1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,900 Todd Kane: My guest today is Victor Lopez. 2 00:00:01,979 --> 00:00:05,319 Victor is an interesting profile, philosophy major at UC Santa 3 00:00:05,319 --> 00:00:07,259 Cruz, law degree from Cornell. 4 00:00:07,569 --> 00:00:11,279 He spent his, uh, first part of his career as an attorney structuring complex 5 00:00:11,279 --> 00:00:15,429 financial transactions, then moved into private credit at Blue Owl Capital. 6 00:00:15,830 --> 00:00:19,749 What he continued to observe was that the financial tools most businesses were using 7 00:00:19,749 --> 00:00:23,829 were clunky and left a lot to be desired, so he decided to create a solution. 8 00:00:24,069 --> 00:00:27,419 That observation is eventually what became Flexpoint, the payments company 9 00:00:27,419 --> 00:00:29,470 he co-founded with Sam Kushner. 10 00:00:30,060 --> 00:00:33,109 Victor and I hit it off when we were talking about MSPs approach 11 00:00:33,179 --> 00:00:36,519 to AI and, and it needs some work. 12 00:00:36,679 --> 00:00:42,670 All of the focus that the tend to put on service delivery, and we 13 00:00:42,670 --> 00:00:45,970 wanted to talk a bit about how AI can improve business operations. 14 00:00:46,389 --> 00:00:47,409 Victor, welcome to the show. 15 00:00:48,218 --> 00:00:49,458 Victor Lopez: Thanks for having me, Todd. 16 00:00:49,458 --> 00:00:52,098 Yeah, that's, I appreciate, having a chance to chat. 17 00:00:52,158 --> 00:00:56,168 it's funny, you had… I think recently you had, Michael Fass on the, on the 18 00:00:56,168 --> 00:00:59,958 podcast, and he had this phrase, 'cause I think he started his career as an 19 00:00:59,958 --> 00:01:03,518 attorney too, and he had this phrase, it's like, "The accidental lawyer." 20 00:01:03,518 --> 00:01:07,884 So I, I think I'm gonna take that, steal that, and, uh, coin it myself as well. 21 00:01:08,184 --> 00:01:08,544 Todd Kane: That's right. 22 00:01:08,854 --> 00:01:12,664 Usually in this industry we talk about accidental project managers, but, uh, 23 00:01:12,664 --> 00:01:15,594 there's definitely a few accidental lawyers, uh, showing up as well. 24 00:01:15,624 --> 00:01:16,174 So yeah. 25 00:01:16,750 --> 00:01:17,670 Victor Lopez: They're everywhere. 26 00:01:17,670 --> 00:01:18,690 They're everywhere. 27 00:01:18,903 --> 00:01:19,093 Todd Kane: yeah. 28 00:01:20,063 --> 00:01:24,083 Uh, so you had an unusual path into the MSP ecosystem and payments. 29 00:01:24,133 --> 00:01:29,373 Um, uh, philosophy, then law, and then credit, uh, private credit at 30 00:01:29,483 --> 00:01:31,853 Blue Owl, then you started Flexpoint. 31 00:01:31,853 --> 00:01:36,012 I'm curious, what was the moment or the deal or the conversation that you saw at 32 00:01:36,012 --> 00:01:40,163 Blue Owl where it s- sort of clicked and you were like, "Huh, financial plumbing 33 00:01:40,163 --> 00:01:43,863 for small businesses is broken. I should probably do something about this"? 34 00:01:44,430 --> 00:01:44,730 Victor Lopez: Yeah. 35 00:01:44,890 --> 00:01:45,170 Yeah. 36 00:01:45,210 --> 00:01:50,710 No, I, I wish it was that simple, and I wish it was, hey, like the-- there was 37 00:01:50,710 --> 00:01:54,630 this aha moment that happened at this point in time that I could point to. 38 00:01:55,070 --> 00:02:00,310 Um, but the reality, uh, of it is it was a sequence of events over the 39 00:02:00,310 --> 00:02:02,760 course of, you know, a lot of time. 40 00:02:02,790 --> 00:02:08,540 But if I had to point to one, uh, specific event, it, it's probably 2018, 41 00:02:08,690 --> 00:02:15,010 um, what is now probably very well-known in the MSP market and just more broadly. 42 00:02:15,010 --> 00:02:19,080 But in 2018, Thoma Bravo acquired ConnectWise. 43 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,930 And so for, you know, almost 30-plus years, ConnectWise was privately 44 00:02:23,930 --> 00:02:25,940 held by Arne Bellini and his brother. 45 00:02:26,340 --> 00:02:32,580 Um, and in 2018, Thoma Bravo acquired that business, and we at Blue Owl, used 46 00:02:32,580 --> 00:02:35,310 to be called Owl Rock before Blue Owl, but that's a story for another day. 47 00:02:35,700 --> 00:02:38,990 Um, we, uh, financed that transaction. 48 00:02:39,020 --> 00:02:42,900 So we, um, you know, there was a lot of, uh, there was a lot of that 49 00:02:42,900 --> 00:02:46,690 went into that, including the, the merger of Continuum into ConnectWise. 50 00:02:46,740 --> 00:02:52,890 But, um, that was sort of the first time all of us really spent a lot of 51 00:02:52,890 --> 00:02:56,890 time in this, you know, at the time, managed service provider, IT services. 52 00:02:57,310 --> 00:03:01,760 Um, honestly, the first time I heard about the space, it took me a while to figure 53 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:07,010 out what an MSP actually does 'cause it seemed like there was 30 different things, 54 00:03:07,010 --> 00:03:12,820 and then it was even more difficult to wrap my head around this thing called the 55 00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:15,620 PSA that every MSP runs their business on. 56 00:03:15,620 --> 00:03:21,710 And um, you know, the irony of it all was I, I could not wrap my head around 57 00:03:21,850 --> 00:03:26,930 in those early days, why would you have in this tool that, you know, does all 58 00:03:26,930 --> 00:03:30,910 this, all these things, ticketing, et cetera, why do you have billing in there? 59 00:03:31,030 --> 00:03:35,120 Like you have ITSM, you know, in the enterprise where, where you run 60 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:40,760 your IT, but like, why is this like financial aspect in this ticketing tool? 61 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:45,050 And so that was kind of the beginning of like, okay, let, let's unwrap that. 62 00:03:45,050 --> 00:03:48,850 Let's understand why this is the case and, you know, why it's 63 00:03:48,850 --> 00:03:50,610 become like this over the years. 64 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,800 Um, and I think that was like a, a big, um, you know, found-foundational 65 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,270 thought in terms of how we think about, you know, MSPs and how 66 00:03:59,270 --> 00:04:00,600 they run their businesses today. 67 00:04:00,630 --> 00:04:05,580 But I think it, it kinda goes back to that, you know, the, the moment of asking 68 00:04:05,580 --> 00:04:09,650 the question like, "Well, why, why are you creating invoices in the tool that, 69 00:04:10,020 --> 00:04:14,210 you know, is managing your projects and, you know, taking tickets and your, 70 00:04:14,210 --> 00:04:18,180 your technicians are using versus, you know, your, your accounting folks? Why, 71 00:04:18,180 --> 00:04:22,220 why aren't there, you know, traditional ERPs for lack of a better term?" 72 00:04:23,202 --> 00:04:26,882 Todd Kane: So the, the alternative being billing f- directly from 73 00:04:26,882 --> 00:04:30,012 the accounting fla- platform would have been your assumption then? 74 00:04:30,638 --> 00:04:31,858 Victor Lopez: Or, or not even that. 75 00:04:31,898 --> 00:04:35,828 I think, um, I mean, you look at like the majority of industries, like where 76 00:04:35,828 --> 00:04:37,788 you have vertical specific tools. 77 00:04:37,788 --> 00:04:44,028 So like take like field services or, you know, other markets, um, in the healthcare 78 00:04:44,028 --> 00:04:48,338 space, for example, and like the tools that they use are all-encompassing. 79 00:04:48,338 --> 00:04:53,628 Yes, they do billing, but it's very, um, it's very separated in 80 00:04:53,628 --> 00:04:57,688 terms of there's the accounting is happening in the same tool. 81 00:04:57,938 --> 00:04:59,958 There's the ERP, the financial aspect of it. 82 00:05:00,098 --> 00:05:01,548 Maybe there's a CRM, et cetera. 83 00:05:02,088 --> 00:05:06,938 But in, in the MSP world with the PSA, you still need an accounting software, right? 84 00:05:06,938 --> 00:05:10,068 Like you can't run your accounting and financial books through the PSA. 85 00:05:10,068 --> 00:05:17,248 And so this, uh, halfway, uh, to the finish line, at least in my mind, I'm 86 00:05:17,248 --> 00:05:20,878 sure it's, it's not, uh, the, the opinion of everyone in the market, but you know, 87 00:05:20,878 --> 00:05:22,518 it's like there's no accounting here. 88 00:05:22,518 --> 00:05:25,638 You, you need another tool, but there is this whole financial aspect. 89 00:05:25,638 --> 00:05:28,378 And some of them, right, it's not the topic of conversation today. 90 00:05:28,378 --> 00:05:32,218 Some of them do it much better than others in terms of their, uh, level of 91 00:05:32,218 --> 00:05:34,268 sophistication around that, that segment. 92 00:05:35,064 --> 00:05:35,194 Todd Kane: Yeah. 93 00:05:35,794 --> 00:05:41,074 right, so, uh, the, the AI play, uh, we were talking about, uh, you know, 94 00:05:41,194 --> 00:05:45,744 there's, there's a lot of discussion about AI in the industry, but you're right. 95 00:05:45,744 --> 00:05:48,914 Like, I'd not really thought about this until we connected and talk about it, 96 00:05:49,294 --> 00:05:53,824 that the, probably the vast majority of that, like 80% of that conversation 97 00:05:53,824 --> 00:05:58,124 is around ticket management, triage, helping techs, and sure, like that 98 00:05:58,124 --> 00:06:03,274 stuff is important and useful, but it's also, uh, becoming somewhat pervasive. 99 00:06:03,304 --> 00:06:06,843 Like, I, I joke about this a lot that like, uh, when I ask people what they 100 00:06:06,843 --> 00:06:10,144 want AI to do in their business, they talk about all the things that are currently 101 00:06:10,144 --> 00:06:11,864 available in multiple tools, right? 102 00:06:11,864 --> 00:06:12,054 Like, I'm 103 00:06:12,232 --> 00:06:12,612 Victor Lopez: Yeah 104 00:06:12,714 --> 00:06:14,094 Todd Kane: G- go get those things then," right? 105 00:06:14,664 --> 00:06:19,054 So what would be the alternatives that, uh, from a backend operation standpoint 106 00:06:19,194 --> 00:06:22,673 that, that you would suggest that people are maybe less aware of where 107 00:06:22,723 --> 00:06:25,133 AI could help them with their business? 108 00:06:25,996 --> 00:06:27,686 Victor Lopez: Yeah, and I, I, I agree with you. 109 00:06:27,686 --> 00:06:32,886 I don't-- So I, I think the-- What I do wanna sort of preface the, 110 00:06:32,986 --> 00:06:36,486 the thought with is I don't think there's a right or wrong approach. 111 00:06:36,516 --> 00:06:42,066 I, I don't-- I, I, I do think every single MSP owner out there, um, should 112 00:06:42,066 --> 00:06:46,236 be thinking about how AI is gonna impact their business regardless of the function. 113 00:06:46,236 --> 00:06:52,246 And it, it, it makes a ton of sense just logically why, um, 114 00:06:52,426 --> 00:06:55,706 why folks are so focused on the service delivery side of things. 115 00:06:55,756 --> 00:07:01,156 I mean, you talk to most MSP owners, and that's what gets them excited. 116 00:07:01,376 --> 00:07:03,866 That's the stuff that they like to do, right? 117 00:07:03,866 --> 00:07:06,766 So th-this is kind of the, the core bread and butter. 118 00:07:06,766 --> 00:07:11,396 And so when you think about everything else, and so what I mean by everything 119 00:07:11,396 --> 00:07:16,146 else is all the operational things that, you know, are either tangentially 120 00:07:16,146 --> 00:07:19,756 rela-related to service delivery or just not related at all but, 121 00:07:19,786 --> 00:07:20,786 you know, part of the business. 122 00:07:20,786 --> 00:07:24,596 So I'm talking about things like, you know, obviously like accounts 123 00:07:24,596 --> 00:07:29,726 receivable, collecting payments, making payments, uh, doing payroll, you know, 124 00:07:29,756 --> 00:07:32,736 running the business, the, the, the actual running the business side of 125 00:07:32,736 --> 00:07:34,186 things outside of service delivery. 126 00:07:34,726 --> 00:07:39,146 And so it's, it's-- To me, it's not surprising that the 127 00:07:39,146 --> 00:07:41,386 focus is on service delivery. 128 00:07:41,386 --> 00:07:44,266 I think that's, you know, the vast, vast majority of the market. 129 00:07:44,706 --> 00:07:50,742 And so, um, I think My perspective is, yes, that is important. 130 00:07:51,562 --> 00:07:57,342 Everyone should be focused on that, and everyone should definitely, um, you 131 00:07:57,342 --> 00:08:01,182 know, be spending time there to see how that's going to improve their business. 132 00:08:01,752 --> 00:08:03,782 But they should not stop there. 133 00:08:04,332 --> 00:08:08,302 They should continue the conversation, understand, hey, where else 134 00:08:08,412 --> 00:08:12,882 can AI really have a, an impact of my bus- on, on my business? 135 00:08:13,352 --> 00:08:18,362 And, you know, I was, um, I was at Evolve, which, you know, is these quarterly 136 00:08:18,362 --> 00:08:22,902 meetings with peer groups, um, uh, just recently at the end of May in Chicago. 137 00:08:23,192 --> 00:08:25,642 I was having this conversation, you know, with just a group of, 138 00:08:25,642 --> 00:08:27,972 of, um, MSPs in a peer group. 139 00:08:28,482 --> 00:08:34,262 Um, and the, the focus of the conversation really focused on, well, 140 00:08:34,292 --> 00:08:37,802 there's all these things when it comes to service delivery, and that's 141 00:08:37,832 --> 00:08:39,772 going to improve your gross margin. 142 00:08:40,232 --> 00:08:42,552 These are great things that you should be focused on. 143 00:08:42,992 --> 00:08:45,902 Um, absolutely, they're fun, exciting toys. 144 00:08:45,902 --> 00:08:49,372 You know, they're shiny objects that are gonna have improvements. 145 00:08:49,692 --> 00:08:52,532 But let's talk about the boring stuff, the stuff that's, you know, 146 00:08:52,572 --> 00:08:56,562 from, from a financial standpoint, it's the stuff that's gonna improve, 147 00:08:57,012 --> 00:09:00,662 uh, you know, your operational efficiency, your EBITDA, right? 148 00:09:00,662 --> 00:09:05,122 Like this is, this is the, the thing that every business owner in the 149 00:09:05,122 --> 00:09:09,402 space is either thinking about or, uh, if they're not thinking about it, 150 00:09:09,402 --> 00:09:11,182 they're hearing everyone talk about it. 151 00:09:11,372 --> 00:09:12,732 It's like, how do you improve your EBITDA? 152 00:09:13,512 --> 00:09:17,262 And so that, that, that's really the conversation from, from my standpoint 153 00:09:17,262 --> 00:09:20,032 is you don't pick one or the other. 154 00:09:20,032 --> 00:09:24,222 It's let's just not stop the conversation with service delivery, and let's see 155 00:09:24,582 --> 00:09:30,432 where, um, the possibilities are, um, on, on the operational side. 156 00:09:30,432 --> 00:09:35,722 And so just, you know, maybe some areas where we've seen folks have success. 157 00:09:35,722 --> 00:09:40,752 And again, I, I say this with the, the caveat that this market, the, 158 00:09:40,832 --> 00:09:44,442 the just the impact that AI is having in this segment of the market 159 00:09:44,992 --> 00:09:47,272 is evolving very, very quickly. 160 00:09:47,302 --> 00:09:51,202 Like, what's happened three months ago is very different from what's 161 00:09:51,202 --> 00:09:52,272 gonna happen six months ago. 162 00:09:52,332 --> 00:09:56,022 I mean, like, I mean, let's just t-talk about, like, the market generally. 163 00:09:56,022 --> 00:09:59,442 Like Claude, Claude, uh, CoWork didn't exist in like 164 00:09:59,442 --> 00:10:00,812 December of last year, right? 165 00:10:00,812 --> 00:10:02,002 They-- It came out in January. 166 00:10:02,002 --> 00:10:05,662 So it's like the evolution of the market and as it trickles down to 167 00:10:05,662 --> 00:10:10,982 our space, um, I think is, is, is, um, is, is, is very fast-moving. 168 00:10:10,982 --> 00:10:13,992 But I think in-- from, from an MSP standpoint and like the 169 00:10:13,992 --> 00:10:18,672 operational side, the way I think about this is in broad categories. 170 00:10:18,672 --> 00:10:23,072 It's if you're an MSP, you know, your typical MSP, I think the stat out 171 00:10:23,072 --> 00:10:27,092 there, you, you maybe have better stats than me, but, um, eighty percent of 172 00:10:27,092 --> 00:10:30,842 the market does two and a half million dollars of revenue or less per year. 173 00:10:31,012 --> 00:10:32,022 Some-somewhere around there, right? 174 00:10:32,022 --> 00:10:33,052 Like roughly speaking. 175 00:10:33,352 --> 00:10:35,004 Todd Kane: 90% is under a million, yeah 176 00:10:35,502 --> 00:10:37,642 Victor Lopez: N-- yes, even more accurate. 177 00:10:37,692 --> 00:10:37,962 Okay. 178 00:10:38,008 --> 00:10:38,178 Todd Kane: Yep 179 00:10:38,478 --> 00:10:42,282 Victor Lopez: Um, and so if you think about the, the typical profile of an MSP 180 00:10:42,542 --> 00:10:49,492 in that segment, it's an owner-operator who is doing everything themselves 181 00:10:49,492 --> 00:10:50,542 outside of the service delivery. 182 00:10:50,602 --> 00:10:54,872 They might have some techs, et cetera, but when it comes to everything else, 183 00:10:55,082 --> 00:10:57,102 they're typically handling it themselves. 184 00:10:57,102 --> 00:10:59,752 They might have an outsourced bookkeeper, for example. 185 00:11:00,082 --> 00:11:02,632 They might have an office manager, for example. 186 00:11:03,062 --> 00:11:06,892 Um, and so when I have these conversations with business owners, the question I 187 00:11:06,892 --> 00:11:10,562 always ask is like, "Well, sit down and write down all the things that 188 00:11:10,562 --> 00:11:16,062 you currently do today, uh, that are not generating revenue for you." Okay? 189 00:11:16,462 --> 00:11:20,382 And so that's generally a very long list. 190 00:11:20,762 --> 00:11:24,722 Um, and so then it's in, in way of, you know, sort of optimization. 191 00:11:24,722 --> 00:11:28,772 So there's obviously, um, the sales and marketing side, which, you know, 192 00:11:28,772 --> 00:11:32,542 hopefully is generating revenue, but I'm talking about creating payroll, you know, 193 00:11:32,542 --> 00:11:38,052 sitting down policies, like everything from like HR to like billing, e- all 194 00:11:38,052 --> 00:11:43,372 these giant categories which generally fall into the lap of the business owner. 195 00:11:43,482 --> 00:11:48,692 Obviously, um, for MSPs that are larger than the typical profile, they generally 196 00:11:48,692 --> 00:11:51,022 have folks who that's their full-time job. 197 00:11:51,052 --> 00:11:54,722 We work with an MSP who has 40 people in their accounts receivable department. 198 00:11:54,792 --> 00:11:57,572 So I mean, that's, that's a lot of people, right? 199 00:11:57,572 --> 00:11:59,392 Gives you the size of a, of a business. 200 00:11:59,392 --> 00:12:04,762 But that's generally how I, I think about it, and I w- when I encourage business 201 00:12:04,762 --> 00:12:10,492 owners to think about how AI can impact the rest of their business, it's generally 202 00:12:10,492 --> 00:12:16,232 sit down and just write down everything that you're doing today, every area of the 203 00:12:16,232 --> 00:12:20,842 business that doesn't generate revenue, and that's where the focus should be 204 00:12:21,858 --> 00:12:24,218 Todd Kane: Yeah, I think this is really important too, 'cause this is almost 205 00:12:24,218 --> 00:12:27,598 an extension of what I think should happen earlier on in the business. 206 00:12:27,598 --> 00:12:32,208 Like, one of the things that I encourage people to think about outsourcing 207 00:12:32,238 --> 00:12:36,568 or, uh, hiring away or delegating out in their business, uh, first 208 00:12:36,568 --> 00:12:39,078 is finance becau- and two reasons. 209 00:12:39,078 --> 00:12:42,478 One, there's probably someone more qualified, like they at least they, 210 00:12:42,527 --> 00:12:47,328 they may not be a CPA, but, uh, they, they, uh, they, they at least have some 211 00:12:47,328 --> 00:12:49,506 experience with bookkeeping and understand 212 00:12:49,806 --> 00:12:49,866 Victor Lopez: Yeah. 213 00:12:50,166 --> 00:12:53,888 Todd Kane: accounting, uh, transactions and how to m- you know, uh, to 214 00:12:53,888 --> 00:12:55,347 reconcile things, all of that. 215 00:12:55,818 --> 00:12:58,678 Uh, so that's an important piece I think to get off, off their plate. 216 00:12:58,678 --> 00:13:02,798 Plus, I find most small business owners don't enjoy this work, right? 217 00:13:02,798 --> 00:13:06,737 So they tend to procrastinate and avoid it, and then they're like, "Oh, crap, 218 00:13:06,737 --> 00:13:11,757 uh, I got like, uh, $400,000 in AR over the past three months. I guess I 219 00:13:11,757 --> 00:13:13,558 should chase some of this down," right? 220 00:13:13,558 --> 00:13:18,088 Like, people can get in, in some pretty tight spots by not spending the 221 00:13:18,088 --> 00:13:19,678 appropriate time to focus on these things. 222 00:13:19,678 --> 00:13:23,048 But to your point, like, yes, you should probably delegate 223 00:13:23,048 --> 00:13:25,888 this stuff to a bookkeeper at the very least and get started there. 224 00:13:26,917 --> 00:13:30,868 you might want some professional help that is… Again, like a lot of people 225 00:13:30,868 --> 00:13:33,728 tend to think of, "Well, I've got an accountant, and he checks on the books 226 00:13:33,728 --> 00:13:37,298 like every, every quarter or usually more like every year, and kind of 227 00:13:37,474 --> 00:13:37,744 Victor Lopez: Yeah. 228 00:13:37,807 --> 00:13:38,428 Todd Kane: I need to do." 229 00:13:38,428 --> 00:13:38,618 Like 230 00:13:39,124 --> 00:13:39,250 Victor Lopez: Yeah 231 00:13:39,657 --> 00:13:42,478 Todd Kane: you kind of need a higher cadence of visibility 232 00:13:42,478 --> 00:13:43,568 on your books, right? 233 00:13:43,568 --> 00:13:43,998 So if 234 00:13:44,014 --> 00:13:45,344 Victor Lopez: It's very reactive, yeah 235 00:13:45,428 --> 00:13:48,087 Todd Kane: Yeah, yeah, so if you can source that onto somebody else, 236 00:13:48,087 --> 00:13:51,758 then that tends to benefit your business tremendously, more than 237 00:13:51,758 --> 00:13:53,407 I think people really recognize. 238 00:13:53,777 --> 00:13:57,298 But to your point, like there's, there's… You can go further down, right? 239 00:13:57,298 --> 00:13:59,837 Like now you can actually pull things off of your bookkeeper so 240 00:13:59,837 --> 00:14:03,487 they're not spending, you know, eight hours a week chasing people 241 00:14:03,487 --> 00:14:05,197 and following up on AR either. 242 00:14:05,228 --> 00:14:07,777 Like, there's potentially automation opportunities there too. 243 00:14:09,262 --> 00:14:09,582 Victor Lopez: Absolutely. 244 00:14:09,582 --> 00:14:13,092 And, and see, and, and I think that's, like, a key part of all 245 00:14:13,092 --> 00:14:16,982 of this, especially as you think about sort of ag-agentic AI. 246 00:14:17,312 --> 00:14:23,982 Um, I think the real, uh, sort of hesitancy and fear that everyone has, 247 00:14:23,982 --> 00:14:27,472 I mean, we have… I have this myself, is like, "Hey, like, the robots are 248 00:14:27,472 --> 00:14:29,262 coming to take our jobs," right? 249 00:14:29,262 --> 00:14:31,172 I think that's, that's the, the big fear. 250 00:14:31,602 --> 00:14:38,142 And so, um, when, when you think about service delivery, I, I don't think any 251 00:14:38,142 --> 00:14:42,572 MSP owner, and maybe I'm wrong here, this is overgeneralization, uh, is thinking 252 00:14:42,572 --> 00:14:50,032 about, um, AI agents that are gonna totally take over the jobs of their techs. 253 00:14:50,222 --> 00:14:53,862 I, I, I just don't think that's where the conversation is today. 254 00:14:54,032 --> 00:14:58,732 I think what they're looking to do is make their techs more efficient, 255 00:14:59,082 --> 00:15:02,222 maybe have fewer techs than, than needed to serve the same number of 256 00:15:02,222 --> 00:15:04,912 clients, but not replace their techs. 257 00:15:05,492 --> 00:15:11,822 Now, when you flip that conversation to, um, the business owner who, again, 258 00:15:11,952 --> 00:15:15,922 is going through their spreadsheets once a week, if, if that, picking 259 00:15:15,922 --> 00:15:19,772 up the phone, having a super awkward conversation with their client, saying, 260 00:15:19,772 --> 00:15:22,592 "Hey, like, you haven't sent that check in, like, two months. What's 261 00:15:22,592 --> 00:15:27,312 going on?" That's not a jo- that's not a person's job they're replacing 262 00:15:27,312 --> 00:15:29,102 potentially with, with AI, right? 263 00:15:29,102 --> 00:15:34,612 That's a function of their job as a business owner that they, to your 264 00:15:34,612 --> 00:15:36,782 point, didn't-- do not wanna be doing. 265 00:15:36,852 --> 00:15:43,532 I mean, you poll any business owner, and I guarantee you nine out of 10 266 00:15:43,532 --> 00:15:48,052 at least will say, "Hey, like, I do not wanna be doing these things. 267 00:15:48,082 --> 00:15:51,912 These are not the things that bring me joy." You know, we talk about the zone 268 00:15:51,912 --> 00:15:56,372 of genius, the things you're good at and the things you actually wanna be doing, 269 00:15:56,802 --> 00:16:02,972 and I would take a very big wager that the majority of folks that have gone into 270 00:16:02,972 --> 00:16:08,382 the business of IT services or just MSPs generally do not have a zone of genius 271 00:16:08,382 --> 00:16:13,702 that overlaps with, uh, things like AR or things like running payroll, et cetera. 272 00:16:14,072 --> 00:16:16,162 Todd Kane: Pacing down checks is not high on the list, right? 273 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:16,920 Victor Lopez: Yes. 274 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:17,200 Yes. 275 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,420 I, I mean, honestly, I don't know who's that, who- whose list, you 276 00:16:21,420 --> 00:16:24,570 know, whose zone of genius that would be high on the list for. 277 00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:27,110 I'm sure there's someone out there in the universe who, 278 00:16:27,540 --> 00:16:29,270 like, that's… I love to do it. 279 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,010 But, um, you know, w- without being too tongue in cheek on it, like, when 280 00:16:34,010 --> 00:16:39,600 you think about the robots and the jobs they could potentially replace 281 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,810 if we get to that point, like, we should start with all the things 282 00:16:43,810 --> 00:16:46,240 that people don't wanna do, right? 283 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,280 Like, things that we, like, no one actually wants to be doing 284 00:16:50,601 --> 00:16:52,661 Speaker: Tired of fighting the MSP fires alone? 285 00:16:52,871 --> 00:16:55,761 The Opsleader Pro group connects service delivery professionals who 286 00:16:55,801 --> 00:16:57,391 understand your daily challenges. 287 00:16:57,661 --> 00:17:01,451 From KPIs and workflows to career planning and team management, Opsleader 288 00:17:01,471 --> 00:17:03,161 Pro has systems for you to use. 289 00:17:03,661 --> 00:17:07,801 Join operations leaders from successful MSPs who are sharing real solutions for 290 00:17:07,801 --> 00:17:12,011 managing client expectations, optimizing service delivery, and making your service 291 00:17:12,011 --> 00:17:14,211 delivery team as effective as possible. 292 00:17:14,701 --> 00:17:18,281 Opsleader Pro, 'cause your service desk deserves more than just survival mode. 293 00:17:18,721 --> 00:17:19,071 Visit opsleader.co. 294 00:17:19,071 --> 00:17:26,161 That's O-P-S leader dot C-O to apply to join the public community. 295 00:17:27,752 --> 00:17:32,012 Todd Kane: Now obviously in these recommendations, uh, I think in this area 296 00:17:32,012 --> 00:17:36,632 especially, like there is always, uh, the advice of human in the loop, right? 297 00:17:36,632 --> 00:17:39,752 Like I don't think you wanna just completely abdicate your, your 298 00:17:39,752 --> 00:17:45,242 financial management and, and your, your AR and AP follow-up, uh, to, to, 299 00:17:45,392 --> 00:17:47,752 uh, to a bot without some oversight. 300 00:17:48,181 --> 00:17:48,410 Uh, 301 00:17:48,710 --> 00:17:48,770 Victor Lopez: Yeah 302 00:17:48,941 --> 00:17:52,242 Todd Kane: you know, I, I s- I see that a lot of MSP owners are a little 303 00:17:52,242 --> 00:17:55,931 hesitant around implementation of AI and kinda h- handing over the 304 00:17:55,931 --> 00:17:57,531 reins, even on a service side. 305 00:17:57,861 --> 00:18:01,102 And I think there would be even more hesitancy when it comes to finances 306 00:18:01,102 --> 00:18:04,442 of like, well, if it screws something up, that's not, that's not just 307 00:18:04,442 --> 00:18:06,782 like, uh, bad handling of a ticket. 308 00:18:07,091 --> 00:18:10,032 Like there's potentially a financial impact here as well. 309 00:18:10,032 --> 00:18:14,091 So like what is the thinking around controls for this? 310 00:18:14,091 --> 00:18:19,942 And, you know, how much oversight is required for, uh, for, for more business 311 00:18:19,942 --> 00:18:24,712 operations that has a potentially l- bigger blast radius for bad outcomes? 312 00:18:25,404 --> 00:18:25,574 Victor Lopez: Yeah. 313 00:18:26,054 --> 00:18:26,314 Yeah. 314 00:18:26,384 --> 00:18:27,044 No, absolutely. 315 00:18:27,294 --> 00:18:30,394 And I think, um, you know, the, the big thing at the end of the day 316 00:18:30,394 --> 00:18:35,424 is, like, MSPs are service-based businesses, and so they, they are 317 00:18:35,424 --> 00:18:38,164 in the business of client relations. 318 00:18:38,164 --> 00:18:42,154 So whether, whether like it or not, at the end of the day, it's, you 319 00:18:42,154 --> 00:18:45,134 know, you're, you're servicing a client, and the relationship with 320 00:18:45,134 --> 00:18:49,964 those clients, um, is very important, and the industry as a whole is 321 00:18:50,094 --> 00:18:52,174 highly, highly relationship based. 322 00:18:52,664 --> 00:18:57,414 Um, and so I think you're totally right in terms of the, the relationships 323 00:18:57,444 --> 00:19:00,944 and the sensitivity, especially anytime you touch money, right? 324 00:19:00,944 --> 00:19:05,934 Like, anytime it's finance related, um, there's definitely a lot of sensitivity. 325 00:19:06,314 --> 00:19:10,644 And so, I mean, broadly speaking, I'll, I'll give you kind of two answers, how 326 00:19:10,644 --> 00:19:14,644 I think about it, you know, sort of holistically in terms of, you know, just 327 00:19:14,954 --> 00:19:18,844 as a business owner myself and, like, how other I, I think other folks are thinking 328 00:19:18,844 --> 00:19:21,894 about it, and then just, like, how we think about it at Flexpoint specifically. 329 00:19:22,344 --> 00:19:26,274 Um, but I, I think holistically, this is one of those things 330 00:19:26,274 --> 00:19:31,594 where, um, again, everything is evolving and changing so quickly. 331 00:19:31,924 --> 00:19:33,344 Um, I'll give you an example. 332 00:19:33,444 --> 00:19:37,544 Uh, when we started Flexpoint, you know, just over three years ago, 333 00:19:37,894 --> 00:19:43,764 the, um, the number of MSPs that were comfortable passing on credit card 334 00:19:43,764 --> 00:19:50,292 fees to their clients was probably You know, a tenth of where it is today. 335 00:19:50,782 --> 00:19:56,162 Now, every single conversation is, if I'm not doing this already, passing 336 00:19:56,162 --> 00:19:57,642 on credit card fees, how do I do it? 337 00:19:57,922 --> 00:20:00,182 So over the course of, you know, essentially three years. 338 00:20:00,582 --> 00:20:04,992 And so I think that's been, you know, and it's an example I always point to, 339 00:20:04,992 --> 00:20:07,922 that's been something that's changed pretty dramatically in the market. 340 00:20:07,952 --> 00:20:11,022 And so three years ago, we'd have conversations with MSP 341 00:20:11,022 --> 00:20:12,252 owners who'd be like, "No way. 342 00:20:12,422 --> 00:20:14,112 There's, there's absolutely no way. 343 00:20:14,112 --> 00:20:15,982 I'm not… That, that's tacky. 344 00:20:15,982 --> 00:20:19,592 Like, that's-- I'm not, you know, this isn't like a, a diner where you come 345 00:20:19,592 --> 00:20:23,242 in and here you have this, you know, surcharge on, on using a credit card. 346 00:20:23,242 --> 00:20:24,712 Like, you know, it's white glove service." 347 00:20:25,032 --> 00:20:27,772 Now it's like, you're, you're silly if you're not. 348 00:20:28,082 --> 00:20:34,892 And I think the big thing that has changed is, um, not just the perception 349 00:20:34,892 --> 00:20:37,562 of the MSP owner in terms of like, "Hey, like these are real dollars 350 00:20:37,562 --> 00:20:42,102 that I'm losing," but, um, in terms of their client base, it's so ubiquitous. 351 00:20:42,102 --> 00:20:43,292 It's everywhere now. 352 00:20:43,352 --> 00:20:46,052 You go to a restaurant, you go to check out. 353 00:20:46,242 --> 00:20:51,482 Like, it's, it's, it's almost difficult for me to find somewhere where if I 354 00:20:51,482 --> 00:20:54,932 wanna pay by a credit card, they're not gonna try and charge me a fee. 355 00:20:55,332 --> 00:21:00,072 Um, and so I think the evolution in something like that has really, uh, 356 00:21:00,072 --> 00:21:04,062 changed the perception, and I think the same thing can be said about AI. 357 00:21:04,202 --> 00:21:07,122 I think if anything, even faster. 358 00:21:07,122 --> 00:21:11,822 And so I think a lot of it's going to h- come down to, um, the folks 359 00:21:11,822 --> 00:21:14,592 that are in these roles at a client. 360 00:21:14,592 --> 00:21:18,822 So whether it's, um… And I'll just take the example of, of paying an invoice. 361 00:21:19,222 --> 00:21:24,742 Um, uh, i- if it's the people at your client who typically pay the invoices, 362 00:21:24,772 --> 00:21:29,442 cut the checks, um, I think they're all in a very similar position. 363 00:21:29,442 --> 00:21:33,062 They're all thinking about how AI is impacting their business. 364 00:21:33,252 --> 00:21:36,822 'Cause listen, Todd, there, there's no business out there, um, and if 365 00:21:36,822 --> 00:21:39,262 there is, they're, they're probably not gonna be around for very long, 366 00:21:39,652 --> 00:21:44,352 who isn't currently thinking about how AI is gonna impact their business. 367 00:21:44,352 --> 00:21:46,762 And so I think it's still early. 368 00:21:46,762 --> 00:21:51,022 I think it's still early days in terms of how, um, you know, 369 00:21:51,022 --> 00:21:54,482 especially when it comes to the operational side of things, the fi- 370 00:21:54,842 --> 00:21:56,832 financial and finance side of things. 371 00:21:57,142 --> 00:22:04,332 Um, but I think it's going to be a, a very rapid evolution in how folks-- 372 00:22:04,362 --> 00:22:09,202 the, the comfort level of, of folks in terms of, you know, what can AI do? 373 00:22:09,812 --> 00:22:15,532 And so, um, uh, more, more practically, so like w- within, within Flexpoint, 374 00:22:15,532 --> 00:22:19,192 so we're, we're releasing AI agents that do a lot of this, right? 375 00:22:19,192 --> 00:22:22,622 And so like this is one of the biggest things that has come up 376 00:22:22,982 --> 00:22:25,352 in conversations with MSP owners. 377 00:22:26,322 --> 00:22:30,162 One of the functions of our, of our product is it, it will actually pick 378 00:22:30,162 --> 00:22:34,702 up the phone and call your client and say, "Hey, you haven't paid." 379 00:22:35,272 --> 00:22:38,412 And so this was super controversial when we first 380 00:22:38,412 --> 00:22:40,722 started talking to MSPs about this. 381 00:22:41,102 --> 00:22:45,712 Some of them were absolutely Nah, no way. 382 00:22:46,072 --> 00:22:52,242 Like you are-- I am not having a robot, a voice AI call my clients. 383 00:22:53,092 --> 00:22:57,902 Then there's another half that were like, "Sign me up today." Like, all those 384 00:22:57,902 --> 00:23:03,482 people that I need to call take time out of my calendar, and I want them to 385 00:23:03,482 --> 00:23:07,942 know, right, like within, within, within boundaries that they owe me something, and 386 00:23:07,942 --> 00:23:09,312 I don't want to waste my time doing that. 387 00:23:09,732 --> 00:23:13,162 So it was such a polarizing topic. 388 00:23:13,842 --> 00:23:18,442 But what we're finding now is even from when we first started having 389 00:23:18,442 --> 00:23:21,552 these conversations in the fall of last year to through developments 390 00:23:21,552 --> 00:23:25,962 or where we are now, that opinion has changed very dramatically. 391 00:23:26,452 --> 00:23:30,172 And I think it comes down to a couple basic concepts. 392 00:23:30,172 --> 00:23:33,422 One, I think, a-as I said earlier, it's a service-based 393 00:23:33,422 --> 00:23:35,552 business, it's relationship based. 394 00:23:36,012 --> 00:23:41,222 And so, um, I think the perception initially is like, well, if, if the 395 00:23:41,222 --> 00:23:45,222 robots are just gonna start calling everyone, they're gonna start calling my 396 00:23:45,222 --> 00:23:49,612 clients that I know are great clients, and it's gonna ruin my relationships. 397 00:23:49,922 --> 00:23:50,692 That's not gonna work. 398 00:23:50,812 --> 00:23:53,872 So w-we think about things in the extremes, right? 399 00:23:53,872 --> 00:23:55,242 That's just like our human nature. 400 00:23:55,242 --> 00:23:57,452 It's like, hey, like this is the worst case scenario. 401 00:23:58,202 --> 00:24:03,352 But when you distill it down into like the possibilities and get really, really 402 00:24:03,352 --> 00:24:09,252 precise and very, very specific around what it can do, that's where you start to 403 00:24:09,252 --> 00:24:11,602 unlock, okay, I'm comfortable with that. 404 00:24:11,632 --> 00:24:16,302 I'm comfortable with an agent that calls a very specific segment of my 405 00:24:16,302 --> 00:24:18,112 customers that I've pre-approved. 406 00:24:18,532 --> 00:24:20,092 They're able to escalate to me. 407 00:24:20,092 --> 00:24:25,132 They're not able to do anything like that, that as actual transaction 408 00:24:25,132 --> 00:24:26,522 without a human approving it. 409 00:24:26,772 --> 00:24:28,122 Okay, now I understand the comfort. 410 00:24:28,452 --> 00:24:33,922 So I think the big thing, and I think the big picture is we all need to, um, 411 00:24:34,802 --> 00:24:39,042 understand what are our limitations in terms of, you know, what are we 412 00:24:39,042 --> 00:24:44,952 comfortable with in terms of, you know, what, uh, what, what we will allow 413 00:24:45,152 --> 00:24:47,262 AI agents to do within our business. 414 00:24:47,632 --> 00:24:48,682 And that's gonna depend. 415 00:24:48,872 --> 00:24:53,432 That's gonna depend a lot on the business itself, the relationships they have. 416 00:24:53,962 --> 00:24:58,872 And I think ultimately very similar to the example of the credit card surcharging, 417 00:24:58,872 --> 00:25:04,132 passing on the fees, I think it's gonna be-- there's gonna be the, you know, 418 00:25:04,132 --> 00:25:07,782 the people that are ahead of the curve, they wanna get something like this done 419 00:25:07,782 --> 00:25:12,972 immediately to over time, which I think it's gonna take less than three years. 420 00:25:12,972 --> 00:25:16,152 I think this is gonna be, we're talking about twelve to s- to 18 months. 421 00:25:16,822 --> 00:25:23,132 This is going to be okay I'm, I'm doing this, but, like, this is normal 422 00:25:23,132 --> 00:25:26,572 because every day I get a phone call from my doctor's office, and it's a 423 00:25:26,572 --> 00:25:31,862 voice AI agent that's telling me all about my appointment, and it, it almost 424 00:25:31,862 --> 00:25:35,742 becomes, you know, second, second nature in the sense that, like, I'm 425 00:25:35,742 --> 00:25:37,822 interacting with agents in my daily life. 426 00:25:38,162 --> 00:25:40,652 And then the last thing I'll say on this, Todd, like, if you think about 427 00:25:40,652 --> 00:25:42,752 it and you switch, switch sides. 428 00:25:42,752 --> 00:25:47,282 So let's say I'm calling you, Todd, and I'm saying, "Hey, Todd, you haven't paid 429 00:25:47,282 --> 00:25:51,482 your invoice in a long time." If I pick up the phone and, you know, we have a 430 00:25:51,482 --> 00:25:54,452 relationship, it's awkward for both of us. 431 00:25:54,892 --> 00:25:56,752 It, it's not fun for you either. 432 00:25:57,382 --> 00:26:01,592 Whereas anytime I forget to pay a bill, if I get, you know, an automated 433 00:26:01,592 --> 00:26:04,092 voice, it's like, "Oh, okay, I appreciate that. Like, let me go do 434 00:26:04,092 --> 00:26:05,942 that." There's no awkwardness involved. 435 00:26:05,972 --> 00:26:09,922 I know I'm talking to… I, I know I'm not talking to a human on this 436 00:26:09,922 --> 00:26:13,302 side, so there's that psychological aspect of it that I think a lot 437 00:26:13,302 --> 00:26:14,582 of folks will appreciate over time 438 00:26:15,590 --> 00:26:15,670 Todd Kane: Yeah. 439 00:26:16,130 --> 00:26:17,890 Yeah, um, there. 440 00:26:17,890 --> 00:26:23,650 Uh, uh, it's funny, the, the polarization, I don't know the I don't know that I 441 00:26:23,650 --> 00:26:27,940 see it the same way as that it's, it's, it's becoming more ubiquitous, uh, and 442 00:26:27,940 --> 00:26:29,650 there's, the people are aligning on that. 443 00:26:30,030 --> 00:26:34,810 Um, I still feel that there's, there's still a strong polarization of a lot 444 00:26:34,810 --> 00:26:36,370 of people are like, "No, no, no, no. 445 00:26:36,370 --> 00:26:41,510 We, like, we're not having, uh, the, the inbound phone calls answered by AI." 446 00:26:41,890 --> 00:26:46,260 Yet I know a number of organizations where no one answers the phone anymore. 447 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,469 And, and the… It's interesting because there's the split between 448 00:26:50,469 --> 00:26:54,190 the MSPs that believe this or not, and there's also a split between the 449 00:26:54,190 --> 00:26:56,030 clients that accept it and don't. 450 00:26:56,410 --> 00:26:58,100 And I don't know what it is. 451 00:26:58,169 --> 00:27:01,260 Like, obviously part of it is generational, right? 452 00:27:01,260 --> 00:27:04,820 Like you don't want, you know, uh, 60-something executives calling 453 00:27:04,820 --> 00:27:08,480 in and being answered by, by, by a bot in most cases, right? 454 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,370 Like that's not, again, not universally true, but I think there 455 00:27:11,370 --> 00:27:13,260 are some demographic impacts of this. 456 00:27:13,629 --> 00:27:18,360 But it's weird how I find people have varying levels of success on, on, 457 00:27:18,460 --> 00:27:20,559 on, uh, on the utilization of this. 458 00:27:21,030 --> 00:27:26,409 That said, I think you're entirely right that the future of this, it will be more 459 00:27:26,690 --> 00:27:31,190 sort of bot i- interactions, and there's a benefit and a curse to that, I think. 460 00:27:31,659 --> 00:27:34,690 Uh, I think the, the psy… You're right, the psychological impact 461 00:27:34,690 --> 00:27:36,530 of that is, is totally different. 462 00:27:36,879 --> 00:27:41,989 But I think it's, it's the extension, again, of all the things that we're 463 00:27:42,019 --> 00:27:46,430 learning and enabling in service apply all the way down the line on business, right? 464 00:27:46,430 --> 00:27:52,010 Like we wanna talk about having AI support the techs and making them more capable so 465 00:27:52,010 --> 00:27:56,110 they can get more work done and offloading a lot of the menial work for them. 466 00:27:56,460 --> 00:28:00,430 Same thing when it comes to, uh, the, the finance group, right? 467 00:28:00,430 --> 00:28:04,250 Like we should be enabling them, and they don't have to go looking for reports. 468 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,839 Like things happen on a trigger point or on some type of insight. 469 00:28:08,190 --> 00:28:10,199 Bot says, "Hey, like I notice these things. 470 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,570 You know, do you want me to, uh… AR over 90 days has creeped 471 00:28:13,570 --> 00:28:15,059 up over X amount of dollars. 472 00:28:15,059 --> 00:28:17,780 Do you want me to start calling people?" Like, "Yes, go do that." Like, great. 473 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:18,629 Cool, right? 474 00:28:18,869 --> 00:28:23,140 I think that that enablement of staff will just become much, much more natural 475 00:28:23,169 --> 00:28:25,819 over the, 12 to 18 months, as you say. 476 00:28:25,899 --> 00:28:26,089 Yeah. 477 00:28:26,718 --> 00:28:27,528 Victor Lopez: Yeah, no, absolutely. 478 00:28:27,528 --> 00:28:32,168 I think one, but one, one, one important distinction I'll make in just a comment 479 00:28:32,168 --> 00:28:38,018 that you said, you know, the, the group, you, you said the, the finance group. 480 00:28:38,358 --> 00:28:42,008 I think if we go back to the, the stat that you, you shared, right? 481 00:28:42,008 --> 00:28:43,768 90% sub $1 million. 482 00:28:44,608 --> 00:28:49,248 Majority of MSPs that are doing sub $1 million, they don't have a group. 483 00:28:49,328 --> 00:28:51,588 They don't have a staff that's doing these things. 484 00:28:51,738 --> 00:28:54,108 And so it, it goes back to what I was saying around 485 00:28:54,108 --> 00:28:56,038 like it's the business owner. 486 00:28:56,098 --> 00:28:57,728 This is the person, right? 487 00:28:57,728 --> 00:29:00,378 Like they're not making their techs more efficient. 488 00:29:00,458 --> 00:29:03,038 It's like they're removing things from that. 489 00:29:03,038 --> 00:29:04,878 So I think that's a huge component of it. 490 00:29:04,878 --> 00:29:07,418 There's obviously the dollars and cents impact. 491 00:29:07,838 --> 00:29:09,208 There's, there's a big thing there. 492 00:29:09,618 --> 00:29:14,628 But unfortunately, and, and you probably know this Todd very well, is, you 493 00:29:14,628 --> 00:29:22,828 know, unfortunately a big area that MSP owners, you know, just an area where 494 00:29:22,828 --> 00:29:26,808 they just don't value the time in the same way is their own time, right? 495 00:29:26,808 --> 00:29:32,098 Like it's, it's easy that for them to say, "Well, Johnny my tech, um, you 496 00:29:32,098 --> 00:29:37,368 know, I get 10 more hours out of him and so I can make, you know, whatever," 497 00:29:37,848 --> 00:29:43,358 versus, you know, I, I, I get-- I free up 10 more hours in my time not 498 00:29:43,358 --> 00:29:45,038 doing, you know, the books or whatever. 499 00:29:45,558 --> 00:29:49,488 Um, it, it, they don't equate the time in the same way unfortunately 500 00:29:49,538 --> 00:29:52,638 but, um, you know, hopefully over time, uh, we get there 501 00:29:53,500 --> 00:29:55,270 Todd Kane: Yeah, I strongly agree with this. 502 00:29:55,270 --> 00:29:58,080 I, I wish people would value their time more. 503 00:29:58,180 --> 00:30:03,560 Um, and I think because owners have sort of a d- uh, a different gear, and 504 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:08,050 they're perfectly comfortable to work a 60-hour, 80-hour week wh- when it's 505 00:30:08,050 --> 00:30:12,310 required, and that eventually sort of becomes the norm because they're like, 506 00:30:12,310 --> 00:30:16,210 "Well, you know, I, I don't necessarily have the money, uh, to hire additional 507 00:30:16,210 --> 00:30:20,440 staff," or, uh, whatever justification that they, they make for those things, 508 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:26,229 not recognizing those investments will absolutely pay back, uh, in enablement 509 00:30:26,229 --> 00:30:29,569 within the group and probably create more profitability down the road. 510 00:30:29,959 --> 00:30:33,400 Uh, and if nothing else, just the quality of life matters, right? 511 00:30:33,470 --> 00:30:38,819 Like sure, you can hustle hard for, you know, five, even eight years sometimes, 512 00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:42,930 uh, and, and put in the hours and put in the sweat for, for building your business. 513 00:30:42,930 --> 00:30:45,839 But at some point, like, what is that for? 514 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,979 Like, do you wanna spend the next 10 or 15 years of your 515 00:30:48,979 --> 00:30:50,810 life working 80 hours a week? 516 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:55,080 Like, some people genuinely enjoy it, but you know, also, you wanna work 517 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,219 on the things that give you a lot of joy and in that genius zone, right? 518 00:30:58,219 --> 00:31:02,310 That's probably not the menial work of business operations and just sorta 519 00:31:02,710 --> 00:31:06,820 pulling the levers and sending the emails and, and doing follow-ups. 520 00:31:07,079 --> 00:31:10,310 You wanna be focusing on, you know, developing an AI strategy, 521 00:31:10,310 --> 00:31:11,649 spending more time with clients. 522 00:31:11,649 --> 00:31:14,640 Like, sure, if you're gonna spend 80 hours a week in the business, figure out 523 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,810 where that time is at least valuable. 524 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:22,210 And, and, and as you noted, like to do that, you have to be able to offload 525 00:31:22,509 --> 00:31:24,589 the, the l- the more routine work. 526 00:31:24,950 --> 00:31:28,490 And, uh, as that should be done in service, it should be done in 527 00:31:28,490 --> 00:31:29,890 the business operations as well. 528 00:31:29,969 --> 00:31:30,229 Yeah. 529 00:31:30,622 --> 00:31:30,852 Victor Lopez: Yeah. 530 00:31:31,272 --> 00:31:32,202 Yeah, no, absolutely. 531 00:31:32,202 --> 00:31:34,972 I mean, it's, uh… A- and that's a huge part of it. 532 00:31:34,972 --> 00:31:39,332 So we had, I, I w- you know, a story I always tell is, like, you know, 533 00:31:39,372 --> 00:31:44,482 we had someone who literally their, their, their comment was, "Well, now 534 00:31:44,482 --> 00:31:48,582 I can go to my son's baseball game on the weekends." And it's like y- y- you 535 00:31:48,582 --> 00:31:50,052 kind of take those things for granted. 536 00:31:50,292 --> 00:31:54,552 It's like I don't, I don't sit there now and spend five hours on the weekend. 537 00:31:54,552 --> 00:31:56,492 And I say this as a business owner myself. 538 00:31:56,532 --> 00:32:00,182 It's like we're, we're always the first people to sacrifice 539 00:32:00,292 --> 00:32:01,342 when it comes to things. 540 00:32:01,342 --> 00:32:03,512 It's like, okay, someone has to do this. 541 00:32:03,512 --> 00:32:05,052 Well, I don't want to put it on my techs. 542 00:32:05,472 --> 00:32:10,142 I'm gonna go, you know, spend the weekend working on this, or, you know, I, I 543 00:32:10,142 --> 00:32:12,112 need to close the books or whatever. 544 00:32:12,112 --> 00:32:13,842 And it's like, okay, I'm gonna spend my time. 545 00:32:13,872 --> 00:32:18,882 So it's, uh, it's always, it always comes down, um, to, to the owner themselves. 546 00:32:19,506 --> 00:32:19,666 Todd Kane: Yep. 547 00:32:20,446 --> 00:32:20,976 Well, it's been great. 548 00:32:21,186 --> 00:32:26,096 Uh, really appreciate your, your coming on and, and, uh, getting-- nudging us 549 00:32:26,096 --> 00:32:31,126 to think more about, uh, automation, AI opportunities in, in the business 550 00:32:31,166 --> 00:32:33,026 further down the chain outside of service. 551 00:32:33,026 --> 00:32:34,706 So, uh, this has been awesome. 552 00:32:34,786 --> 00:32:38,396 Uh, uh, if, uh, people wanna chat with you or reach out to you, 553 00:32:38,396 --> 00:32:41,706 I'll link to you, uh, to your LinkedIn profile in the show notes. 554 00:32:42,095 --> 00:32:46,916 Uh, any other shout-outs or people, uh, uh, asks of the audience of, of where 555 00:32:46,916 --> 00:32:48,636 to direct them or to engage with you? 556 00:32:49,702 --> 00:32:51,272 Victor Lopez: Yeah, just, uh, find me on LinkedIn. 557 00:32:51,272 --> 00:32:52,402 I'm pretty active there. 558 00:32:52,732 --> 00:32:56,172 Um, but yeah, hopefully the, the main takeaway here and, and what I always 559 00:32:56,172 --> 00:33:00,422 like to, to leave around this is, you know, just start the conversation. 560 00:33:00,452 --> 00:33:02,972 There, there isn't something that, you know, there isn't a big 561 00:33:02,972 --> 00:33:04,302 thing that you have to do today. 562 00:33:04,332 --> 00:33:08,052 It's just like, hopefully this just starts the conversation around, 563 00:33:08,312 --> 00:33:12,822 okay, where else can AI really have an impact on my business? 564 00:33:14,684 --> 00:33:15,004 Todd Kane: Excellent. 565 00:33:15,254 --> 00:33:15,664 Thanks, Victor 566 00:33:16,542 --> 00:33:16,902 Victor Lopez: All right. 567 00:33:16,902 --> 00:33:17,412 Awesome. 568 00:33:17,412 --> 00:33:17,992 Thanks, Todd