The Second Act Nobody Told You About
There’s a strange morning that happens after the wire lands. You wake up, and out of sheer habit you reach for the phone, braced for the usual: a client’s server…
Cogent Conversations: How MSPs Fund Smarter Acquisition (EP22)
Ask ten MSP owners about their long-term plan and most will describe the same tidy arc: build it, sell it, ride off into the sunset. Rick Murphy uses episode twenty-two…
Cogent Conversations: What Buyers Really Want in an MSP (EP21)
Rick, Bruce Nelson of Vertilocity, and Jeff Hamons of Computol close out the series by turning the question around: what is a buyer actually screening for when they look at…
Cogent Conversations: The First 48 Hours After an MSP Acquisition (EP20)
The deal is signed. The team just found out. What actually happens between Friday afternoon and the following Wednesday? Bruce Nelson and Jeff Hamons walk through the real timeline —…
The Vendor You Don’t Own Can Still Wreck Your Deal
So picture this. An owner's walking a buyer through the business, and it's going great, the team's sharp, the clients are happy, the growth story basically tells itself. This deal's…
Cogent Conversations: Why Culture Decides Whether an MSP Deal Works (EP19)
Every buyer says culture matters. Bruce Nelson and Jeff Hamons— whose 15-person team joined Vertilocity earlier this year — talk through what that actually looks like in practice, from the…
The Smoke Detector Test for Client Relationships
Quick question for you. When's the last time you actually tested your smoke detector, not because something was burning, just to make sure the thing still works?Most people do this…
Cogent Conversations: Why the Best Deal Isn’t About EBITDA (EP18)
Jeff Hamons had eight companies competing for his business. He didn't take the biggest number — he took the one that felt like the right fit. That decision, and what…
Cogent Conversations: What Could Kill Your MSP Sale (EP17)
Ask George Sierchio what actually kills an MSP sale, and the answer isn't what most owners expect. It's rarely the price. More often, it's something quieter — a chunk of…
Buyers Read the Boring Stuff First
Let's be honest about something: every MSP owner has a great story to tell. The growth, the culture, the client who's been with you since year two and still sends…
Cogent Conversations: The Real Math Behind Selling Your MSP (EP16)
Ask most MSP owners what their EBITDA is, and you'll get a confident number. Ask George Sierchio how often that number is actually right, and he'll tell you: not as…
What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Selling Your Business
In a world where one wrong signature could end everything... one MSP owner must sell his company... before it's too late.Cue the drums. Cut to a rain-streaked window. Somewhere, a…
Cogent Conversations: Why Selling Your MSP Isn’t Just About Money (EP15)
Ask George Sierchio what winning looks like when an MSP owner sells the company, and he won't lead with a number — even though the number matters plenty. A winning…
10 Questions to Ask an MSP Buyer Before You Sign
Most sellers spend months preparing their business for a buyer's scrutiny — clean financials, tidy contracts, a story that holds together under questioning. Fewer spend five minutes preparing their own…
Cogent Conversations: Why MSP Owners Really Sell (EP14)
Ask an MSP owner if they'd consider selling, and the first answer — even from owners who've already hired a broker — is almost always the same: "I'm not really…
Cogent Conversations: Why Most MSPs Leave Money on the Table (EP13)
An MSP owner had the deal essentially done — a strong multiplier, terms in hand — built on the pitch a lot of owners are proud of: no client contracts,…
Should You Sell Your MSP Now or Wait?
Most MSP owners sit with this question for longer than they will admit. It lives in the back of the mind, surfaces occasionally on the drive home after a long…
Cogent Conversations: What Actually Makes Clients Stay (EP12)
himpanzees use sticks to fish termites out of a mound. It's a tool, and it works — but nobody credits the stick. The primate figured out what to do with…
Young Founder: Cash, Rollover, Earnout, or Another Run?
This is Part 3 of Young Founder, Cogent Growth Partners' three-part series for MSP founders selling earlier than most.Read the first two articles in the series:Young Founder: What Buyers Will…
Cogent Conversations: Lose One Person, Lose the Client (EP11)
Across a recent deal, Cogent found something that should make any MSP owner uncomfortable: one technician was the primary contact for the company's top ten customers — spanning multiple divisions…