Meet Joe Martinez of KITE IT Pro!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
KITE IT Pro’s headquarters are in Tucson, AZ. In 2014, we started off as a consumer/business break-fix company and made the decision to primarily focus solely on managed services in 2018.
How long have you been a member of The 20?
We have been a member of The 20 for a little over 4 months.
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
The size of our company really forced us to look to partner with The 20. Scaling our service delivery was a huge issue for us. We were not in the position to hire technicians or take on clients over a certain size in fear of service overload. As we added new clients, we were essentially growing ourselves out of business.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
CONFIDENCE. We knew that we delivered our clients great IT service, we just lacked confidence in scaling. Partnering with The 20 has allowed us to discover the difference between scaling our service and scaling our business.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
We love the community of The 20. The engagement between partners is priceless. In this industry, every company holds their secret sauce under lock and key. As members of The 20 community, we are learning from seasoned industry veterans on how to successfully grow and protect our business.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Hard work. The 20 is designed to alleviate growing pains. Everything you need to grow your business is in The 20. Hard work is not just defined on the hours you put into delivering service, hard work is also defined by the ability change who you are as an owner, partner, and as a company. Change is the hardest work you will ever have to do.
What are your biggest business challenges?
The biggest challenge we face is lead generation. It is always the principal challenge for each IT service company.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
Lead generation and building a sales pipeline. Now that we can scale our service delivery, we can “get out” in front of potential clients and develop our business. The ability to get out from “behind the console” has been invaluable. We can make more effort towards focusing on lead generation and sales which is paramount to our success.
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
If you are looking to grow your MSP, join The 20. Stop wasting effort in hiring help desk technicians or getting yourself stuck “behind the console”. The 20 gives your company the freedom to focus on lead generation and sales…the scaling is provided. We wish we would have done this back in 2018.
What book are you currently reading?
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen – Donald Miller
Favorite blogs / podcasts
Cyware Daily Threat Intelligence – Cyware Labs
Frankly IT (podcast)
Connecting The Channel (podcast)
Interested in becoming a member like KITE IT Pro? Click here for more information!
Meet Trent Milliron of Kloud9 IT!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
Kloud9’s headquarters are in Cleveland,Ohio and we have offices in Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus Ohio. We started in 2006 as a break-fix company and began all inclusive services in 2010, as a way to assist businesses in budgeting but also as a way to have better control over tier infrastructure to prevent problems from occurring instead of getting calls because something is broken.
How long have you been a member of The 20?
Around 6 years
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
Buying power with vendors, also done for you integration with the vendor tools as well. Meaning you are buying into a set of tools where everything is working together as it should. Going further on this, also buying into sales and operations processes as well that work. And a community.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
We have been able to streamline our service offerings and present them in way that increases revenue.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
The camaraderie with likeminded individuals who want success.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Always work on increasing revenue. If you are not growing, you are shrinking.
What are your biggest business challenges?
Developing Processes and Employees.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
Expanding our service offerings in order to increase opportunities for our sales team. Also adding a defined cyber security service
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
Delegate, Use Metrics, and Spend Money on Marketing.
What book are you currently reading?
Scaling Up. Get A Grip.
Favorite blogs / podcasts
Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Dennis Prager, Candice Owens, Dave Rubin
Interested in becoming a member like Kloud9 IT? Click here for more information!
Thank you for making Virtual VISION 2020 a success!
The 2020 Virtual VISION Conference featured an impressive speaker lineup, best-in-class thought leadership, actionable content sessions, channel trends, interactive peer panels, and virtual peer networking – all focused on growing your IT services business. Keynote speaker Gary Vaynerchuk, prolific entrepreneur and 5-time New York Times bestselling author, shared business growth strategy and marketing tactics. The speaker roster also included Walter Bond and Mark Manson. Hailed as the most important MSP event of the year, VISION brought together top MSPs and IT service providers for two impactful days of speakers, sessions, and networking focused on business best practices, thought leadership, and growth.
Virtual VISION 2020 Featured Sessions:
- The New MSP Landscape | Tim Conkle
- The Only Thing Stopping You is You | Walter Bond
- How to Build a Sales Pipeline That Closes Deals Consistently | Mark Elliott
- Keynote Speaker: Gary Vaynerchuk aka “GaryVee”
- Top 3 Strategies for Engaging Remote Customers | Eric Townsend, Dell
- The Law of F*ck Yes or No | Mark Manson
- Security in the MSP Space: Threats, Opportunities & Strategies to Position Yourself for Success | Matt Solomon, ID Agent
- Tightening Up Your Security Stack To Avoid MSP FUBAR | John Hammond, Huntress
- Panel Discussions: MSP Marketing 101, Making the Jump to AI, Shadow Channels
“The 20’s model is poised to dramatically disrupt the MSP market, and a critical piece of this strategy is expanding and enabling the right type of partner base in order to accelerate nationwide growth. With Virtual VISION coming to a close, we are excited for the continuous growth and to see you all in 2021.” – Tim Conkle, Chief Executive Officer of The 20 MSP.
Thank you to all of our sponsors! We had an amazing time in the virtual world with all of you and can’t wait to see you all in 2021. Stayed tuned for VISION 2021 dates at the20.com.
Meet Lance Keltner of UNI Computers!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
UNI Computers was established in 1993 as a computer repair store in Lawrence KS. I took over ownership in 2006 after working there for 7 years. At that point, business managed services was a very small part of the business, but I knew it would be the future and where I needed to focus growth. I continued to put time and effort into growing the business services side of the company and today it accounts for more than half of our total revenue.
How long have you been a member of The 20?
We joined The 20 in 2018 and are a bit past 2 years of being a member.
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
The selling point for me was two fold and equal in importance: #1 was the pre-curated stack of tools and security with the foundation already set and process in place to use, sell, and manage it. #2 was the community. I know enough to know what I don’t know, and having a large community of people just like me with all different experiences and skillsets is ultra-valuable. Whenever I need an answer or solution to something, chances are someone has it and already knows it works.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
The biggest change for us is having a solid process that I didn’t have to invent from the ground up over the course of years that’s already proven to work. I sell with supreme confidence backed not only by me, but also vetted by scores of other businesses around the country doing it the same way as I do, every day.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
What I like most is definitely the community. I’ve formed life-long friendships here, which is not something I always do easily. Everyone is here to help out. No one is afraid of someone else stealing their stuff. That’s rare in the world where everyone generally keeps their cards close to the vest. I also like that if I need to get top leadership of The 20 on the phone for a call, it’s easy to do, and they are ready and willing to help with anything. Our suggestions are taken seriously and more often than not brought into practice and used. We are part of the process that makes The 20 better today than it was yesterday.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
The biggest quality for success is the willingness to change and adapt when it’s shown that you can do something better than you were doing it previously.
What are your biggest business challenges?
My biggest challenges personally are marketing and sales, which The 20 has helped with immensely but also the community and the people I have met have helped equally as much. The collaboration I’ve been able to do with other members has been priceless.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
My biggest areas of focus are getting in front of prospects and keeping the pipeline full. COVID brought about a lot of instant change, but we were fortunate enough that our base of clientele was very stable and so we haven’t suffered like some MSPs have. Reaching new customers and bringing them the security and support they need has definitely been more challenging, and is the key area I’m working on as it dictates our overall growth.
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
Join The 20! Seriously. Tim says the three most important things you can do are 1. Lead Gen, 2. Sales, 3. Scale. That’s what The 20 is built on and what its focus is. If joining isn’t possible, then those three things are still what you have to do, anyway you can. They will decide how successful your MSP can be. Period. I’ve doubled my MRR since joining The 20. This is the way.
What book are you currently reading?
I am currently in a few different books, which are all great: The 4hr Work Week – Tim Ferris, Traffic Secrets – Russell Brunson, Building a StoryBrand – Donald Miller.
Favorite blogs / podcasts
I haven’t been much of a podcast guy as I usually like reading more, so for blogs/sites it would be:
1. The 20’s Teams community!
2. Chris Wiser’s marketing program communities
3. Cyware’s security daily email
4. Recorded Future’s daily email
Interested in becoming a member like UNI Computers? Click here for more information!
Meet Courtney Ford, Graphic Designer
This month we have turned the spotlight on Courtney Ford! Courtney quickly became a tremendous asset to the entire team at The 20. Read below to find out more about Courtney!
What do you do here at The 20?
I’m the Graphic Designer so I help the Art Director create social media content, digital/print collateral, and cool stuff for around the office.
Describe The 20 in three words…
Strong, Family, Exciting.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Marine Biologist… until I realized I am actually scared of everything in the ocean ????
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Right now it’s VISION season so deadlines are crazy trying to get everything finished. (PS: don’t forget to register at the20.com if you haven’t already ????)
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Knowing all the words to Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady”
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Dedication
What do you like most about The 20?
I often describe The 20 as my dream job, so that’s a list we don’t have time for.
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
This isn’t a hobby… YET. I just bought a leash so I can start walking my cat outside. I’ve also picked up playing Animal Crossing in my excessive amount of time at home this year.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
Colorado is the plan ⛄️
What’s your top life hack?
Interested in working with Courtney at The 20? We’re hiring! Check out our Careers page for more info.
The 20, a leading consortium of managed service providers (MSPs), is excited announce keynote speaker Gary Vaynerchuk.
Entrepreneur and social media influencer, Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as “Gary Vee,” is set to deliver a keynote address on October 1st at Virtual VISION. GaryVee got his start over 13 years ago after starting a web series called Wine Library TV. After slowly building a following and an audience, Gary Vee started VaynerMedia, a full-service advertising agency that has grown to work with some of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Today, Gary continues to be an influential figure in the marketing and entrepreneurial spaces. He is a highly sought-after public speaker, a five-time New York Times bestselling author, as well as a prolific early angel investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter and Uber.
GaryVee will give a keynote address to everyone at VISION, followed by a Q&A session.
“We are so looking forward to GaryVee’s keynote at VISION,” says Crystal McFerran, CMO of The 20. “The 20 is thrilled to share this incredible slate of content with the MSP community. If you’re looking to take your MSP to the next level, you don’t want to miss VISION 2020!”
Joining Vaynerchuk will be a powerful speaker lineup including Mark Manson, author of New York Times bestseller “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” and Walter Bond, former NBA player and success coach.
What can you expect from VISION this year? A full roster of sought-after speakers, innovative disruptors and business-focused visionaries sharing their knowledge with likeminded MSPs who are seeking to level up.
Virtual VISION will take place Wednesday, September 30th and Thursday, October 1st. The two-day event also features a full slate of leading channel partners and industry experts. Hailed as the most important MSP event of the year, VISION 2020 will bring together top MSPs and IT service providers for two impactful days of speakers, sessions, and networking focused on business best practices, thought leadership, and growth.
Keynote presentation and Q&A by Gary Vaynerchuk
Business and life lessons from Mark Manson and Walter Bond
Hot topics such as AI, the new MSP landscape, shadow channels and sales/pipeline creation
Growth strategies from MSP industry experts
The full conference agenda can be found here.
Interested in attending VISION 2020? Register at https://www.the20.com.
Meet Chris Kimbell of WOLFGUARD IT!
Tell us a little about your MSP…
In 2010, my family moved from Texas to my wife’s hometown of Bozeman, Montana. I was unable to find a career in my field, so I decided to create my own career and started the company from the basement of my in-laws home. WOLFGUARD IT has since grown considerably and now has clients over Montana, Wyoming, Texas and even Ireland and China. We push toward continued growth and this year we even made the MSP 501 list for 2020!
How long have you been a member of The 20?
3 years
Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?
We were having difficulty with scaling and needed a unique sales model that works. Some groups had their “golden goose” but didn’t help you get there. I needed a group that would help you get from point a to the end goal.
Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.
We dove in with the The 20 model. This changed every aspect of our business. It was a lot of work, but has paid off big time. We now have scalability, a better business model and a great sales model that easily makes sense.
What do you like most about being a member of The 20?
Number one would be the knowledge that The 20 provides as well as the resources and other members.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Hard work and the right business model.
What are your biggest business challenges?
Marketing and brand awareness.
What are your areas of focus for 2020?
Marketing, marketing and marketing. We have been in business for 10-years now and we haven’t worked on our band awareness until now. More people need to know our brand and what we do.
What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?
It is extremely difficult to scale your business while staying profitable. But that is only part of the fight. Work with a group that can handle your marketing and sales models too. All of these items make a big difference in your overall success.
What book are you currently reading?
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber.
Favorite blogs / podcasts
Neowin fills by nerdy tech update needs.
Interested in becoming a member like WOLFGUARD IT? Click here for more information!
Meet Donna Pebworth, Financial Controller
Today we turn the spotlight on Donna Pebworth. Donna quickly became a tremendous asset to the entire team at The 20. Read below to find out more about Donna!
What do you do here at The 20?
I’m the Financial Controller and also handle HR & Payroll.
Describe The 20 in three words…
Innovative, Challenging, & Rewarding.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A Photographer.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Trying to make processes and procedures so things run better, faster, and smarter.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Going back to college later in life to finish my Associates, then on to my Bachelor’s, and then my Master’s, all while working full time and throughout the process, paying my own way.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
I have two, you must be driven and self-reliant.
What do you like most about The 20?
The challenges I face daily and how these challenges help me grow as a person and as an employee of The 20.
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
In my spare time, I like hanging out with good friends and my four legged babies, going to dinner, and relaxing poolside. My hobbies are yard work/gardening, I love to have a beautiful lawn. It gives me a sense of pride.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
Depending on the COVID19 situation, maybe Hot Springs, or the beach, or if nothing else, my backyard pool!
What’s your top life hack?
DIY Solutions- YouTube Videos
Interested in working with Donna at The 20? We’re hiring! Check out our Careers page for more info.
Meet Joe Parr, Manager 0f Backup and Disaster Recovery
Today we turn the spotlight on Joe Parr. Joe joined the team several years ago and quickly became a tremendous asset to The 20.
What do you do here at The 20?
Backup and Disaster Recovery Manager in charge of over 120 backup devices each backing up 5-10 servers a piece.
Describe The 20 in three words…
Knowledgeable, customer-focused, friendly.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I had dreams of becoming the next Dan Rather, a news correspondent.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Being the sole point of contact for all things BDR related.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Raising my niece from the age of 4 until she graduated high school.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Care about your employees, they are what help you succeed.
What do you like most about The 20?
The work/life balance here is good in that if I need to deal with an emergency, I can, no questions asked.
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
I love going to movies, listening to music, and spending time with my family.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
I don’t know, but ultimate wish is to go to Fiji.
What’s your top life hack?
Having common sense.
Interested in working with Joe at The 20? We’re hiring! Check out our Careers page for more info.
Meet Michael Winward, NOC Manager
Today we turn the spotlight on Michael Winward. Michael quickly became a tremendous asset to the team at The 20.
What do you do here at The 20?
I manage the NOC which is responsible for monitoring and responding to system-generated alerts from our partner’s client environments as well as ensuring our core services and tools are properly implemented and functioning effectively. In addition to the NOC, I manage Professional Services (a.k.a Project Services) for The 20. Need help with an upcoming project? We’ve got your back!
Describe The 20 in three words…
Innovative, Driven, Community.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A political consultant or lobbyist… yeah, I was a weird kid.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Time. There is so much I want to accomplish, but the finite nature of time is a constant source of frustration.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Personal? Either teaching my dog how to patiently balance a treat on his snout until just the right moment, or cultivating a loving, trusting, respecting and fun relationship with my wife… both took a lot of work!
Professionally? Cultivating a team with similar attributes. Loving may be going a bit far, but certainly mutual trust, respect, fun and hard work… all things you need to work effectively together. The continuous forward progress of the team I lead every day, for me is the best gauge of my personal success.
What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?
Integrity. If you start with integrity, every other quality necessary becomes a part of the equation.
What do you like most about The 20?
The people. I am working with the most brilliant and interesting characters of my professional career, which is fantastically satisfying. It makes going to work every day (back when we used to go to work) easy and enjoyable.
What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies?
Happiness for me comes easily — a trip to the dog park with my wife and clinically insane Jack Russell is my idea of a good time. As a hobby, I enjoy brewing beer. Coming up next? A green chili and mango gose, and a carrot cake cream ale!
Where are you going on your next vacation?
Anywhere! I can’t wait for this lockdown to end! But it’s hard to make plans before it does. First thing though is probably to visit my family in New Mexico that I haven’t seen in a while due to social distancing.
What’s your top life hack?
For life incoming: Don’t sweat the small stuff that does or does not come at you. You’ll be happier for it.
For life outgoing: Remember the details. It is often small actions and statements that result in big impressions. They will really appreciate that you took the time to regard them.
Interested in working with Michael at The 20? We’re hiring! Check out our Careers page for more info.
