Well-known Managed Services Provider (MSP) sales and marketing guru Chris Wiser is a complex dude.
He has the swagger and bravado of a Texan. Chris lives in the Austin, TX area after relocating from the mid-west (Wisconsin) several years ago. Wiser is one focused intense guy with the altruistic goal of helping MSPs make money with tough love. And he doesn’t lack self-confidence. He is a trail blazer for sure.
He is also a duck. When you are a public figure, people are going to throw slings and arrows at ya. But like a duck in the rain,
the water rolls right off his back. With a wink and a nod, Chris can take it. I’ve discussed this with him several times. He has messaging, including a T-shirt that exclaims “Chris Wiser Sucks” and a sub-Reddit to talk about that!
T-SHIRT PIC
Events
I primarily know Chris Wiser from his robust and frequent events. He also has products and services for the MSP community but I don’t have day-to-day knowledge in this area. I recently attended his three-day “Mindset Reset” conference at the tony Saint Anthony’s Hotel in downtown San Antinio, TX (right near the famous riverwalk).
I found the event well organized and top shelf. His attentive staff was highly visible and even helped me find my mis-placed laptop and mouse (my bad LOL). The catering including hot buffets was almost too much. And it just had a fun vibe.
The conference itself was primarily what I like to call “BusinessSpeak” with one or two “GeekSpeak” presentations like DMARC thrown in. I wouldn’t consider this to be a technical like Ignite but it doesn’t claim to be.
So one nugget I want to share was the keynote by best selling author Dan Martell. Every attendee got a signed copy of his breakout book titled “Buy Back Your Time” (picture below. I took away two important points:
Why Am I Doing Things That Don’t Make Money? As a start-up guy, I realize it takes a long-time to get to cash-flow positive (if ever as most start-ups are a great idea on the whiteboard but more often than not are placed on the bookcase shelf of “good ideas but no money. This has already helped me review my own portfolio of a couple start up and what changes and tough decisions I can make in 2025.
Scaling was the other major take away. Yeah we’ve all heard the word but Dan laid out how young millionaires in the Silicon Valley learned one-thing in the 20s: how to scale. This is a double-edged sword. On the one-hand my beloved Windows Small Business Server (SBS) roots have “SBSers” who don’t want to scale and are lifestyle MSPs who want to go fishing on Fridays (often with clients).
On the other hands, a scaling strategy is akin to turning you into a machine based on your new business model and automation. The good news is the paycheck isn’t bad.
I could go on and on about Martell’s book (that I’m now reading). But I can suggest your take a look at it.
Chilling with Dan Martell at the event book signing
I’ll end on this. As for me – I will repeat as the event got me out of my office and seeing friends in the hallway was worth the price of admission alone 😉