ConnectWise PitchIT | Helping Build Communities and Relationships in the Startup World

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, this week on MSP Business School, we have got the Pitchit T-invent team on

[00:00:06] Sean Andrian Sam will be sharing with you a little bit about the upcoming Pitchit program as we head into the Pitchit Finals

[00:00:13] down at IT Nation Connect in Orlando. Hope you enjoy!

[00:00:27] Right, hey welcome everybody to MSP Business School. My name's Brian Doyle, I'm your host as always and today I've got with me the

[00:00:35] Nikvise Pitchit team. As many of you know we're in Pitchit season once again as we're gearing up for IT Nation Connect and the finalist were recently announced and to kick off kind of our time with the Pitchit crew

[00:00:48] We're inviting the team behind the scenes today's podcast. Many of you know Sean Lardow, their associate evangelism director over at IT Nation, but some of you might not know Andrea Barrow and Sam Hoynt

[00:01:01] Andrea's a senior manager of the Invent Program and partners. And Sam is relatively new to the Pitchit team coming in as an intern this year and really kind of taking the organization

[00:01:11] of this program up to another level. So I want to thank the three of you for joining me today.

[00:01:18] How's your harmonious?

[00:01:19] Thank you.

[00:01:20] So Pitchit is here, finalists have been selected. Maybe we can do a quick look back and tell me how the program

[00:01:26] goes this year and what was the run up to the finals looking like?

[00:01:31] You want to start with?

[00:01:33] When we start with you Sean since you kind of had the day today there and then we'll get some of the behind

[00:01:37] the scenes look at things. Sure so actually it's been a good year I think you're in his last

[00:01:44] pursuit of chance to see first hand. I think when we've been blessed with an I've been bringing us

[00:01:49] up off to these it's not just one second of business that's represented in the finalists which

[00:01:55] like three years ago the injured I sat down and talked about it and we were kind of concerned that

[00:01:58] this sexiest of the sexiest of the solutions would be represented fully in nobody else like

[00:02:03] cybersecurity or AI right? And I think it's proven that we were wrong which is great

[00:02:11] and it was it's good to see it but it's also good to watch that and people like you brine in your

[00:02:16] court you guys kind of set the tone or this year where they had to be much better.

[00:02:24] So we you know the all these guys came into the competition a little bit

[00:02:28] crisper than the first year that the answer now we're running this then your two was better

[00:02:33] and now yours read they and that's because they had to be watching all before and we're just good

[00:02:38] so the three finalists again being from three different segments of the industry

[00:02:42] okay they're all complementary one of their scores but they're really good and it's a

[00:02:46] work being guy too you know you gay guy being in well we're all about the the UK guy because that's

[00:02:52] who I'm coach in this year so you know any of us over a power safety PC that's your front run

[00:02:58] or ready but tell us who else we've got in here showing you know so yeah you would you know

[00:03:04] that was really nice to do a famous plug for yourself with them always do it with them we also have

[00:03:09] Zach from senty on and and we have a dump from cyber team pod cyber while I've always

[00:03:17] had this 700 times in the last several times. How could you forget to see pod outfit that

[00:03:22] dug homes and actual seed pod on the front of the shirt there. That is certainly burned into my

[00:03:29] big the green screen suit I assume we're talking about for a mile or a secare

[00:03:36] yeah it's something to say the least yeah and but actually can we just really acknowledge the fact that

[00:03:43] one when Dutchers of the pitch he would like he dresses like David has a long essentially

[00:03:48] and like literally forcing a thought like dude who is this guy because he looks his hair back

[00:03:53] a little bit but he's got that cloth he's got the sports jacket on he's like he's just a more

[00:03:58] distinguished David has a lot of always done but enough about Doug and his personal fashion you know

[00:04:05] perfectionism perfectionist for another show it's it's it's pitch it the runway

[00:04:11] which will do in the future no you know you know the thing about this is between three contestants

[00:04:18] Doug is probably the most senior of the group and you can come out of eight carries with

[00:04:23] a fact some of you Brian away personality wash it's nice way of saying a mold right

[00:04:33] it's matured it's exciting yeah well we'll go back right

[00:04:36] what is thank you Andrew Doug no exactly no in Doug's really good about that we're

[00:04:43] Zach is this young vibrant guy man that's a function everywhere man he knows his stuff

[00:04:49] he's on and he loves it but if I compare the two Doug is a better storyteller

[00:04:54] whereas I think Zach has way more charisma as much as because of his human he's

[00:04:58] either by the law you know and then right the middle is Daniel and Daniel is like

[00:05:02] he's professor acts with hair before he got bald and he had a cap you know and then he

[00:05:09] looks just like him and he talks like him and he and he's like elegant he's very good with

[00:05:12] for example so I'm excited about all of you this beyond I think you know that I think that's one

[00:05:17] of the great things I see about the program right to at least being somebody that went through it

[00:05:21] everybody comes with a different experience level but everybody has something to gain in this program

[00:05:27] both between you know the different speakers you guys bring in that can help us really you know

[00:05:32] kind of tackle different things within our business too you know what we talked about a lot

[00:05:36] shown when you and I've talked about this being vulnerable humble and letting others kind of give you

[00:05:40] a sense of what's going on in your business that you might not even recognize

[00:05:44] and it's fun to see those different people right the Doug's in me who have been on stages before

[00:05:49] and gotten to speak and do that obviously we're not having the same level of butterflies that somebody

[00:05:53] might be new to this is having about getting right out in front and then you take somebody like

[00:05:58] Zach right you know Zach is obviously brilliant from a technical perspective right how do you

[00:06:03] harness the tech talk and make it into something that's going to resonate with an audience right

[00:06:08] and do it in the A well I know Zach likes a few choice for letter words but doing it

[00:06:14] me a way that you know is a PG friendly when it comes time to do the show right so it's usually

[00:06:21] yeah it is really isn't it and there's a yeah well they're not in you know in a different kind of

[00:06:30] way but I think a lot of that you know what's let's we're giving Daniel a lot of boost here too

[00:06:34] you know we'll remind Daniel you English guys always sound good to us because you know

[00:06:39] it's a server fine you sound smarter than we from day one

[00:06:44] yeah I think it's gone and I've learned everything it's like everything I want to be on

[00:06:50] so Sam you're the you know they're the new guy on the team this year this is your first time

[00:06:54] going through this you know what did you think of the experiences somebody knew in the team you know

[00:06:59] was there any surprises for you in this process I mean start obviously it's a great opportunity to

[00:07:07] be a part of especially for something that somebody to see the the least open coming vendors

[00:07:11] and getting a chance to put themselves out there what I mean from the research I've done in years

[00:07:16] prior this probably the most involved and more competitive groups that we've had with Tetra just

[00:07:21] they're evolving on LinkedIn and even seeing some stuff like the crows nested the channel calm

[00:07:25] or something that we were able to put together that I did amazing things whether or not these

[00:07:30] the companies that were involved that made it through the finals um just it's uh it's a

[00:07:41] young age just something that I'm looking forward to putting towards next year's competition

[00:07:45] the years after that other one we will be involved with all this yeah I think you just touched

[00:07:51] the time one of the biggest things that I think most of us have that have gone through this process

[00:07:54] have really seen you can build a community with people that are at kind of a similar stage to you

[00:07:59] in the process you know while there certainly folks that are really early in their growth cycle and

[00:08:04] then some of us had had a couple of years under our belt when we came into the program

[00:08:08] the reality is the majority of the group's food strapped you know the majority of the group is still

[00:08:12] trying to find their way into where product price and fit fail and it's kind of cool to have that

[00:08:18] community around you where you know hey these guys are kind of fighting the same battles that I'm

[00:08:23] fighting too you know Andrew I don't know if you've got any feedback on that or your thoughts on you

[00:08:28] don't kind of put the communities been like from your perspective yeah for sure so I think one of

[00:08:34] most rewarding parts of the program is getting to see the community of these new startups

[00:08:39] really formulating right and you know you've touched on this a bit already you know we're working

[00:08:44] with companies a various maturity levels and sizes and experiences but everyone is getting something

[00:08:49] out of this program and I think absolutely at the end of the day if you can walk away with anything

[00:08:54] and it's at least having a community of folks who are going through very similar scenarios as

[00:09:00] in a startup an a startup environment right Sam touched on up with the crow's nest

[00:09:06] I don't think I've seen anything as successful as the crow's nest was this year at Comtea

[00:09:11] through the Pitcher program it was I had a little bit of foam or maybe a lot of foam

[00:09:16] not being able to be on site there and experience it in first hand but to be able to hear the stories that

[00:09:23] came of it you know actual valuable connections in networking happen there yes I'm sure they

[00:09:28] may have been an adult beverage or two that was consumed and enjoyed however the the

[00:09:34] the conversations that that we're had around around around that event are long lasting

[00:09:39] and our connections that people now are going to take throughout the rest of their business career

[00:09:44] so being able to see that piece of community come to light is is super valuable and you know

[00:09:50] my history with connect wise I started actually on our community team building out our user groups

[00:09:55] and getting partners together and connecting to so to see that really be you know next phase of

[00:10:01] community evolving I think it's super cool yeah I would say from you know my seat that's something

[00:10:06] you guys really should keep an eye on too you know Sean when you're looking at different

[00:10:10] statistics of how to measure success of this program look at some of the partnerships that

[00:10:15] get made between different companies you know I look at just our company right these Io toolbox

[00:10:20] and noteware you know we went into that program building an integration which built a better

[00:10:24] relationship with us and we do a lot of co-marketing and things like that together and certainly

[00:10:29] you know I'm I'm citing them but I'm doing that with four or five people for my pitch of co-work

[00:10:33] and even started doing what some of the folks I've met in this year's pitch it just being kind of

[00:10:37] available in the periphery so you know one of the things that I think you know is sometimes

[00:10:41] unseen to the public is a lot of good technology and good innovation comes out of the relationships

[00:10:48] that get made during pitch at beyond you know the program the pitch and the prizes right

[00:10:54] I would agree you know yes I'm glad you have someone nice I'm not a while you

[00:11:01] would have come along but yes come to you China for those that's great

[00:11:07] but yeah going back to even the first year that we were doing this when the all three

[00:11:11] finalists sponsored the pre-day and did a pre-day together and the best part of what I was

[00:11:17] to the pre-day and finish up the pre-day and then I won't write it over to competing against

[00:11:21] a child so as they were all how I'll get him from by yon in a room you know often do their work

[00:11:26] then they weren't in like put their face on and like went after each other basically for the finals

[00:11:30] okay it's I think that the lesson for everybody who's understanding is that not one company

[00:11:36] succeed on his own and even with competitors whether they're a competitor and the fact of

[00:11:41] to the offer in this similar solution we'll compete and get you in the finals I've Richard

[00:11:45] there's enough business to go around and with an up-to-will and a effectiveness you're all

[00:11:50] going to succeed in regenerating some sort of revenue regardless unless you just check yourself off

[00:11:54] completely if you're closed off you will never make any progress and I'm sorry but most of

[00:11:59] these guys most of them are going to run these companies or food traps they don't have they don't

[00:12:02] have like Coca Cola perhaps the this potter is too bad you don't have it so let's let you know

[00:12:08] so should you should enjoy your time make really good friends and generate really good

[00:12:14] side of it yeah but you're hitting on some of the good points you know when you look at it

[00:12:18] from a competitor standpoint yeah you know of course we all want to win right everybody wants

[00:12:22] the bragging rights coming out of that but really it was the opportunity to get there and get

[00:12:26] better that most of us came into the pitch of program looking for and for those of us that were

[00:12:31] boots strapping it gave us the lift up of having to neck-wise you know kind of pushing

[00:12:35] you know in rising our title a little bit too by allowing us to promote using their platforms

[00:12:40] to get that visibility along the way so you know I'll be very candid when we went into pitch

[00:12:45] it we were like all right you know this will be good for six months and then we got fortunate

[00:12:48] not to make the finals and there was another month and a half of extra leverage going into the show

[00:12:53] so you know definitely compete are to get in the finals because there's a benefit there but the truth is

[00:12:58] all three of us on the stage we became friends at friendly you know groups there yeah we all wanted

[00:13:03] to win but that wasn't the end all be all of the game you know we all wanted to put a good

[00:13:08] showing we all wanted to get people coming in being happy with our products and coming to see them right

[00:13:12] that's really the goal. Absolutely I well again and that's yeah so you know I always say

[00:13:19] Andrew is the boss because she is the boss just so we're there so when her and I first had

[00:13:26] about three years ago two not a years ago figure out what was going on it was kind of like

[00:13:30] looked at what happened years past we went into things we wanted to stress was this was going

[00:13:36] to be an educational piece still a competition but there has to be tons of collaboration

[00:13:42] and you know and and and can I to wise nineteen he has a whole kind of embrace of good

[00:13:47] bit of things we were doing something that they just didn't know we were doing so it was better for us

[00:13:52] but the things they didn't embrace for like given us the ability to do collaborative sponsorships

[00:13:55] and together this because that was there's a big difference if you're if you're spending

[00:14:00] a budget for the years a hundred thousand dollars you can spend that to show you

[00:14:03] you can have one show I mean really so let alone if you can do more than one show or even

[00:14:09] the big shows and be able to sponsor our stuff so you know the collaboration was so crucial

[00:14:15] and and that's why we kind of force you guys all to be on my streams together and my best

[00:14:20] together you know and and we want you kind of you know we want you to talk we want you to talk

[00:14:30] and we want everybody to have a swagger because you know I'm going to raise your game to less

[00:14:35] if I watch you and you're crushing it and you have swagger I'm annoyed and now I have to go do

[00:14:40] better and I have to be yeah I mean those are the things that you got to look at like you know

[00:14:45] we've talked about it showing you and I in the past but you know you need that humbling 30 second pitch

[00:14:51] where you realize you know I just got smoked and you know that I gotta go do something about this right

[00:14:56] and you know when I always come back to you know for me it's like hey I'm a guy that thought

[00:15:00] I could just show up in wing it because that's what you know I can do in many situations but in this one

[00:15:05] it took time you know and that's a big part of what I'm coaching to know you're timing

[00:15:09] it's not about the content now if you don't know your content coming into the finals and what

[00:15:13] your flow should be your trouble but know where you are in timing know where you need to be in timing

[00:15:19] as you're up there because you're going to be more nervous on the stage make sure you're not

[00:15:22] going too quick or too slow and remember when it's all over there's questions and answers coming

[00:15:27] your way too so it is not about the pitch but I love that you bring up getting smoke in your very

[00:15:33] seconds because you got smoked hard man smoked hard I pretty much resigned so you know for those

[00:15:41] listeners that haven't heard this story before Tiffany Hinks of hack where who is about as

[00:15:45] smooth as they come pitches on the regular she came in and Sean said let's do a 30 second pitch

[00:15:51] I've been first guy to say I don't have a 30 second pitch I had a minute mention if I was lucky right

[00:15:56] because that's where we were at and Tiffany came in just smooth as silk told you exactly what she

[00:16:03] was going to solve why she was going to solve it and why you should care and drop the mic on

[00:16:07] I'm at the 30th second yep and I was just like I'm like okay before I even get started man

[00:16:15] I just got smoked and then I went into my pitch but it was it was crazy but it did tell me you know

[00:16:21] she is somebody that had already determined what her 30 seconds was going to be and it made me work

[00:16:27] to you know what 30 second a one minute and a five minute I'm so really in Brian's response was

[00:16:31] I do think people need they need me I'm a people person that was just pitch crazy come on there

[00:16:38] was no way I said people person man that would be the one that I would throw out it probably

[00:16:43] not knowing anything ever people wants I do with I do things with people I swear to God I bring the

[00:16:50] papers to the engineers man thank you first and not but she was fantastic and you know I think

[00:16:59] everybody during our program had that moment where they realized hey this isn't going to be just

[00:17:04] a you know a swag at it right and I don't think I came into it feeling it was going to be hey I could

[00:17:08] just show up and throw up and be fine but I don't think you really looked at the different

[00:17:13] conditions if you think it differently Sean put me on the spot for a 30 second one because that's

[00:17:18] that media event would allow right we couldn't do five minutes in a podcast format so you better

[00:17:24] be able to have a pitch for all your different ways you might be approaching the media right

[00:17:28] you're sound bite your 30 second pitch or one minute pitch and then you're you know your

[00:17:32] more traditional elevator pitch when the time allows for it and I think that's a big part of what

[00:17:37] comes out of pitch it too is prepare for the unexpected because there are different ways you're

[00:17:42] going to get engaged as a business owner especially if you're a new business owner and this is new

[00:17:46] absolutely and you know it was nice those working with us all and you know right Andrea side

[00:17:53] she's like I said she's the boss so she calmly addresses all the needs and concerns of

[00:17:58] the budget that we're um but she represents the event that things right which is where all

[00:18:05] you guys go through start it is just say that level of credibility it's at the start up you don't have

[00:18:11] any calls on day one you have to buy and earn your cloud right and and you have to be involved

[00:18:19] myself so so the the the the the the the the by Andrea and her team's able to put them

[00:18:22] in position that should be more to read best if you're not investing in an in a space you're

[00:18:26] not investing in the community and we've been so you know Sean let's pivot there with Andrea

[00:18:31] a little bit and you know talk about the invent program and what that really means because you know

[00:18:36] pitch it is really just the start of the growth in the relationship so maybe you could talk a

[00:18:40] bit about that so you know folks that are thinking about becoming a vendor or our new vendors

[00:18:45] that haven't been involved in pitch it can understand a little bit more about events relationship as well

[00:18:49] yeah for sure so so the invent program is really designed to help

[00:18:54] provide vendors or startups or really any vendor who has a desire to work with connect wise

[00:18:59] through product integrations to really give them a pathway to do so so it's getting to work directly

[00:19:05] with our technical teams to really take a consultation approach to integrations what could your

[00:19:12] solution integrate into within the Kenoply stack that is going to be meaningful to an MSP.

[00:19:17] How can you help create value via integration directly to our mutual MSP providers and you know

[00:19:23] through that process you're fully supported as a development vendor or we're really providing

[00:19:29] the guidance that you and your team need to build a valuable integration out. All invent vendors

[00:19:37] who write integrations into the Kenoply's platform go through a security review where we're

[00:19:42] really working to identify and mitigate any potential risks or potential exploitation points

[00:19:48] that about after make take advantage of so we do static code testing via a third party organization

[00:19:53] on that and then at the end of the day we give you the Kenoply staple of approval and you are an

[00:19:57] especially certified integrator so the the value to you as a vendor there is really getting

[00:20:04] that help and support more of a white glove experience when it comes to integration

[00:20:08] with Kenoply's then additionally the partners who are now going to be utilizing that integration

[00:20:13] have peace of mind knowing that it's been through a security review it's certified by Kenoply's

[00:20:19] it's supported by Kenoply's meaning if a partner comes to use that integration and for some reason

[00:20:26] it's not working as intended they have an escalation path to the Kenoply's team for assistance so

[00:20:31] we're really trying to help not only help our vendors be built up in this space through

[00:20:36] their certified integrations and make all partners aware of them but really trying to ensure that

[00:20:40] the partner feels supported through using certified integrations as well. Yeah and I'm going to highlight

[00:20:45] you know where that's actually helped us a couple times so the you know users can get a sense

[00:20:49] of how a vendor can interact we were having an issue where there was a subtle permission change

[00:20:54] that wouldn't allow our integration to pass opportunities through we would have been troubleshooting

[00:20:59] that on our own I couldn't even guess how long right but we were able to go to our direct support team

[00:21:05] they were able to look at you know what we were seeing as an error code and within 20 minutes

[00:21:08] they were like oh we need to add this fantastic so that was a problem that we were able to you know

[00:21:13] or divert that would have been you know community wise for us and we were able to take care of it

[00:21:18] in minutes and really get the team back on track the other thing is the security are the code review

[00:21:23] is community for young up starts you know most bootstrap companies don't have a mate you know these

[00:21:30] high level security folk on their team yet that can analyze that and being able to put the code

[00:21:34] through a security review having an independent group look at it and tell us where there are some

[00:21:38] things that we might need to undertake you know that's invaluable too because that's certainly

[00:21:42] our biggest concern and one of our biggest risks as you know younger vendors hey do we do we have

[00:21:47] things crossed off so you know that alone is really made the event program you know something important

[00:21:53] for us yeah that's crazy here I can't stress enough we important to be able to

[00:22:05] program you need part of that each checks and balances for you also up to remediate the issues

[00:22:12] as well as provide some level of credibility you know guys we're getting near the end of our time

[00:22:18] you know anything that you want to say to anybody as we go to wrap up we'll start with you

[00:22:23] down in the corner Sam oh I would say start working on getting the plane to pitch up for next year

[00:22:31] all right and if you're going to high-tonation connection come watch the final let's get a feel

[00:22:36] through everything going on and you know take that time too plight because I you know it's with the

[00:22:42] way this program going it's gonna be special I dream at that Sam you know if you're down there

[00:22:48] come support the people you know that are in this program both you guys as the behind house but

[00:22:54] the folks pitching too you know it was great pitching to a full room of people last year and I

[00:22:59] expect that room only to be more full is more people become aware of it you have plus Sean's good

[00:23:03] not to bring some cocktails into the next two yeah that's the end of your response is that

[00:23:09] here's five and you should have known better and anything you want to close out with today

[00:23:15] yeah I'm gonna say congratulations and thank you to our entire cohort this year we had 26

[00:23:21] companies show up every single week for 16 weeks and really put in the time and effort to work

[00:23:28] on the business versus in their business and you know finalists are not everyone did an

[00:23:34] incredible job and I'm just so proud and grateful for the participation this year so congratulations

[00:23:40] everyone who went through this year's cohort and really thank you for showing up makes a difference

[00:23:48] about you shot anything to close out with um I think you're one of your a vendor or no

[00:23:54] as a P you should be paying attention to these things are a couple reasons one is a vendor

[00:24:00] the three major pillars we cover which is increasing your network size educate you to be able

[00:24:04] to actually value proposition and relate your messaging along with the ability to create

[00:24:11] a pressure brand that we're in as you know our three pillars you think you stand on to

[00:24:15] further business becomes a goal so that's our most time MSPs usually pay attention because you're

[00:24:20] always crying about not having access to your access to them because I'm kind of like I'm watching

[00:24:25] this important and also over 67% of them that are in this competition or they either are currently

[00:24:32] a reward MSPs so they're actually your peers so why would you not support them and be able to have

[00:24:37] an impact on the on the role that they take as far as a business concerned you know and and last

[00:24:43] but at least why would you not relate this is 10 fun it's actually a lot of fun it's probably the

[00:24:48] most fun you'll have at the event in general because it is much more exciting as the competition

[00:24:52] as opposed to being some foreign dry keynote kind every one thing about anyway you know we should

[00:25:00] be in the keynote room like that's a whole separate conversation for another time um well yeah you

[00:25:06] should be supportive you should be watching them and for the finalist that's better from your

[00:25:09] game for everybody's kind of your effort yeah we can always friends all day long when you go

[00:25:14] up on stage your by yourself the other two we're gonna be the group hey look Marvin's great and

[00:25:19] glad he provides knives but I was really happy I wasn't the one taking him home

[00:25:24] either look on Matthew's face or he was it was like the look of this appointments he looked like

[00:25:29] dog when she got surgery at the corner had a corner shame yep it was like a nice of shame yep you

[00:25:35] know so thank you Marvin for the knives but none of us really want to put all right guys well this

[00:25:41] is just to kick off her you know the pitch it uh prep process we're looking forward to getting

[00:25:45] the other three finalists I'm coming weeks and I want to thank everybody for joining us today

[00:25:50] Sean Sam Andrea thank you for joining me as well and I'll see you all down at that

[00:25:56] absolutely thanks so much