Play It Smart

Peter Moriarty built itGenius, a Google-first, cloud-only MSP, from a $20-an-hour teenage side hustle into Australia's number one Google partner for small business. His growth playbook breaks every MSP convention: he serves the under-20-seat clients nobody else wants, buys distressed competitors at 1-2x profit while the market pays 5-8x EBIT, gets 90% of new clients from YouTube organically, and keeps 95% of acquired customers with a "give love" onboarding philosophy. We also get into the AI bot that's already eating his help desk, the labor-arbitrage model behind his "AirAsia of IT" pricing, and why he thinks level-one support is disappearing. What we cover: - The origin story: charging $20/hour at 15 because McDonald's paid $7 - Going all-in on Google in 2011 and becoming Australia's #1 SMB partner - The accidental YouTube channel that now drives 90% of new business - The M&A playbook: 11+ acquisitions, bootstrapped, at 1-2x profit - Post-acquisition churn: the "give love" philosophy and the break-lease analogy - Serving under-20-seat clients profitably: the "MSP Lite" model - Albert, the in-house AI bot resolving tickets before humans see them - Why level-one support is disappearing, and what MSPs should do about it Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: the "give love" churn philosophy 00:33 Intro 01:12 Origin story: teenage IT hustle to founding itGenius 02:42 Picking a lane: going all-in on Google 04:17 Scaling through partnerships and speaking 07:46 How YouTube became the #1 growth channel 10:50 The M&A playbook: buying at 1-2x profit 16:00 Keeping churn low after an acquisition 21:25 Cracking small clients at scale: the MSP Lite model 27:40 Bots eating the help desk 32:48 Staying ahead of Google's own AI 34:20 Quickfire round 40:31 Where to find Peter Guest: Peter Moriarty itGenius: https://itgenius.com Contact: peter@itgenius.com (itGenius is actively looking to acquire Google Workspace MSPs) Play It Smart is where the smartest founders in managed IT, security, and AI show how they actually build. New episodes on YouTube and every podcast platform.

What is Play It Smart?

Play It Smart is the show where Alexej Pikovsky sits down with MSP operators and business owners and takes apart how they actually do it: winning clients, pricing, staying lean, using AI, and building toward an exit worth having. Season 2 is dedicated to MSP operators. Past guests include Rand Fishkin of Moz and SparkToro and the founders of Chili Piper, Flowchat and 3DLOOK.