Twins Talk Tech Leadership

Episode 37: Intentional Growth through Strategic Partnerships

Being aligned with the right partnerships can lead to increased exposure and accelerated growth. Derek Miner, Partner with Lemonade Stand, a full-service digital marketing firm shares how they live out their motto of ‘Build then Bless’.Some of the highlights include:Growth during the Pandemic by showing up for clients.Lemonade Stand organizational culture & turning team members into philanthropists.Why words really matter and what Derek enjoys about public speaking and delivering conference messages.Derek being a fan of quotes and we even touch on some of his own including, 'The small things we do multiplied by time equal the biggest results’ and ‘words move; words can change lives.’We even touch on a recent keynote Derek delivered, entitled 'Marketing and Leadership Secrets of the Best MSPs: The Five Most Valuable Strategies to Gain More Clients and Keep Them. Follow Derek on LinkedIn and visit lemonadestand.org to see how this intentional partner can produce the results you are looking for.

Episode 36: Continue to Soar in Leadership

Don’t settle when you can set the stage for continued success and growth as a professional. What will keep you going when others settle? How can you lay the foundation for expecting greatness? We are fortunate to be joined by a respected technology thought leader, sought after speaker, and supporter of our platform. Danielle Estrada is the General Manager of Consulting Services at Microsoft's Northeast region and she shares some of her leadership journey with us as well as what keeps her and her team performing at their best. Some of the incredible nuggets include:Accomplishments can set the stage for you to do more.Get a seat at the table and find your voice.Be unapologetically bold; you have something to contribute.Be comfortable being you, and with how you show up.Continue to ask how you can increase your impact.Support and recruit talent from Universities, including our own Howard University.Be sure to follow Danielle on LinkedIn and visit Microsoft to learn more about their commitment to diversity and to supporting the community.

Episode 35: Your MSP Advantage, Deploy Bots

What would automating the mundane and repetitive tasks do for your business? How can this approach of leveraging automation and AI help to reduce costs while increasing both productivity and revenue? MSPbots Founder and CEO, Daniel Wang shares what he has learned throughout his leadership journey and about the opportunities that are available for those organizations who take advantage of this growing technology. MSPBots specializes in automating MSP business processes by using low code, no code robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, and data analytics.You will clearly hear Daniel’s passion and excitement for technology and for the development of the leaders within his organization. Highlights of the conversation include:His approach to growth and leadership with a mindset of elevating talent, delegating areas of responsibility and how he focuses on his greatest areas of contribution and impact.How CEOs can be both the ceiling and reason why their organizations stop growing.MSPbots case study and their ‘NextTicket’ program.To learn more about Daniel and how MSPbots can help create and deploy bots that flawlessly automate administrative tasks, shorten processes, and convert data into actionable items, visit https://mspbots.ai/

Episode 34: Cultivating a Confident Mindset

How do you respond to disappointment and setbacks? Cultivating the right mindset essential for senior leadership and for building a successful organization.CEO & Co-Founder of Gradient MSP, Colin Knox shares from his own leadership journey about lessons learned from overcoming challenges. Gradient MSP is an integration platform for MSPs, connecting tools and simplifying processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness. This includes monitoring vendor alerts and streamlining billing reconciliation.Colin touches on the importance of developing a confident mindset:Recipe of resilience mixed with self-belief.Finding the right motivation while having patience and discipline.Difference between being confident and arrogant.The danger of the attitude of 'that is the way we've always done it' or 'that is the way it's always been done.'We also learn about the gradient branding and the origin of bright pink colors and the flamingo as their mascot. To learn more about Colin and Gradient MSP, visit meetgradient.com

Episode 33: Leadership is a Privilege

How you view leadership impacts everything. Leadership is more than just possessing a set of skills. Leadership is a mindset and as Michael Crean, CEO of Solutions Granted puts it; it is a privilege. Solutions Granted is a leading MSSP solution firm, partnering and supporting IT service providers and the MSP Channel.You will be inspired by Michael’s use of analogies and stories. Some key takeaways include:The foundation of how his leadership perspective was built and defining what ‘leadership being a privilege’ means. Leadership principles that he sees as vital for the IT community including, 'Never above, never below; always beside.'Clarifying MSP vs MSSP and the role manufacturers may have in shaping that. An analogy Michael used, “Every surgeon is a doctor but not every doctor is a surgeon.”Their collaborative approach to partnerships and supporting MSPs.Leaders must be like an eagle. The digital frontier has turned into a battlefield. Why not attack this landscape with the right partner. Choose a partner who embraces responsibility and who will fight for you. To learn more about Michael and Solutions Granted, visit solutionsgranted.com/

Episode 32: Growth, Community & a Rebrand

Being able to keep up with a rapidly changing technology landscape is crucial and MSPs are on the front line. They are being tasked to do more than ever before, which is why being aligned with the right partnerships are key to providing that vital depth of support needed for their clients. Their partnerships must themselves stay on a path of innovation and continuous learning. CyberQP’s Co-Founder and COO Jim Jessup along with Cynthia Schreiner, Director of Community & Events speak about the importance of bringing that depth of value to the Managed Service Providers that they support. CyberQP is a leading provider of privileged access management and helpdesk security automation for MSPs.Key points from Jim and Cynthia include:The growth of CyberQP including the evolution and rebrand from QuickPass.Depth and development of the CyberQP family; now with 75 EE in 3 Countries including Canada, Mexico and The US. Their dedication to the MSP community.CyberQP focus for the remainder of 2023 and into Q1Follow Jim Jessup and Cynthia Schreiner on LinkedIn. Learn more about CyberQP’s QGuard and strategies for securing access to administrative accounts by visiting Cyberqp.com

Episode 31: Challenges SMBs Face with Cybersecurity

Much like their namesake, this leading threat detection firm goes on the offensive by hunting and detecting potential threats and vulnerabilities. With a focus on serving SMBs, Huntress empowers both MSPs & IT Departments through their platform, along with education and resources to address cybersecurity risks and challenges.Kyle Hanslovan, CEO Huntress shares about the incredible growth of Huntress and about some of the challenges that SMBs face when it comes to addressing their cybersecurity needs. Some of the highlights from this amazing conversation include:Kyle’s elevator pitch and his emphasis on tailoring that introduction to the audience.Correlation between hacking and the game of chess.“Can I make this chess piece do something it can't do?”How to overcome the ‘no resources, no money’ defense. “Understand your risks by learning your environment.”Managed Service Provider (MSP) compared to a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)The significance of their Huntress logoWe also briefly dive into what we can expect from Huntress. This includes as Kyle puts it, ''preparing for readiness”; preparing to go public. To learn more about Kyle and Huntress, visit www.huntress.com

Episode 30: Zero Trust Platform & Speaking

Could this be the best endpoint protection platform (EPP) in the market? How can a strong corporate culture increase key performance metrics? Why is communication so vital for success? Danny Jenkins, CEO of ThreatLocker touches on the importance of public speaking and on their approach to delivering endpoint security solutions. Danny believes in empowering his team by embracing the concept of ‘urgency’ and the need to provide solutions as soon as they possibly can. Speaking of culture, recently at a Conference, the ThreatLocker team appeared in their ‘Men in Black’, black suits with blue ThreatLocker shirts underneath. This uniformity reflects their professionalism and dedication to protect their clients. What makes an effective speaker? Danny believes that 'passion' and 'storytelling' goes a long way to impacting success. He states that:People may not be passionate when they speak, because they aren't passionate about their product.If you're not passionate about your product, change your product or make it better.To learn more Danny, ThreatLocker and their Zero Trust platform, visit www.threatlocker.com/

Episode 29: Know Your Worth

Don’t go it alone. The right partnership could ensure that you are getting the most out of your investment. Most don’t buy or sell a home without working with a real estate agent or broker. Many won’t consider an investment portfolio or a retirement plan without working with a financial wealth advisor. Approach maximizing the value of your MSP or Tech firm with the same mindset. Reed Warren, CEO of iT Valuations speaks about how partnering with them can mean the difference between settling and getting the most out of your investment. iT Valuations works to ensure IT services and tech firms understand the value of their business. They also facilitate M&A (Mergers and acquisitions) activity. He stated that, 'the fastest way to change the value of your business is to improve your profitability.' At iT Valutions, they've nicknamed 2023 as the year of the Merger. The question to ask is do you know Your worth? To learn more about Reed or to have his team help you navigate an exit strategy, obtain a true assessment and valuation of your organization, visit itvaluations.com/

Episode 28: AI Readiness & an Update

We are fortunate to have recorded this live during the Taylor Business Group BigBIG Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Fantastic being able to catch up with Michael Slater, Head of Sales for Channel Marketplace at Sherweb. We get an update as to what Michael has been up to as well as some insight into the incredible growth of SherWeb. Michael stated how a big focus for Sherweb has been on 'AI readiness' and opportunities with automation. Readiness can be seen as the first stage in supporting organizations with their ability to deploy and use AI with automation.Michael also recently was recognized by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, as he was named a 2023 Inclusive Channel Leader for his work in helping to create a more diverse and inclusive environment. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn and learn more about this cloud services and solutions provider by visiting sherweb.com/