn down an MSP? Let me tell you a story. I can tell you how to crush that thing into the ground, grind it up into dust and then blow it into the wind. Here's all the things you shouldn't do, right. 

29:58
But a lot of people aren't willing to tell those stories and I think that comes with where we're at now, where there's a lot of people that have learned a lot of lessons and as they start to see that, they're like, oh, maybe it is OK that I share? Maybe it is, and I love that the communities that you guys are fostering are allowing for that open, transparent, real honor communication. It's like, hey, it's a safe place here, you don't have to worry about being a super big, you don't have to come in here and posture right, it's all right to be small, it's OK, and I love that you guys talk like that. I've heard Marseille that all the time. There was a statement he made one day and I thought it was a fall out of my chair about you don't have to be a big MSP, it's OK to be small, and I loved it to death. I literally couldn't. I won't quote it just because it was all OK, I see, ok, I'm not going to say it I'm not going to 

30:54
say it, but I loved it to a point that I was like you're right, I'll be honest with you. As you're growing and scaling your business, there's moments where I thought to myself I don't want to be big and when I got big I was like man. I really loved how I was when I was small. There's certain things you lose when you get to a certain size and you can't have those conversations. Everyone thinks there's a trajectory and again, that's where community allows you to have those conversations and I love that you guys are embracing those moments when you guys are thinking about some of the advice. Obviously that's some of mine. What are some of the things you guys are thinking about? And, as far as advice to those that are out there, For me. 

31:37 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
I think one of the biggest pieces that you just mentioned and I want to highlight that into this question is for those listening. You know you should feel comfortable asking your questions. I know there are other communities out there that tend to make you feel stupid or make you feel like that's a dumb question which is totally BS. Right? I think you have to find a safe place to be able to go ahead and answer those questions and these communities here and probably there are others out there that will allow you to feel okay, you shouldn't have to hear, go, google it, right? You know, I think that's the most BS answered from a lot of the guys and some influential leaders in our community. 

32:16
Instead of just saying, hey, what is it you're really trying to ask, what is the result you're trying to look for and really diving into it and taking a little bit of care. 

32:25
Because now, when you stunt the growth of that learning MSP, now he feels like he just cannot ask and he doesn't know. And the other side of it too and you know I've talked to a few other MSPs is that sometimes they know they have to ask the questions but they don't know what the question is to ask to get through their problem right, and so it's hard for them to even muster up them trying to ask the question when they don't even know what the question is. So I think there's a chance, there's a lot of opportunity for us to have a little bit more grace with everyone and really just involve more of that community aspect of it. I think that's what we can learn from one another and just to be a little better to ensure that we can answer, or just be a little bit better to send the elevator down for someone to send them back up. 

33:07 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Real quick before I let somebody else jump in here, I want to give a quick update. I got a note from Nancy and a very apparently there was a car accident which one of her family remembers in and she says they're okay, they're on their way to the hospital. But I just wanted to give that quick update. Nancy, our thoughts and prayers from all of us are with you. So I know you're probably listening because you don't know how to stop working even in an emergency. So we love you and that you know. You want, you want. You know we're with you and your family. But you know, as we think about these challenges again I digress, but you sound like you look like you wanted to jump in on that. 

33:42 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
Yeah, you know, one of the things that really helped me out and my journey early on was, you know, I joined a peer group. I was in HTG one again kind of going back to aging myself a little bit, but you know, there's there, there really there are a lot of peer groups out there now where there weren't many when I was coming up. Yeah, you know, just to have that forum where you know you can be vulnerable with other likeminded business owners in a noncompetitive way, where everyone agrees to share everything from financials to sales process to marketing process to, you know, HR issues with staff and growth and all of these things, it really allowed me, you know, dedicated time every week, every month, to work on the business and, before getting back to the firefighting, working in the business. So, even if you don't have a peer group, you're comfortable with the community. 

34:42
You know, one of the things that that I always recommend, partners, is just jump on as many webinars as podcasts as you can. Just, you know, educate yourself that way, but take some dedicated time in your schedule every week. You know, even before you come into the opposite, you're doing that. If you're hybrid, you have a little bit easier way. But just to shut everything down. Or even if you're at home, working from home, you're small, you're growing get out of that environment, get to a coffee shop, get somewhere where you can, you know, be in a different location environment and just work on the things in priority A little bit at a time, every week, on the business, on the business before you get back to you know the nonstop noise of emails and texts and everything else that we've got going on. 

35:30 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Eric Anthony, you look like you want to jump in on that brother. I could see you squirming around. What do you got brother? 

35:38 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
Well, you know, I think one of the things you know, especially when it comes to peer groups. Peer groups, I think, are great, especially if you are in that high growth, really trying to push the envelope and work on the business right. I think one of the places where we can act as communities and podcasts and whatever can step in is for those people who appear in the group. They're just not ready for it yet. You know somebody who's just starting out, somebody who doesn't have the revenue to support being inside of a peer group. I think the things that a peer group allows you to do like Eric mentioned, you know, sharing financials and HR issues and things like that that are highly sensitive. That's where peer groups really excel because you can get into the nitty gritty without over sharing. But for the guys who can't do that and gals, you know, use the communities to do that. Find people in those communities that you resonate with. 

36:40
And the other thing I wanted to mention when we were talking before was about find your right community. You know I talk about all kinds of other communities in my community because I don't. My community may not fit you. You know, Marv’s podcast may be the best thing for you. MSP unplugged might be the best thing for you. MSP mastered might be the best thing for you, it doesn't matter. Find the right one for you. And I think as communities we need to foster a little bit more of that, and I think tonight is a good example of us getting together and sharing in that way. I love that. 

37:17 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Marv, you have any thoughts or brother? 

37:20 - Marvin Bee (Host)
Well, I was kind of thinking in the opposite direction on more of the things that we need to be doing, and I take it from the standpoint of this. So I spent all of last year trying to redesign my business and I was trying to come up with the catchphrase because, you know, that was what I was told needed to be done. You know, we were doing a book club thing and I was in a restructure of the business but I kept getting stuck on. You know, I wanted to provide authentic and awesome support and blah, blah, blah, and it just never came to be. But I heard on a podcast this is a non tech business podcast A lady started with a phrase she said stop talking about being authentic and start doing things that make you authentic. 

38:12
And one of the things that has struck me is that we hear a lot of people, you know, puffing themselves up and you know, oh, I just try to be authentic and real and I don't want to hear it. Show me, just show me. And what we should be doing is, you know, instead of talking about, you know, safe space, we need to be the ones making the space safe for them. We need to be the ones that are reaching out to people that we can see they're in the startup phase or they're struggling or something you know, don't just say, hey, come join the community. 

38:47
Go to them and say hey, I looks like you need help. Is there something I can help you with, or do you just need somebody to talk to? A lot of times, that's all people are looking for. 

38:59 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I love it. I love where you're going with this. Yesterday I did something and, to your point of that moment of being authentic you know I talk a lot about being authentic and, like you know, really putting your money where your mouth is and doing the things you say you're going to do and sometimes pushing yourself out of the box. And I like where you're going with that, mar, because yesterday I actually was on a show and for the very first time I wore a funny hat and a mask on screen and I never do anything like that right. So I created something and I want to drop this here today for all the communities is hashtag and I created a challenge. Just say hashtag, what was it? Hashtag get out of your comfort zone, challenge yourself. And so that hashtag you know, challenge your comfort zone was something that I did and I was like man, I'm so nervous about putting on a hat and a mask on screen. I'm always in a jacket, I never come out and I do stuff like this. 

39:56
And I think that, from that, everybody that heard me say that like hey, get out of your comfort zone before saw me do that and to that point, it challenged everyone else. Or, like, dude, I saw you do that, like you never do stuff like that, you're right. Why? Because I'm trying to help everyone else show that even when you're being serious, you can have fun. Right, I'm going to do it too. Like that's the best leadership that I think that I can demonstrate is doing exactly what I say I'm going to do and then leading by example, like if I'm going to ask you to do something, I'm not going to ask you because I won't do it. I need you to go and change the world, oh, okay, well, good job, Juan, I'm glad you asked me to do that, but would you do it? Well, one step at a time, right? And I think from that, I love that you guys are doing those things and creating those environments for people to challenge themselves, to get out of their comfort zone. 

40:46
I heard a lot about it tonight, like we have to be different, whether it's us in our communities or the people that are attending the community. I heard Eric Bowles always says don't just expect community to show up for you, you have to show up for the community. Right, and that's what creates community is all of us having conversation, willing to be vulnerable, willing to have those conversations? So I love what you guys are saying I get super pumped about this when I think about the things that I wish I had, and so, with that being said, you know I want to, if you guys have advice, what are some of the advice tips that you have for maybe vendors that are coming in, or maybe MSPs that are coming in, or maybe other communities that are just forming? What are some of the advice tips that you guys have? Eric Anthony, what's your thoughts, brother? 

41:37
So many thoughts, so many thoughts, sharing man this is the beauty of where we're at Like, where this is, the part of changing is by us sharing. 

41:46 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
So I would say, probably to the vendors that are out there right, do not ignore community. Sure, engage, have people who are dedicated. It may not be their full-time job, right, but have people who are engaged in the communities, who are out there, make themselves available to you know, whichever communities they decide to join in. Yes, you can have your own, and that's something that you should probably have, because there's some things that are going to be specific to your community, but you also need to reach out into the larger community and, again, send that elevator down, like Paco said, or reach down and lift somebody up, like Marv said. You know, those things are important and it's up to the vendors because they're more I hate when we use the word mature, but in some ways they are more mature they have more resources to be able to enable these communities and these individual MSPs to do things, and I think it's up to the vendors to kind of grasp onto that. Can I? 

42:49 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
tag in on that just for a second. Let's go. Yeah, it's, and I would say just writing on your coattails there, eric, on your comment. But listen, don't go in there and go. 

43:02
Oh, here's a brand new pool of prospects for us to go in and scrape the names off of the chat and off the website and just parting us with pitches, right, if you're really going to be an agent for change and help these communities and help these MSPs and be perceived as someone that is trustworthy that I can be a little bit vulnerable. You're listening and you're providing valuable insight, not oh and oh. By the way, our new version does these three things. Here's a link for a free trial kind of a thing when you're communicating with us. 

43:43
As a recovering MSP, I like to say I always think about that. So if you're going to be in the community and either start your own community or being understand what the true value is and what your partners really need, they don't need. They'll come when they're ready right, they'll ask when they're ready, and a good leader doesn't have to trumpet the fact they're a good leader. I don't have to go and tell people I'm authentic because what we just talked about, people see that we are authentic in our actions and so just piling on a little bit there. 

44:19 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
I love it. Yeah, and engaging authentically means you're listening first, because you can't engage authentically unless you listen first. I agree. 

44:30 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
Yeah, and for the partners in the communities that are engaging with the vendors hold them to account. They're learning too right. So this is like how do we grow together? It's by having deliberate, difficult conversations and being okay and knowing that in this community, the rules are we're not going to take anything personally, we're not going to offend anybody, we're going to behave professionally, but we are here to you know, speak our truth, Be heard and also listen and engage in a constructive manner. 

45:09 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Yeah, Marv, you, you laughed, but it's not like you had some tips and tricks for both sides. 

45:15 - Marvin Bee (Host)
Well, let Paco go first, because I want to see if he's going to be positive before I say my comment. 

45:22 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
My talk is about the MSP, so if you got a vendor talk conversation, you can go first, okay, so you asked what advice should we give to vendors? 

45:30 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
or MSPs. 

45:31 - Marvin Bee (Host)
Oh, okay, I'll still go. Vendors All right, so here's my advice for vendors. I Understand we're in this phase where all the vendors are trying to go all in with thought leadership and community and webinars and universities and all that stuff. You might not have to do it if you partner with somebody else. There are lots of communities out there that need vendor support. So if you want to Get on the bandwagon and talk about we support communities, support a community, whether it's you know, providing monies, providing platforms, having people you know speak with you those types of things do those sorts of things instead of competing with each other To grab community. Does that make sense? 

46:26 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
No, I totally get it. 

46:29 - Marvin Bee (Host)
That was the one thing. The other thing I was going to say is, from the MSP perspective, learn how to use your own CRM the same way you tell us to use our CRM. Yeah because I can't keep getting Six emails a day from the same vendor. 

46:46
Yeah or you call me and don't know who I am. Yet I have three of your products. We still have those issues where we've got a, we've got. We've got to clean this up somehow. There are vendors out there that are fantastic that I don't I don't I Haven't bought a single product from them, but they know who I am, they talk to me when they see me, we have fun and they're okay with it. 

47:16 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Sometimes you just got to wait till the right time, man, and that's a lot of people, different approaches from different folks. That's for sure. I Love it, paco. What do you got brother? 

47:29 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
So my perspective, since we've kind of beaten that horse a little bit with the Venice, you know we never actually beat that horse, but that's not what this is about tonight. No, no, no animals were harmed. How's that? 

47:41 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
No. 

47:43 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
No, I mean, my advice is more for the MSPs, because I think that you know, as you're going into this arena of the MSP world, understanding what the channel is, you know engaging with the right vendors. You know don't go, don't go past your means Meaning. You know you may hear talk tracks, you may hear things that say, hey, go on to this suite of services and You're going to make your, you know, million bucks. Or you know you go ahead and here's this nice, shiny object that will do everything you needed to do right. You know, really, go into this, understand. You know learning, experiencing, understanding that you might want to measure twice before you cut once right Again, it's as simple as you know. 

48:32
Like Marvin said, a CRM system. You know Understanding what that true power and value is. Do you need a CRM system at the time? You know how are you managing your clients? How are you going to work with your clients? How are you going to attract your clients? These are all questions that you should be asking before you jump into a suite of tools that you don't know that you need. 

48:51
Or You're in a position where you're spending all your resources and you're not seeing a lot of great value from the resources you've spent. 

48:58
And that's where we get into people being burnt out. We get into mental health because they're trying to figure out their financial status, especially those that have started this as their full-time gig, whether they left their previous W2 Job or, you know, maybe they're dealing with they got a little bit of severance, so they have a little bit of money and they're trying to get it off the ground. Or maybe they did some savings and they're trying to figure it out. You know, and you or they ran out of money and they're on their bottom dollar and they're trying to figure out what's next. Right? I think really you have to figure out. Just don't go past your means. Go into what you want to invest in, make sure that it's valuable to you and If you're not sure where to start, there's plenty of great communities that you can ask and talk to people that are willing to give you their input of how they Started their journey and you can decide if that's important or that's going to resonate with you. 

49:46 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Yeah, I love that man and I think that you know, as we kind of come, we're getting close to the end here. I want to double-click on that just a touch. You know, we just had one of our super summits and while we were having a conversation, at the end we like to ask a lot of questions about. You know, maybe you had an something that was burning that you just couldn't during the sessions. You were in the midst of it and it was interesting. The questions that got asked at the very end. Many of them were questions around their business and go to market strategy and for many of them, where you know, it was like when you're, the question you're asking is way further down the road than where you're at, you know, and so I know that that sounds and somebody's told you that that's probably an activator for success, but you're not able to adopt that just yet. And here's like 15 different steps you have to take to even get to that point and because of that we get, we get, we hear things. 

50:38
I remember when I Was in my MSP or was like, oh, you know, you need to do this right now, and I was like there's no way, I'm two years away from doing that and I'm going to wait two years until I'm ready to do that, and then I'm going to do it and I did. It was an amazing success, but I was ready for it, right, and that's where you have to think about you know those things. So I love that tip. Haka, that's going to kind of circles up here as we get close to the end and I'm going to go around the room and I'm going to ask Tangible advice, tip of the day. What's the one thing if you were going to start over right now and as you start to think, you know, what's the one tip you want to give to MSPs that are out there, that are joining today and maybe listening in the future? What's that tip that each of you have that you might want to share with everybody? So we'll start in the. We'll start with Eric Anthony. Brother, what's your tip? 

51:26 - Eric Anthony (Co-host)
So I think my tip would be to adopt an abundance mindset. I Spent too many years in in my first break fix business, holding my cards very close to my chest, not talking to competitors, not going out and joining communities. There's plenty out there for everybody and so adopt that abundance mindset. It'll get you the right clients. It will get you the right peers to talk to. It'll do a lot To drive your business in a positive direction. I love that. 

51:58 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
All right, Haka. What's your tip brother Charge? 

52:01 - Paco Lebron (Co-host)
monthly. You're not a bank. Don’t pay upfront costs to your clients. Have them pay for their hardware up front Charge. 

52:10 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
Protection, love it, love it. Eric Simpson brother, what's your, what's your tip bro? 

52:17 - Erick Simpson (Co-host)
So my tip is Understand what today's post pandemic buyers are buying what we used to sell them before the pandemic. We're not selling that stuff anymore. They're investing in cybersecurity. They're investing in cloud, cloud migration, sass, application management. They're investing in hybrid workforce support. Re-imagine your bundles and Go to market with this new Perspective, because everyone else is still kind of trying to do things the old way. The new buyers, the new business owners, are investing in the future. Get where the puck is going. 

52:56 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
And I love that. Alright, Marv, circling up to you, my man. 

53:01 - Marvin Bee (Host)
Why are you laughing like you're nervous? 

53:03 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I'm not nervous. You're in the show here. 

53:05 - Marvin Bee (Host)
You got to come with the exclamation point, so my tip to the younger me starting out Would be a two-fold piece of advice. One listen to your customers and your community, because whatever you get sold as an MSP in a box May not resonate With the customers that are in your area. You've got to be able to blend the two. The reality of what you're going to give them is probably going to be something in between, but you first have to listen to what is it that your customers are asking for? What do they need and give it to them. 

53:43 - Juan Fernandez (Co-host)
I love that. I love that a lot. We have a lot of great love. Justine just shot in some great Comments and then the in the chat here appreciate you, Justine, for jumping in a. I know time is money and I love the fact that you're here and learning. 

53:58
So some wonderful folks joining us this evening and I want to say thank you to all of all of our attendees, all those in the audience that are maybe searching for a new community. These are wonderful folks here that have amazing communities again, super ops is one of those as well that we're trying to help change the industry, one step at a time. And again, thanks you guys so much for taking time this evening out of your day. I know we all have lives. Again. Back to Nancy. Sorry you couldn't make it. Our parts and prayers are with your family during this time of trial. So know that we are cheering on. All of us here are vying for you and our prayers are with you. 

54:34
But thanks you guys. I really appreciate you for joining me and hey, there's several shows that we're going to be at. Come and talk to us, come and have a conversation. Every single one of us here are willing to go to where you're at to ask the right questions to make sure that you can help grow your business. So again, thanks to everyone for joining us at evening super ops, sending much love to all you out there. Hopefully you guys are growing your businesses smart, faster and better and we look forward to see you in the future. So thanks everyone and good night. Holla!