The wrong concerns everyone has about the cloud

Posted: 11:14 am
July 11, 2012
ExchangeDefender, IT Business
4 Comments

Now some of you clicked on this link accidentally or are probably wondering what kind of insane argument for the cloud I have. After all, your clients don’t want the cloud, don’t trust the cloud, will never want their data on the Internet and are just looking for a good debate. I’ve had that debate for years and this ain’t one of them so I don’t want to waste your time, just follow this link to the place where the folks that disagreed with me inevitably end up at. Sorry, but that’s the harsh reality of business in an emerging technology field and not liking innovation.

Why cloud file servers just don’t make sense..

There is that problem of broadband just not being broad enough for the large files we sometimes move around. Even in the small business with a 10Mb uplink that pipe can get not-so-broad during business hours while everyone is streaming youtube videos.

Then there is the issue of location, politics and regulation. Where is my data stored at? Is it in USA where the Patriot Act is going to authorize the government to see every single of my files? Aren’t all of the employees constantly opening my files just as they read all of my email and my attachments? Will I get sued if my data is not on my hard drive?

There are also questions about longevity – what if the service provider goes out of business? If you move to the cloud and the cloud explodes, are you going to lose all of your files? Since you have no control over it all, what if one of your employees or service providers employees just decides to delete all of your files out of malice?

REALLY: These are just a few of the reasons I don’t believe in the cloud. Yes, I Vladimir Mazek do not have blind faith in the cloud. I do worry that my bank doesn’t have enough deposits on hand and I might one day wake up to having new management there. I don’t trust my data center providers, that’s why I have more then one. I sure as hell don’t trust any of the hardware we use – that’s why they are redundant inside the box, spread across multiple boxes and the redundant across multiple data centers. Yeah, it’s not as profitable as say Amazon Web Services, but I don’t have a backup book selling business to fall back on should ExchangeDefender blow up one day. So while I’m awake (along with everyone here) we try to make sure that we wake up to the same stuff we went to bed with – a fully operational, redundant network.

So why in the world would you go into a cloud files business?

Because the clients are asking for it!

bullshitWait a minute Vlad, my clients are NOT asking for it! You are insane! Never in my five decades of being an IT consultant have I ever heard of a client wanting to store their files in the cloud. They don’t trust the cloud. They don’t want the cloud. They want their files where they can see them. On a server. In the office. Not everyone is living in 2020 that Vladville is, my customers view of managed print services is when Office Depot delivers typewriter paper and ink ribbon!!!

 

So the reason the above argument is bullshit is because your/our customers aren’t IT people. They are not going to knock on the door and ask for the cloud. But they are using it and loving it and if they have an iPad they do know the features these gadgets bring to them. You haven’t heard anyone say this recently, have you: “I hate cell phones. I hate how all my contacts that are in Outlook are also on my Android/iPhone and how I can access all of my stuff all over the place and don’t have to lug around a 8lb laptop.” They don’t know that they are using the cloud – all they know is that this stuff is more convenient and it just so happens to run through the cloud.

Screw the cloud.

Sell the features.

But don’t sell it like Microsoft. Sell it like Apple. Don’t sell them voice pattern recognition software that will offload their message to a data center in North Carolina and send back search results. Click on the button and show them what it does.

Here is how you sell it..

Here are a few slides that illustrate the difference between the Microsoft approach and the Apple approach.

What I want to make sure you understand is that this is not a glorification of Apple or a conviction of Microsoft. It’s the mirror of reality: consumers are making purchasing decisions. When it comes to understanding what consumers want, Apple has beaten Microsoft repeatedly, convincingly and decisively – to the extent that Microsoft itself is changing it’s model. Respectfully, so should we.

Appeal to what your clients want. Not to what they need. Because for the most part they are the same thing, but if you phrase it correctly it will appeal more. Here is what your clients need:

cs1

Sounds great, right? Except nobody outside of data center business and the accountants that serve them knows what SAS 70 audit is. The redundant data centers are great but it sounds like I’m just going to be paying for a lot of stuff I won’t be using. And as a consumer I am not sure if you’re telling me you’re going to destroy my data or not but I don’t like the idea of it at all.

Now let’s translate the above to English:

cs2

This is the conversation that is easier to have.

This is also a conversation in which you’ll easily overcome any objections. For example, how is business level accountability any better than Bob the IT guy that works for me? Well, Bob the IT guy probably has 15 other jobs and without reports, restore tests and ongoing monitoring is he really doing anything or just having faith that the backup job is doing it’s job? And where is the backup going, above his PC?

Besides the fact that backups are things that nobody likes and nobody cares about until they actually lose data. It’s the first time they happen to think about it. And they sure as hell don’t like to pay for it – but they will pay to have their work files on their home PC and their laptop and accessible everywhere.

They will also pay to know who is accessing which files. At what time.

They will also pay when the experience is exactly the same – your files are now on the M:\ drive.

As for the most realistic concern about the cloud that nobody ever asks..

… mostly because it’s a forgone conclusion: do you trust them?

The answer, for the most part, is hell no. That’s the correct answer.

With CloudShare, we have a better answer.  But I’m not going to give it to you here, for that you’ll have to tune in this Friday:

Please register for the event today:

Friday, July 13th at noon EST

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/635677224

People love the convenience.. but when you can’t trust them then the price, features and the offering simply don’t matter. They won’t use it for business.

We have figured out a way to solve this. I would like to acknowledge that some of these concepts are shared with folks like Paul Fitzgerald of the Microsoft SBS/WHS fame because they are a trait shared both by the small business and enterprise: even when we’re not in control we want an illusion that someone, somewhere.. somehow does what is in our best interest. In the absence of that, give me the new convenient features with the fond memories I have of the past.

ExchangeDefender partners… please tune in, I’m about to make your cloud different from everything else that’s on the market today.

SBS End Is The Best Move Microsoft Made In Years

Posted: 6:55 pm
July 7, 2012
SMB
3 Comments

SBS 2003 is probably the greatest product Microsoft has put out in the server space and it’s one that made us a lot of money. It has financed the buildout of other product lines which have done enormously well for ExchangeDefender, it has created a huge following and a community, got many places to embrace Microsoft technology and create sophisticated networks.

I will miss it. I am sure so will many of you.

However, this is a clear line Microsoft is drawing in the sand that will force many Microsoft partners to be smarter about what they are doing and just how they build their business, take a better look at their product portfolio and move beyond vendor roadmap worship and into building solutions and services with their name on it.

Microsoft has decided that there are two worlds: Consumer and Enterprise.

We kind of know better and look forward to working with you at ExchangeDefender because the world is not on the ground or in the cloud, it’s where the client pays the most.

I will post the followup once I make it back to United States on how you can take advantage of the news and emotions surrounding this announcement because this is the best thing Microsoft could have done for you (I know you don’t believe it right now but I will explain it).

Big changes take some time

Posted: 10:19 pm
June 25, 2012
Beta, ExchangeDefender, IT Business
3 Comments

I was reminded over the weekend by a few partners that I haven’t posted many strategic updates over the past few weeks regarding what we’re up to – I beg to differ, we have been rolling out our strategy since January with with half of the year gone we’re actually ahead of what we had planned.

The problem is that there is a difference between doing shit and talking shit. I can blog until the keys fall off but since I no longer own Dell laptops that’s gonna take a while Smile

If you are interested in what we’re up to (and if you have a signed NDA and if you’re actively reselling ExchangeDefender services) you’re welcome to join the webinar this Wednesday at 2PM:

June 27th, 2 PM – 3 PM

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/881838009

* NDA Required. Event will not  be recorded. Active OWN Partners only.

As for the strategy..

In 2012 we renamed Own Web Now to ExchangeDefender.

Not so that we can better focus our business around what is a dead business – that of selling antispam software to IT consultants that are no longer rolling out servers – but to focus our business on the massive transition that is taking place: end-to-end business IT integration.

Put simply, businesses are looking for far more than just email.

We have a massive user base and a massive partner base. All of whom are, respectively, doomed. If your bread and butter is overpriced IT maintenance then it’s not a matter of if but when you become irrelevant and replaced.

We have been adding things to ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey that go well beyond the realm of email or IT management. We’re after the whole pie with our partners. With the one thing that real businesses will pay for: accountability.

So we’re bolting on all the stuff that is typically costing partners tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars and saying – it’s free, go dominate your marketplace. Instead of paying and twisting your vendors arms into supporting one anothers crap while you bleed, we’re giving you a fully integrated solution pretty much free of charge – no, it’s not “the best” but you’ll find that “the best” becomes kind of irrelevant to businesses that do not value the service in the first place. If they value you, they’ll pay for your time and your advice, and we’re going to make sure that is as profitable as possible.

That’s our strategy. And we’re in this for the long haul.

That said, the time on the clock is ticking and we’re just a few months away from shutting down our partner program to the new signups. We have partners virtually everywhere and loyalty has it’s benefits – mainly the fact that it will keep the guy from Craigslist from getting the same stuff you’re able to offer. So hop on in. We’re not wasting money on events anymore, we’re investing it all in the process, tools and services and we’re out rolling them out ourselves around the clock around the world.

It’s pretty simple. Sign up. Attend the webinar. We’ve got a month long waiting list on the secret stuff and yeah – there is a time commitment if you want to be ahead of the pack – but your alternatives are far less appealing and trust me, you don’t want to act on this when everything we’re doing becomes public on this blog. Lots of people read this blog and act when I make it super easy – but by that time it will be a little too late.

And that folks is why I’ve been tired – we’re fully committed to seeing this thing roll out. So my timeline has left very little room for anything else. I’ll blog a lot more next quarter, hope this one has been as great to you as it has been to us!

DIY Lutherburger

Posted: 7:47 pm
June 17, 2012
Humor, Misc
Comments Off on DIY Lutherburger

Two years ago I blogged about a visit to a joint in Atlanta that was famous for lutherburgers and hamdogs. Since then it has been a frequent subject of discussion with fans and I’ve also had a bit of a lifestyle change so I figured I’d write this up.

First of all, happy fathers day! I hope you’ve had a wonderful one!

Second, if you haven’t heard about the lutherburger, it’s basically a bacon cheeseburger that uses a donut instead of a bun. It’s delicious and it’s a matter of taste – if you like cheeseburgers and you enjoy contrasting flavors (sweet and sour chicken for example) you’ll probably enjoy this.

Third, this is not significantly more unhealthy (given the context) than your typical cheeseburger – it’s only roughly 50 calories more. Please see nutritional discussion below.

Preparation

How do you cut a donut in half when you can’t even take it out of a box without deforming it?

Throw it in a freezer for about 30 minutes. Smile

It will give it the consistency of a stale hamburger bun. Take a sharp knife and slide it to the hole then work your way around. Do not stand the donut up vertically or press down with the knife (you’ll smush it) and don’t use a large knife (donuts are pretty small and it might be hard to cut across efficiently with a very big knife).

l1

After you’re done cutting the donut in half throw it back in the freezer.

Cooking

You have to cook the burger well. If you like your cow to moo as you eat it, this might not be for you – you don’t want juices trailing down over the donut as it makes it both messy and significantly less delicious. Your mileage may vary.

Throw the frozen donut on at the same time as you put your cheese on the burger to melt. Flip once. This will make the donut crunchy and give it at least some structure as you eat it. Do not overcook or cook over slow heat, it will just melt it.

l2

Eating Tricks

Take the donut off the grill. Put the second slice of cheese (cold one) down on top and lay the cooked burger on top. This does two things: it will melt the second slice of cheese and keep any juices from the hot burger from melting your donut bun.

Layer any toppings you want. I made my bacon crunchy because you don’t want to have anything you can’t swiftly bite in half on this burger – so no grilled onions, etc. Think about it, you’re eating a cheeseburger from a donut, if you start moving it around it will just fall apart.

Once you’re done with the toppings.. flip the burger on your plate. This is pretty important – your burger will be hot so you don’t want all that heat and juices melting the donut on the bottom. When you flip it the other bun will get the same heat/pressure treatment and give you a pretty unique flavor on top and on the bottom.

l3

Eating

Make sure your cell phone is fully charged. Turn off the power saving features on your phone. Disable security and add 911 to your speed dial. Try not to eat this during rush hours, give the ambulance a chance!

Bite into it! Enjoy.

l4

It’s amazingly delicious.

Nutritional Discussion

So this is not diet food. But it’s not as bad as you’d imagine.

As I mentioned previously, typical hamburger buns are 120-180 calories and Krispy Kreme glazed donut is 200. Even if you used a ridiculously light weight 100 calorie bun and put on some mayo on it, you’d be breaking even.

I also cheap out on cheese. I use fat free Kraft singles (25 cal a piece) and it tastes just about the same. I go with the ground chuck since the super lean burgers tend to be relatively dry. Here is the breakdown:

Nutritional Breakdown

1 Krispy Kreme Glazed Donut (200 calories)

2 Kraft American Fat Free Singles (25 calories)

1 4oz Ground Chuck Burger (280 calories)

2 Bacon slice (43 calories)

That’s roughly 616 calories.

By comparison, McDonalds Big Mac is 540 calories.

That’s four miles on the treadmill running at 6mph.

It’s worth it.

When do you sell?

Posted: 3:45 pm
June 15, 2012
IT Business
3 Comments

Own Web Now & ExchangeDefender’s success has been relatively public so most of the conversations I have with the older/larger providers tends to be about the sale of business and next steps. Personally I see most of it being driven by the sunsetting of the “IT management” business model more than anything else but I’ll walk you through my case scenario just for fun.

When do you sell your business?

– When you’re offered far more than it’s worth

– When you’re offered far more than it’s future growth potential

– When you have financial problems*

– When you have a better growth opportunity within a larger company

– When you’re just done with business ownership*

Unfortunately, most of the M&A activity I’ve seen has been a result of necessity, not opportunity. Whether result of buying 100,000 seats of an RMM tool without a client base or a PSA tool that the business was ready for or some poor technology bets (“we’re going to be a Health Care IT provider because nobody likes to spend money recklessly quite like people who went to college for over a decade!”) I know of far more financial issue stories than cash out success stories. The second most popular thing is when you realize you’re not cut out for business ownership – if you’re pretending to be an industry expert and spend more time on the road while blaming your crumbling MSP on the service managers you keep on firing every month then you really might be better off in a mid-management role that doesn’t get to live and die on important decisions. None of these are particularly shameful in my opinion, business ownership is not easy and it’s definitely not fun all the time.

My opinion

The following pertains to my business so feel free to judge accordingly Smile

Our business is profitable, with zero debt, no need to raise capital and has 0 external interference. Our business decisions are driven by us – not some venture capital firm that wants to cash out or folks that would rather do something more interesting.

We have a long term business plan and models. ExchangeDefender has a written 12, 24 and 5 year plan. Shockey Monkey has a more condensed multi-year plan. Our new Managed Messaging is taking off like a rocket and we expect it to make up a bulk of our revenues 2014 and beyond. We have relatively little room to act on whim.

We are a global company. If a hurricane blows through Orlando tomorrow and levels it, we’ll be fine. If our entire data center in Dallas blows up tomorrow, we’ll be fine. If Europe completely implodes financially we should be able to get by. We’re not catastrophically affected by regional issues.

Those are just some operational facts. I have always ran the business in a relatively conservative way – if we couldn’t afford to do certain things, we didn’t and if we couldn’t estimate the risk we couldn’t manage it so we missed some opportunities. The result is a significantly smaller business (than the hypothetical one) but it’s still a business as opposed to a pile of IT roadkill on the side.

I like to think we’re different from the norm but we’re also not alone in this, I know many businesses that are structured this way. Here are my reasons not to sell.

Why not sell?

I have enough money. The financial reward would not be as meaningful. I don’t need a bigger house (I do need a warehouse for the cars) or more toys (which I am reminded of daily by my wife and the kids) or boneless buffalo wings. It would be hard to come up with a sum that would get me to sign the line which is dotted.

I already have a plan. I don’t need external strategic management, having built this company for the past 15 years I (shamelessly, arrogantly) don’t find too many people that understand the market, solutions and the needs much better than I do. So parting with control of what we do here would have to come with a extra large side of blue ocean.

I am excited about what we’re doing. Call me crazy but I love what we’re doing. We’re growing our partners. We are growing our business. Across the number of business lines we have no competition. Can you get a free PSA anywhere? Nope. Can you find a hosted Exchange provider that will do all the work for you? Nope. Can you find the same pricing with the level of support we provide? Nope. Can you build what we’ve got and gain a huge economic advantage? Nope. Keep in mind that this only covers the aspects of the business that you see in public. The stuff that we’re working on in the lab is far more impressive. I am way ahead of my competitors in every major area and I no longer even look at it as a race, it’s more that we can do more stuff now than we could in the past and that is incredibly fulfilling.

We get to do something good. This is kind of corny but the work we do here matters to a lot of people. We get to impact people on security, privacy, give them an opportunity to do something great. We’re able to help people become MSPs without mortgaging stuff and that provides not just a loyal partner for us but also a possibility that they take all that PSA/RMM money and invest it in themselves to build another unique solution that otherwise would not have existed. While nobody handed stuff to me, I wouldn’t be where I’m at without the opportunity I got with so many partners – and being able to repay that is kind of at the core of who we are and what we do.

Should you sell?

I don’t have an answer to that one.

But go through the same checklist that I’ve gone through and figure it out.

I have spent a week at Autotask Live and TechEd and talked to tons of partners about what they are seeing and the questions they had – so I will cover it over the next few weeks on Vladville and on LooksCloudy.com so hopefully it helps some of you understand what is going on out there. Honestly, I am pretty optimistic about what is going on just based on our bottom line and partner activity. The low hanging fruit and the weakest players are out already or are on their deathbed, so it’s up from here in my opinion. ABP.

Next

Posted: 12:00 am
June 9, 2012
ExchangeDefender, IT Business
1 Comment

I rarely ever post internal messages I send to the ExchangeDefender staff on Vladville. I think between the announcements and details I share you have a pretty good idea about the kind of a place we run and why our services are so popular and why there are seemingly so many ridiculously successful partners and some people that probably build voodoo dolls of me in their spare time. But today marks a point of demarcation at which everything I set out to do in 2007 has been built (nearly 10 years into the life of Own Web Now Corp) and now I get to watch it actually take flight. It’s incredibly fulfilling. So without further delay, here is my message to my folks and hopefully it shines some light on what we actually do (between brewing beer, driving Ducati’s and killing SPAM).

…

From: Vlad Mazek
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 11:51 PM
To: orlando
Subject: Next

I wanted to bring you up to speed on what we’re up to and what’s next.

I’m sure most of you remember the many webinars that started with pictures of Ferrari’s and ended with “If you’re not banging Beanie, you have to get to work.” – and since just about everyone that has been hired since 2007 is still here today I’m sure you know it but I’ll say it again: nobody is going to just hand us shit. Everything we’ve built, everything we’ve got and everything we continue to make happen we do on our own.

If you look at this company on a year-by-year basis, it’s amazing how much it has grown and how much better just about everything has gotten. Mostly because this has been a total team effort: There are people in the office at all hours of the day and night and even when we’re not there we’re somehow connected to what is going on. That I believe is the difference with us: everyone that is here is because they need to work and they need these jobs. That pushes us to move faster and solve harder problems and put in more effort into everything. As different as we all seem to be individually, everyone I interact with is on the ball, responsible, accountable, prompt and fighting. This is why you’ll be here forever and why we don’t do typical big company BS of “working in fear” and total uncertainty. Loyalty is rewarded with loyalty, for everyone. What that means is that if you’re here for us, everyone will be here for you. Well, except Frankie, I’m gonna need to see you at ~5pm next Friday.

That’s how we got here.

Those of you that interact with our partners know the challenge they are facing. It’s not pretty. It doesn’t get prettier either and there isn’t a lot of time on the clock either.

Since late 2007 we’ve been working on building a communications business that earned it’s keep on a very simple premise: If we’re having this problem so are a lot of other people out there. And if the solution is easilly fixed just by throwing money at it then all we need is a money printing machine and we’re done. And since we couldn’t find a money printing machine and nobody wanted to go to jail for 10-25 years we did the next best thing: we designed the technology behind it. From the ground up.

Now we’re moving to the next step. We’re rolling up our technology, our partners, our services, our support and our expertise up and throwing it at the collection of SMB pins at the end of the alley.

There is also a change in the way we manage this business.

I have always been involved in almost all of the areas of our business because I knew what I wanted this company to look like and I just didn’t know how to explain it. You’re looking at the finished product. From technologies to workflows to the implementation. If you happen to read Vladville you know that I from time to time manage to stumble to a meaningful conclusion. This is very much that conclusion as far as OWN is concerned. I have taught you everything I know and I’ve helped you all get us to this point. Now it’s your turn.

With few exceptions, Hank and I will be working on the technology and the products.

Everyone else gets to take the output and implement it in a way that generates the most profitable opportunities for our partners and consequently all of us. You will be working together more and you will be leaning on each other more without my waywo’s and last minute flashes of brilliance that have driven most of you to obesity and male pattern baldness.

When it comes to our core business and to our extended portfolio, we’re now light years ahead of our competitors. To be honest with you, I can’t even think of another company that can do what we do, with the reach that we have, with the levels of partnership and at the price we’re able to hit. My best guess is IBM or Cisco. And I’d rather drive my Ducati off a cliff and hope to land into a sea of sporks and BBDs eyeball first than to work for that kind of a company.

I’m glad that the rest of you agree otherwise you wouldn’t have made it here.

Thank you.

We have a great 2012 ahead of us and things are definitely picking up on all fronts. So till you meet your Beanie, ABP. A. B. P.

-Vlad

End Game

Posted: 10:23 pm
May 29, 2012
IT Business
Comments Off on End Game

BraveheartTomorrow at noon I will be holding what is likely the last webinar I’ll hold in this iteration of ExchangeDefender, Own Web Now and Shockey Monkey. Don’t worry if you haven’t registered for it, it’s officially too late to send in the NDA paperwork in so you’ll be missing it but you’ll see it trickle out on Vladville over the course of the next 6-12 months.

What I will say is actually quite simple.

The MSP business model, as it is in the most common monitoring maintenance and remediation, is dying two separate deaths. On one hand, you’re pricing yourselves out of the market because your tools are getting more sophisticated (read: expensive, cumbersome, complex) and that either makes profits shrink or client base slim down. At the same time the appetite for managed services is quite satisfied by automated tools either shipped with the PC or OS or attacked by virtually every other vendor out there.

My proposed is simple: Eliminate the costs of the traditional MSP tools.

If you sell my stuff (ExchangeDefender, Exchange, SharePoint, cloud, voice, file storage, backups) I will make sure you don’t have to pay for the staples of services that run your business.

Now I know what some of you will say: But Vlad, I cannot just sell your stuff. It’s got problems. I need to be able to pick the best of breed and the right tool for the right job and <insert 1800’s apprentice catchprase here>. And that’s fine.

I totally respect that.

But remember that street goes both ways. So while you are by no means obligated to use us for SMTP and security.. don’t expect my help with free tools.

Also look to your peers. Don’t expect me not to arm them to the teeth with the resources that they’ll use to grow and attack your market. Or your clients for that matter.

It’s time for real partnerships.

Work with us and we’ll move heaven and earth to give you an edge. I have no delusions of grandeur, I don’t need to go public or have my software power every MSP out there. I’m here for my partners. Work with our competitors… and we’ll enable your competitors.

Play time is over. We’ve built a model for everyone. If you don’t want to do any of the work past the recommendation – we’ll do all the cloud migration, management, support and billing. If you want to do all of the work and just license the encryption or business continuity features of ExchangeDefender – we can do that as well. You’ve got a ton of ways to make money with us – any piece, any way, around the world and around the clock.

I look forward to the presentation tomorrow. We’re making some big announcements and making some very interesting introductions – I look forward to the next step in our relationship.

When is enough.. enough?

Posted: 11:02 pm
May 27, 2012
Boss, IT Business
Comments Off on When is enough.. enough?

Off topic: I hope you’re having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. If you’re outside of United States and don’t celebrate the Memorial Day allow me to share the following as a recently naturalized american citizen: You’re welcome for us saving you savages over and over. From Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon and Osama Bin Laden. #AmericanHistoryFTW

Now on to the topic. Last time you tuned into Vladville we discussed the fallacies of Work Life Balance and the popular opinion being that it’s an absolute requirement for the life, body and soul. I totally agree. Balance is a beautiful thing. Go to college, get a great job, meet a beautiful boy/girl you fall in love with, have babies, live happily ever after.

If that works out for you like that, fantastic. Fuck you, you lucky bastard. You can stop reading this right now.

If on the other hand you decided to build your own company and have a dream of one day being rich or building something incredible – your life balance formula is far less magical. And that’s OK too. I wish you all the success in the world and I encourage you to focus and work hard to make your dreams come true. Most people cannot understand the drive, the passion and the sacrifice that it takes to make something out of nothing. So when stay at home moms lecture you about how much time you should spend with your kids, when old men tell you their regrets and unemployed people offer suggestions on how you should manage your life – remember that nobody gets to live your life for you. And nobody gets to criticize it either.  There is no shame in hard work, long hours, sacrifice – it’s a part of life and so long as you can justify it to yourself and your stakeholders. Your life is not something you take feedback on. Don’t listen to unemployed people who think they have a better quality of life than you do – if you’re building a company you’re doing so don’t become a guy sitting in his basement writing memorandums. If the old men and women have regrets about how they lived their life that doesn’t mean your wife is going to leave you or that your kids will hate you and that your social circle will kick you out – it just means they messed up somewhere along the way – and I bet you they learned something in that process too. You will too.

To sum it up: Work and life balance is only something you can strike. Sometimes it’s gonna look pretty ugly. If you know what you are doing and why you are doing it then nobody elses opinion matters.

So if you’re building a company… how do you know when enough is enough?

There are two schools of thought on this subject.

On one hand you have people who have a number in their mind. They need to make $100,000 a year or $250,000 a year in order to maintain some standard of living. For some it’s not even a number – it’s a matter of having a 4 week vacation and a new BMW every 24 months. For some the number is simply “more” because life is a video game and he who dies with the highest score wins.

Then there is that other group that isn’t primarily motivated by the economic fundamentals of monopoly. Not that money is irrelevant, it’s just that it’s not the thing that makes them show up for work and stay 10 hours after their shift ends. I’m in this group.

So what’s the right answer?

If you are motivated by money or the number.. the answer is quite simple. Look at your original business plan. I bet you whenever you decided to start this entrepreneurial journey you had written something down (god please say yes).

Every year you should be making revisions, projections, etc. If numbers are what drives and justifies you then this is an annual process. Heck, even if that’s not key every business deals with the numbers.

What number is realistic, enough, sufficient, etc.. that’s all up to you. I know people who are glad to be making $50,000 and I know folks that are beating themselves up because they can’t cross the $5,000,000 mark. The right answer depends.

One of the first things I learned in economics is the concept of time value of money and the social (motivational) impact it has on workers. Slightly paraphrases but here it goes: When you start at the bottom you’re motivated to go to the next level so you’re willing to forgo benefits, vacations and perks in order to gain promotions and bonuses. But as people move up and gain more money they are more interested in the pleasures that money delivers (whatever they are) and they start to take more time off, turn to vacations, perks etc.

As far as the economists are concerned, in the long run the numbers become less relevant. Which makes it so much more important to keep the numbers in check.

So it’s important. But the answer is up to you.

Great, so when can I stop working?

It’s up to you.

Some people stop working when they hit the number.

Some people want to sell or do an IPO.

Some people stop working when they hit a business milestone.

Some people stop working at a certain age.

Some people stop working because it’s not up to them. Sometimes family gets in a way. Sometimes the 5-0 smells a strong chemical smell from your garage and busts your meth lab. Gotta get a better air filtration system.

There are two big points here: 1) Nobody but you decides when you stop making money, working or putting in effort unless you’re under 18 and momma flips the switch and 2) The “stopping point” will change over time.

What do the others think?

I’m blessed to have a lot of friends. Here are their opinions. If you’re reading this and not my friend on Facebook hop on: http://www.facebook.com/vladmmd

Here is what I asked:

Loooooooooooooooooots of questions about yesterdays post on Vladville.. Writing a followup. So here is your chance at fame since I’ll include any comments on this topic in the blog post: “When do you have enough and how do you start pulling back?” — my opinion is you look back at your business plan and where you thought you’d be when you started and then you revise and update your plan. What’s your thought, how do you know when you’ve made enough money and can shift from growth to maintenance mode?

Lee Mackey
The biggest challenge isn’t what you have now, it’s where are you going to be in 10 years with our government and corporations. What’s the next crisis that will pop up because of greed. Will your plan actually make sense? Are you smart enough with investments tat make sense and don’t require you to keep working till you’re 90? Did you marry some crackhead that takes everything you have and now the accounts have pennies.. The question is, how do you plan for the unknown?

James Riley
Been contemplating this one for the last few months and I’m thinking that, if you’re the kind of person that built something from nothing, I’m not entirely sure you’re the kind of person that can ever do something in “maintennace mode”. At that point, it may be less about the money and more about hte challenge to make it over the next hill. Just my $.00002 worth.

Rich Walkup
There really is no such thing as maintenance mode if you want to continue to be successful. If you stop striving for growth, it won’t be long before your nearest competitor overtakes your position. Running a business in maintenance mode is essentially running a business in failure mode. It might not happen next week or next year but its demise is pretty much a sure thing.

Xavier Canez
Never half step…nuff said.

Andy Trish
maintenance mode may be forced upon you by multiple forces Rich, that doesn’t stop you striving for growth, it simply lets you take stock of where you are now and where you want to be. Vlad is referring to comments I made yesterday. at what price is enough? Why with all his money does Steve Balmer, Bill Gates etc work for a living? what are they striving for? does an entrepreneur have to work till they die? lets say with 10 billion in the bank, would you retire / sell up and enjoy your life in other ways or is that not enough?. how many houses and nice cars will it take before that gets boring?

David Valencia
?“Maintenance Mode” is a euphemism for, “i’ve run out of ideas,” or you’ve hit the limits of your sales & marketing capabilities and you aren’t going to reinvest your slice of the pie for continued growth because you are too comfortable. This behavior is what distinguishes lucky do it yourselfers from true entrepreneurs.

A true entrepreneur understands that a business plan and sales & marketing plan must be reviewed and revised on a regular basis in order to keep up with or stay ahead of the competition and natural attrition that comes from inflation, the cost of money, and market changes. If you do not go forward then you will go backwards.

True entrepreneurs also understand that they are good creators but not necessarily the best managers. Therefore, good entrepreneurs aspire to substantial growth that allows for the addition of employees that will do the daily grind while he/she focuses on growth and diversification. True entrepreneurs never get comfortable nor do they aspire for the maintenance mode–they need to keep creating.

Norbert Doeberlein
The goal: do whatever it takes to continually run your company debt free!

Ted Roller
Maintenance mode is what happens between selling your business and the the next thing you do.

Jay Edlin
Enough is when you wake up in the morning and you don’t get satisfaction from what you do, no matter how much money. At this point you have to look to change it up and make it exciting again or sell your business before it declines and find something else to do if you can. Going through the motions or maintenance mode will lead to a decline in business and loss of value. I’ve been there and as a result changed it up.

The Great Lie of Balanced Life

Posted: 4:01 pm
May 24, 2012
Boss, IT Business
6 Comments

I have written at length about why work-life balance is a myth to successful entrepreneurs.

Yet every few months another unemployed person strays from the food stamp line to lecture us on why working too hard or too long or too intensely is bad.

Well, no shit sherlock, of course it’s bad. But if you’re stupid enough to go out and build a company of your own you’re already admitting that you think you can beat the odds.

There is no shame in having a job. Or career. No shame in working for someone else, whatsoever. Most senior managers and business owners have days when they’d trade places and be able to just work without having to make business decisions for something that will happen a few years down the road.

Entrepreneurship is a choice.

Building a business is a choice.

It is one you’re making on your own in order to do something amazing.

So if you’re going to go out of your comfort zone.. if you’re going to put your damn name on it.. if you’re doing this with no safety or backup.. if you’re going to have to come to terms that if you fail you fail all on your own.. if you’re going to put yourself and your family and your body and mind through this………….

…………. are you really going to start it off like a little bitch?

Because if the top of your list of concerns as a business owner is vacation time, time off, weekends off, comfortable hours and ability to separate your work from your life – you’ve already failed. You likely wouldn’t even be able to get a job – people who come into job interviews asking about vacation time and perks are quickly shown the door. But as a business owner? Are you kidding me?

cake-and-eating-it-tooHere is the what it’s like to run a business. You will work long crazy hours to save enough money to launch a marketing capaign. You will do dirty, nasty, disgusting stuff even a hobo won’t do: web site design, cable running, data imports, migrations. Then once you’ve got your marketing together you’ll go to a fire station and ask them how they work 24 hour shifts – how they nap, how they wake up instantaneously, how they deal with long hours and hard labor – because you want to be up at any time anyone wants to give you money for IT. You will take on work hundreds of miles away just to make things work because you’ve got an idea of where you need to be and the only thing between here and there is a little bit of effort. You can sleep when you’re dead.

If you think you’ve signed up for anything less than that – quit now. Click here.

Go get a job. Look for good benefits. Look for set hours. Look for set wage. When you can afford to spend more time at work just work harder and get promoted. When you’ve got other stuff going on, slow it down. This is why they call it a career – you move up or take a step back – but you don’t fall.

In entrepreneurship, there is no middle gear. It’s either off or it’s pedal to the metal.

If you don’t have to balls to live like that and love it then this is not for you.

And that’s perfectly fine and respectable.

But you can’t have it both. You can’t both not answer to anyone and have full liberty and profitability. You have to earn it.

Millionaires like me don’t get to talk about work life balance – it’s disingenuous. I can take time off to do stuff because there are a ton of folks here working while I’m asleep. Unemployed consultants can’t talk about it either – if you can take time off AND someone that needs you notices AND they don’t fire you then that’s kind of making it clear how valuable/worthwhile/necessary your business is. Neither of the scenarios are realistic of an entrepreneur whose small business is going somewhere.

If you’re a small business entrepreneur I have some advice: 1) Work harder, 2) Never let anyone make you feel bad about working hard, 3) Never lose sight of what you’re working towards, 4) Keep a log of sacrifices and accomplishments and review from time to time to make sure they are worth it and 5) stay on schedule.

Value of Leadership

Posted: 12:08 pm
May 22, 2012
Boss, ExchangeDefender, IT Business
2 Comments

I wanted to title this blog post “Why I smile on my way to work every day” but decided to keep it on topic and for those of you that don’t like long winded run-on sentences here is a quickie:

Business leadership is confined to leading your company. It’s different – and far more important – than the industry leadership of being at conferences and industry panels.

The opposite side of the argument is that you shouldn’t be working in your business, you should be working on your business. That argument is dead wrong and leads to unemployment or severe demotions.

And the guys that tried to argue with me with that bullshit no longer own their companies and are either unemployed or hold “management” jobs far from the decision making role of their new employers. Indeed, being full of shit and conference hopping while not going to work has it’s consequences. If you’re curious how some large MSP CEO’s are always at every conference – it’s simple: they are there to sell stuff. They are selling their peer group, their peer product, there as a favor to the management of the company (that may or may not be giving them MFDs in exchange for success stories) But successful people aren’t stupid. They are working.

So let’s set this one in stone please: If you want to successfully lead your business to the next level you’ll actually have to go to the office, talk to the people that work for you and be a part of the solution. There is no shortcut.

The other day I was reminded of this very fact while talking to my VP of Development who is in charge of design of everything we do. By the way, if you’d like to see what we’re up to please join this webinar but only if you’re actively doing a lot of business with ExchangeDefender:

Hank: So here is the UI..
Vlad: Why aren’t you just using the native Windows folder navigation?
Hank: I will on the backend when we map it to a drive letter.
Vlad: But why are you doing this then, seems like reinventing the wheel.
Hank: Because you will invariably want to do custom stuff like permissions, quota display, attaching notes and expiration and I can only build that in a custom control.

Now Hank could just be communicating to me that I’m an ass. Which is fair.

But the alternative view here is that this is a critical component of business leadership.

There are thousands of hosting companies, SPAM filtering companies, offsite backup and storage companies, email companies, VoIP companies, etc.

98% of all of those companies are exactly the same. You may like employees at one place more than the other or you may get a better deal at one over the other. But when everyone just crosslicenses each others stuff then there is no compelling advantage to pick them over one another.

They become commodities.

This is why MSPs so often fail. What’s the recipe for an MSP? Buy an RMM, buy a PSA, sign up with a helpdesk, Microsoft Partner Program, mix a garbage collection of Office Depot color copies with a combo of late night tv / junior college marketing and BAM – you’re an MSP! Then the rest of us have to explain why we’re better than that and charge more than the MSP you find on craigslist.

Business leadership is something different. It’s leading your company in terms of exceeding the norm of services, features, accessibility, performance – you name it.

You refuse to follow the same ol’ “best practices” as dictated by people who failed at being an MSP or haven’t actually run one in years.

I watch a lot of MotoGP on TV. It doesn’t make me a Ducati race driver.

And if I ever cut a corner at 45 degrees like Vale Rossi, my bike and whatever is left of me would fit into a matchbox.

Take pride in what you do, work hard at it and promote everything that makes you more awesome than the next guy with every breath you take. Or stop wasting time and just get a job because you can’t have it both.

This is the best time in the market for service providers. If you aren’t kicking ass you’re doing it wrong. If you are kicking ass… ABP brothers and sisters, ABP. And as always, thank you for your money – we’re just fueling up the rocket for ya here.