MSPmentor

I’ve been mulling this blog for a few days. Across the managed services market, entrepreneurs are selling their companies or participating in M&A (merger and acquisition) deals. Some of those entrepreneurs stick around for the long haul. Other entrepreneurs exit when the deal is announced or shortly thereafter. The big question for those entrepreneurs who stick around: Can they be good long-term employees — especially when they can’t call all the shots within a larger parent organization?

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In some ways, Penton Media’s buyout of Nine Lives Media and its brands reminds me of a big, well-established IT company buying a small MSP. On the one hand, the big IT company wants to accelerate the small MSP’s growth in a strategic market. On the other hand, the buyer doesn’t want to mess up the small MSP’s existing business model. The key requirement: Balancing “business as usual” with integration issues, existing operations and some potentially new business initiatives.

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I spend considerable time covering IT mergers and acquisitions. Now, it’s time for me to shift the spotlight directly onto our business. Specifically, Nine Lives Media Inc., the company behind MSPmentor, has been acquired by Penton Media. Effective immediately, the Nine Lives Media brands — MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Talkin’ Cloud — are part of Penton’s Technology Group. But don’t call it an exit strategy. This is an acceleration strategy. Here’s why.

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A growing number of MSPs seem to be reaching the following conclusion: Maybe running a successful lifestyle business isn’t so bad after all. Indeed, earlier this decade thousands of VARs jumped into the managed services market with a common goal: Automate operations, drive recurring revenues, and vastly increase the value of their businesses. In some cases the goals are now changing. Some MSPs are deciding it’s time to focus on highly profitable lifestyle businesses rather than hyper-growth, high-valuation dreams. Here’s why.

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As the July 4 holiday weekend approaches here in the U.S., it’s time for MSPs, entrepreneurs (and me…) to face the following facts: First, as a small business owner you need to fully unplug from time to time.  Second, if you can’t unplug you need to admit that you’re really not an effective small business owner. Here’s why it’s time for quite a few MSPs and entrepreneurs to take a vacation. Including me.

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Forgive me for going slightly off topic. I have some news to share: MSPmentor has a new sister Web site. It’s called Works With U, and it covers an emerging, disruptive Linux distribution called Ubuntu.

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