Now That's IT: Stories of MSP Success
Now that's IT: Stories of MSP Success dives into the journeys of some of the trailblazers in the Managed Service Provider industry to find out how they used their passion for technology to help turn Managed Services into the thriving sector it is today.
Every episode is packed with the valuable insights, practical strategies, and inspiring anecdotes that lead our guests to the transformative moment when they knew, Now, That's IT.
This podcast provides educational information about issues that may be relevant to information technology service providers.
Nothing in the podcast should be construed as any recommendation or endorsement by N-able, or as legal or any other advice.
The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the podcast does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.
Views and opinions expressed by N-able employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the view of N-able or its officers and directors.
The podcast may also contain forward-looking statements regarding future product plans, functionality, or development efforts that should not be interpreted as a commitment from N-able related to any deliverables or timeframe.
All content is based on information available at the time of recording, and N-able has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Now That's IT: Stories of MSP Success
From Enterprise to the Family Business: How Stephen Riddick Earned His Leadership at CSP
In this episode of Now That’s IT: Stories of MSP Success, we dive deep with Stephen Riddick, President of CSP, Inc., as he shares his unconventional journey from contemplating law school and ski-bumming in Jackson Hole to mastering enterprise sales at Cisco. Stephen knew he couldn’t just walk into his family’s business—he needed to earn his place by proving himself outside the company. Discover how he leveraged his experience at a global tech giant and an MBA from Duke to transform CSP from a hardware-centric company into a thriving Managed Service Provider. Whether you’re an MSP owner looking to scale or an aspiring entrepreneur seeking inspiration, Stephen’s story of growth, leadership, and strategic vision is packed with insights and actionable takeaways. Don’t miss this compelling episode on what it truly takes to earn your leadership in the IT world!
Hosted by industry veterans, this podcast delves deep into the findings of the MSP Horizons Report, providing actionable insights to transform your IT business. Each episode features in-depth discussions with experts, thought leaders, and successful MSPs who share their experiences and strategies for navigating the ever-evolving landscape of managed services. Listen & Subscribe Wherever You Get Your Podcasts.
'Now that's it: Stories of MSP Success,' dives into the journeys of some of the trailblazers in our industry to find out how they used their passion for technology to help turn Managed Services into the thriving sector it is today.
Every episode is packed with the valuable insights, practical strategies, and inspiring anecdotes that lead our guests to the transformative moment when they knew….. Now, that's it.
This podcast provides educational information about issues that may be relevant to information technology service providers.
Nothing in the podcast should be construed as any recommendation or endorsement by N-able, or as legal or any other advice.
The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the podcast does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.
Views and opinions expressed by N-able employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the view of N-able or its officers and directors.
The podcast may also contain forward-looking statements regarding future product plans, functionality, or development efforts that should not be interpreted as a commitment from N-able related to any deliverables or timeframe.
All content is based on information available at the time of recording, and N-able has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
One, two, three, four. I didn't want to be that kid that just goes back and starts working for his family business because of the easy thing I said. You know what, if I'm going back to CSP, I'm going back because I've proven success at Cisco. I'm going back because I have an MBA from Duke. If my last name wasn't Riddick, just because I was the boss of Slime, I could still go and be hired here because of my accomplishments, not just because of my last name, and that was really important for me.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Now that's it stories of MSP success, where we dive into the journeys of some of the trailblazers in our industry to find out how they used their passion for technology to help turn managed services into the thriving sector it is today.
Speaker 3:Stephen Riddick, thank you very much for being on the Now that's it podcast. Great to be here. Thank you for the invitation. You're the president of CSP Incorporated, a Raleigh-Durham managed service provider that delivers customized IT services and solutions to unique business problems. We're actually in the Enable offices today in Raleigh-Durham, so thank you for driving so far to get here.
Speaker 3:Easy trip for me. Exactly right down the road you got it Awesome. Thanks, bud. So before we get into your MSP, why don't we talk a little bit about your start in IT and subsequently just your start in business?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I actually took a very winding path, if you will. I was a liberal arts major. In college I was a history and economics major. I had IT in my background. This is actually it's a family business. So to put the record straight. So sort of grew up around CSP. My dad started it, but I had a little bit of a contrarian streak, I think, for a while where I didn't necessarily just want to be that kid who went straight to the family business. So I thought I was thinking about law school for a while. I went right out of college, I got my real estate license. I was thinking about commercial real estate, development, all different kinds of routes, but again I had that. It was a history and econ major and but I do think deep down I always knew I had a nagging, I don't know, somewhere deep down I think I knew it might've been in me. So actually I did hand up again after I graduated and sorry, long-winded answer, but after I graduated.
Speaker 1:I graduated in 2004 and I took the LSATs for law school. I took the GMATs thinking about business school. I got my real estate license and also I guess I have an affinity for politics, or I used to. Now I'm sort of jaded by it, but I worked on a campaign through the fall, and it was an election year, and then, in November, campaign was over. So, man, what I'll do now? Well, I love to ski. So, uh, I put everything in my car. I didn't know anybody out West, but I drove to Jackson hall, wyoming, and, uh, what was going to be just a few weeks as a ski bomb turned into a couple of years. Um, but the reason I tell that story, though, is cause still, even then, deep down, I think, I knew I wanted to do something much bigger, so a lot of ski bombs might just be waiting tables.
Speaker 1:I actually got a job as a concierge of the Four Seasons, and I say that because that was an incredible learning opportunity. The Four Seasons is just the epitome of service delivery and how you treat customers, and they charged so much. At that point it was over $1,000. So that day was a ton for these rooms, and it's how do you deliver the customer service experience to justify that rate. So that really was a foundation the customer service much more than the technology.
Speaker 1:And then, after that, I came back and I said you know what I do think I didn't want to just come back and start working for my dad. But let me see what this technology thing's all about. So I interviewed with Cisco and was able to get into. Well, actually, I did not get into their sales training program the first year and it sort of frustrated me. I went to a good school Wake Forest and good grades and everything else. I don't know if they didn't trust me after being a ski bomb, but I went and worked my tail off in marketing at Cisco for a year and then reapplied and got in and that's sort of how I got into technology. That's great.
Speaker 3:So your father, as you mentioned, your father has this business that you grew up. While he was running this business, how early on did he start having a conversation with you? Were you in high school where he said, hey, I'd love for you, you're more than welcome to join the business? Or did he know early on that you were going to go to college and sort of figure it out for yourself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, great question, and I think a little bit of both. I mean, my dad and I have an incredible relationship and actually weren't even in high school. Some I would do some shipping and receiving. At that point it wasn't a managed service provider but we did a lot of contracts with the state, for print would sort of turn into managed print before it was even managed print. But so I would do deliveries, I would do shipping and receiving and I even was painting the parking lot one summer, I think, the lines in the parking lot. So I was around the business.
Speaker 1:But then when it came time to go to college, he never put any pressure on me at all and then even getting out it was he really didn't want me to like I said I was a contrarian, I he really didn't want me to like I said I was a contrarian, I didn't want to go right back into it. And he really did push me hey, go back, go out, do your own thing for a little bit. I want you to come back because you really want to, not just because it's an easy thing to do, and I think that was really my mindset as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's great. It was interesting. I had a very similar upbringing. My father didn't own a business, but he was always pushing me like, hey, you go into this business or you should go to school for this or whatever. And I felt like getting that degree was really, really important because that was where you figure out a good portion of your life. I mean, not everybody uses their college degree, but you learn a lot of great skills when you're in college right Survival skills, if you will. And so you graduate from this fantastic university in Wake Forest and you have an opportunity again to go work for your father or work somewhere else and you decide to pick up and do something else. So what were you looking for?
Speaker 3:Think about back when you were graduating college. The easy decision for a lot of people would have been all right, I got this great job, my dad's got a successful company, Go work for him, Even with him saying, no, go figure out your job. This is my dad's got a successful company and go work for him, Even with him saying, no, go figure out your thing. What was, what did you need? What were you sort of looking for coming out of college? That that maybe you eventually found out in the ski slopes or wherever it was.
Speaker 1:You know, and I think there there are a few different angles there and I think one thing for me, um, and looking back, I don't know if this is the best answer, but I didn't want to be that kid that just goes back and starts working for his family business because of the easy thing I wanted to go back, I wanted to prove myself, prove that I could do it on my own and not just sort of be the easy, take the easy path.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that says something about you, stephen. I remember you telling this story at one of our business transformation programs and it was so impactful that I've always wanted to stay in touch with you because I feel like you've got this complexity to you. That is like, look, I'm confident in myself, but I don't want it to be like it was given to me. I want it to be earned, and so I always love that, and everything that I've seen you do in your career has definitely been earned. So I love that. Congrats on that, well done. So 2006, I think, was the timeframe. You're sort of out of college, you've done a couple of things, and you go and you become, you join Cisco. Right, you become an account manager at Cisco, and they didn't just throw you into the field, or I mean they put you through a very extensive training program. You just talked about that. You had to apply to get into the training program and so talk a little bit about that you joined Cisco and what was that like, working at this enterprise?
Speaker 1:Of course, man, I learned so much at Cisco and I have nothing but incredible things to say about Cisco. I mean, I think John Chambers was one of my first heroes of business and I still yeah, he's an incredible leader and visionary and so, yeah, I love Cisco. For me, I think it was really unique. So Cisco sales training program and I can't remember the exact numbers, but they brought in about 60 or 80 people and their whole for the sales side. They did not want anybody who had been in technology nor in sales and, looking back, I think it was partly because probably they wanted to be able to I hate to use the word brainwash, but they wanted to be able to teach us their way and they didn't want anybody coming in with any preconceived notions on what to know or expect or how to approach sales. So it was, you applied and it was a bunch of you had to be a year or two out of college and I think that's actually why I didn't get in the first round is cause I had taken that ski bum route and I think they're like well, where are his priorities? But then I again I said, well, hey, what else can I do? And I got into marketing, actually drove a van around for a year going to different expos and all that just was full of Cisco gear and I would demo. At that point it was phone systems that were going all in on phones and I was demoing call manager in the back of a van. And so I did that a year for, I think, to really show my commitment to them and unfortunately, with some of the relationships I was able to get into the program the next year.
Speaker 1:But I think one of the great things for me is A. I think that it was some humble pie for me and I learned the technology well, but also, I think, just having a couple more years of maturity under me when I went into that program and I just have some amazing friends that I still keep up with and so many people have done so many things. But I was just about three years older. But when you're 21, three years is sort of a big difference. And plus I lived here.
Speaker 1:A lot of the kids who came in all lived in apartments right by Cisco and it was sort of a party, candidly. But at this point I was, I was living with some high school buddies closer to home, but we are a little bit older. So I went in with the mindset of man, I want to learn everything, I want to be the absolute best that I can be and because of that they, they do metrics and all, and I don't mean it's an arrogant way, but I finished, I think, in almost everything near the top of the class and really I think I positioned myself for success from there. And so you come in for about a year and more or less you're getting paid to get a PhD in selling and a PhD in Cisco and, uh, it was just an incredible experience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was just going to say skating by is not, you know, one of your uh characteristics, right? So you finished at the top of the training program. What did that mean to you? To be sort of number one in that class?
Speaker 1:you know I, I don't know I again, I'm not. Uh, I'm extremely competitive, uh, inwardly, but I'm not an outwardly uh. You know I again, for me it was more the pride of the stepping stone to be able to then go out in the field and have great success in the field as well, more than being able to pat myself on the back or anything like that, gotcha.
Speaker 3:So I heard that you did very well at Cisco, slaying it, if you will, on the sales side. What were some of those characteristics or those habits that maybe you learned over the years of working in the field at Cisco that you were able to carry with you and to your company now?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean so many things, I think. I mean Cisco is just led by John Chambers, an enterprise sales engine, and I mean right from day one you go out there and my first boss, who was a true mentor to me when I went out into the field, you know, sort of said, in lack of better terms, hey, I see, quote, unquote, hot shots, like you all the time. But hey, now in sales, your numbers, your number you got to produce and I think just the expectation that comes with every single week, giving that commit, hey, what are you committing this week? Knowing your business, standing up in front of your peer groups, being stacked, ranked, etc. Etc. Was instilled with me from the start and I just thought that was some really good skills that I still take with me today of just how sales is run in a Bitcoin organization.
Speaker 3:That's great, very good. So what was it like to work for an international enterprise? I mean, it's a lot different right than where you're at today, but what did it feel like to be, you know, just sort of spread across the world? I mean, do you ever feel disconnected with people that you work with, or what's the experience like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know as big as it is. Also it's as small as you make it as well no-transcript. So again, I think even in that you can make it a smaller experience. I think one of the things that I don't think I appreciated enough, just strictly from a sales standpoint it's honestly, it's easy, because just the name Cisco, they could care less who I am, but I could call any of my clients, even if they had never bought Cisco, and say, hey, I'm your new Cisco rep and I could get a meeting. I could get a meeting with the CIO, with anybody, just because I was their Cisco rep and they wanted to know what was going on.
Speaker 1:So I think getting your foot in the door was easier maybe than an MSP, just because you have the name recognition at Cisco Coming to then an MSP side, you don't have that same name recognition. So I think that was one thing that I maybe took a little bit for granted initially. But I think the resources that you have because of that again just an incredible learning experience, what I was sitting at night, just not anything that I did, but just because of my name, my company and I could call in international resources or take clients out to San Jose to the executive briefing center or just have all of these subject matter experts at my fingertips and really, in a lot of ways, at that point I'm just the quarterback. I'm just trying to get the right resource to talk to the right person with the client to really just move things to the next step of the sales process where you just sort of quarterback it through but you have an unlimited amount of resources, which is just very helpful.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. So you spent, I think, almost six years, or about six years, at Cisco. What made you realize that it might be time to go and work at CSP with your dad?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think there were a couple of things going on simultaneously. One, I just I'm a sponge and I just I love to learn and always yearning to learn more. And at Cisco I'd had incredible managers, as I mentioned, and they were both mentors. And one thing that I really loved is that they both approached sales totally different. My first manager was a gentleman, david Midkiff, and he was just a relational salesperson. He could connect with anybody, build an amazing relationship, and that was sort of his sales approach. My next manager, matt, was much more sort of data numbers driven deep in the numbers, and they both worked and they both worked extremely well and it's like, okay, well, hey, what are some nuggets I can take from David's approach? What are some nuggets I can take from Matt's approach? And then I got to the point too, and I was getting my thirties I'd always sort of had a yearning um to go back to school.
Speaker 1:I intentionally was in college. I was, like I said, a liberal arts major and one of the reasons I didn't do business undergrad cause I think I always knew deep down I wanted to go back and get my MBA and I said you know what? I don't want to just get a undergrad business to then go back and get graduate business? No, and I love the liberal arts. I think liberal arts teaches you and I know liberal arts are under assault right now but one of the biggest values it teaches you how to think. It teaches you how to communicate, how to comprehend things, and so I went and trade that for the world, but I still then wanted to have some of that true business tactical understanding. So again, I was probably six years in and I had uh, again fortunately seen some great success. I felt like I had learned a ton and just saying, all right, hey, what is next? And if I'm going to do something, obviously my dad's getting older, maybe now is the time. And so I applied to some executive MBA programs, was lucky enough to get into Duke and I was still living in Atlanta and it was a weekend program where every other weekend would come back and do a long weekend in Durham, and so it was traveling back and forth and sort of similar to Cisco.
Speaker 1:At this point I was just such a dork. I wish I would have been like this in undergrad, but I just wanted to learn as much as I could and so get all in and then, as this is happening, I said you know what if I'm going back to CSP? I said you know what if I'm going back to CSP, sort of where I started a few minutes ago I'm going back because I've proven success at Cisco. I'm going back because I have an MBA from Duke. If my last name wasn't Riddick, just because I was the boss of something, I could still go and be hired here because of my accomplishments, not just because of my last name, and that was really important for me. That's good.
Speaker 3:So you interviewed for the position at CSP. Was that your decision or was that your dad's decision?
Speaker 1:You know, I think it was both, both of us and I think cause he was, he was the same as me, nothing was ever forced, but you know, I think we were always in alignment. That hey, he didn't want. I think he also saw value in, uh, csp, of me going to his place like Cisco, learning and being able to bring new ideas and not just sort of coming in and sort of doing things the CSP way, but rather be able to have that expertise. So you know, it wasn't a formalized interview but it was more of a hey, what have you learned? What do you think, how do you think you could impact us? What are some value you could bring?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you took over. I think you became VP of sales and marketing there. Can you talk a little bit about sort of where CSP was when you joined and maybe what you saw as an opportunity to improve with the sales and marketing the go-to-market size of that house?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so actually I came in first, I did it and I can't remember the exact dates but a couple of years just as an account manager, as a salesperson and you know, like a lot of MSPs, you know I think we've transitioned. Heck. We started when we started and we started in 1995. So sort of CSP1 data was more of the hardware, the mainframe, you know. Again we were doing a lot of printer maintenance, hardware maintenance, that kind of stuff. And then we pivoted more into that VAR mindset. So again at one point we were doing a ton of Cisco. I think we were even a Cisco small business part of the year in the southeast one year. And then that pivot again to managed services.
Speaker 1:And I think when I joined, to be completely blunt, I think we were trying to sort of do both and I think we were a little stuck in the middle and we were doing both okay, but we hadn't really. Again we were going Manning Services but we still had this sort of legacy VAR and it's how do you play it together? And so honestly, when I became then sales manager, I mean I kept seeing the MRR and what we got to go more MRR, got to go in, more MRR. But also we had this legacy we were trying to protect and we had some salaries.
Speaker 1:That man we had to have the project business and I'll admit it got tight there for a few years, just because I mean, by definition the MRR is builds upon itself, but used to. When let's just say we were selling, let's just say, a classic Cisco phone system, let's say it was a decent size deal, maybe that's a hundred thousand dollar deal that we'd be getting right there from the start, whereas we sell a hosted solution and you know, maybe you're getting 3k, 4k a month and if you figure over a five year period you're going to end up making more. But also in the real time and short term, man, that's a big hit. When you're taking a hundred K thousand dollar deal verse, you know, uh, just some labor and a four K dollar thousand dollar deal. So there were some as we pivoted, it got tight and I kept just sort of having to tell her hey, trust, hey, as we're building up this MRR just trust us, we can see sort of that roadmap, that path out.
Speaker 3:But yeah, it was tight there for a bit. So but you ran sales for a number of years and there were some things that you learned and things that you sort of massaged or changed or redirected. But what were some of your takeaways, stephen, over those? Your time in sales that really stuck with you. Your time in sales that really stuck with you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think for me, my, I have a couple mantras for sales, but I think the biggest one and honestly I think it goes back to Cisco is that sales is just such a numbers game and I'm just such a believer in the funnel that you got to just throw as much as you possibly can into the funnel. And if you just do, let's just do easy math here. But you know a salesperson, you're going to have small close rates and the best salesperson versus the worst salesperson is by accident. You're gonna be closing deals. So let's say that you've thrown a million dollars just for round numbers into that pipe and let's say you have a salesperson that is maybe closing 10% of that. So let's just say 100k.
Speaker 1:Wait, hold on. Sorry, I'm not giving that analogy. Well, let's say so. Yeah, let's say, but then all right. Then let's say that you have somebody. Let's say they're an awesome salesperson. So let's say they have million in the pipe. Let's say they're even at a 20% close rate, which for new business would be huge. So 200k First.
Speaker 1:Let's say, on the other hand, that you have somebody that maybe isn't even as good a salesperson, but they're just out there hunting, they're going so hard and they've thrown $10 million in the pipe, but they're a 10% close rate. That number is going to be bigger at the end of the day. So it's really just how much can you throw in at the top and then just from there look at the numbers. All right, so if we're throwing a lot of top, well, are we getting a lot of proposals out the door? Well, if you're throwing a ton in the top but you're not getting a lot of proposals out the door, then hey, let's work on how we're qualifying, let's work on the questions we're asking, let's work on trying to identify, asking the right questions, and then, if you're getting the pipe, the initial pipeline you're really just becomes a numbers game at that point.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you already talked about a couple of these things, but you've worked in sales in both an MSP and a non-MSP. What's something you think MSPs might be doing incorrectly when it comes to sales? And you talked about a couple of the ways the activity and what their pipe looks like. But you know, maybe just from a general sales perspective, what do you think some MSPs might not be considering that you may have seen at the corporate side or your MSP today.
Speaker 1:I think there are a couple things. One is I really tried to, as a sales leader, tried to lean into what made that salesperson successful and not just be so prescriptive of, hey, this is the way, and obviously we have a framework and a sales process. So I'm going to actually take two different places. One, that sales process. I think that is the biggest thing. I think understanding your process and realizing that, hey, when you're making that first call, you're not trying to close a deal.
Speaker 1:I've seen so many salespeople think that, oh, I'm a salesperson, so they pick up a phone and they're trying to like close on the first call. It's like no, just follow your process, that first call, all you're trying to do is get a meeting. You honestly don't want to spend too much time on the phone with them, because if you're spending too much time on the phone with them, that's going to give them an opportunity for a no, don't try to sell anything. Just listen, just ask a ton of questions, try to identify needs and just keep moving in along until ultimately at the end.
Speaker 1:If you have followed that process and you've identified budget, you know who's signing, you know who the key players are, you know the timeline, you know what the blockers are. If you check all the boxes, by the time you get to that signature it's like okay. Well, mr Client, you know I learned all this. We've checked every single box. Here you go. Getting the signatures is an easy part at that point and I think a lot of salespeople struggle and again, they're just trying to sell too early, whereas no, just follow the process.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's good, Steven. So I laugh because this is not you, but I call this next section. I'm kind of a big deal and this is all about you sort of taking over. So at some point in time, either over family meals or during some meetings, some company sessions, your dad had sort of said, like I want to step back, I want to move you into. You know, take over as president. Were you ready for that challenge? Is that something that you had sort of seen over the years and he started to groom you, or was that a little bit of a surprise?
Speaker 1:No, I think I was definitely ready for it and even to me I was ready for it personally as well, just because I love to lead and I don't want anybody to take this the wrong way. I mean I love technology, I love managing services, but for me, I love to build things, I love to lead people. I mean it goes back to, you know, high school. I was president. I was super involved in student government, I was president of clubs and president of school. I mean, in college I was president of my fraternity. So I think I just always I love leading people and I love trying to help people, I love being a servant leader.
Speaker 1:So from that side of it, I think it just sort of fell in. And then again, with the background, some of the things I've done. I think that step was just very easy and natural for me. Then, on the family business side, yes, I think as well. I think just we got to a point where my dad was saying man, I want to slowly start phasing back and we have a great learning system. He's still involved and I love that and I want him to be, but at least on the day to day he is taking a little bit of a step back.
Speaker 3:He's a great guy, I've gotten to know him. He loves his barbecue, definitely critiques the barbecue when you bring it in. So when you took over as president, obviously you had been involved in the business for a number of years already and you had made some changes. But being in that role as sort of I'm in charge now or it's my call, was there anything that you were looking to do, either right away or over that first, you know, six to eight months?
Speaker 1:So any sort of big changes, or at least you know changes, just to just to rearrange things or anything like that, anything you could think of, yeah, you know, I'd spent a lot of time thinking about that because I really I love business and again it's sort of a puzzle to me and how can we sort of unleash the power of this? But also I'm a realist and I think that you know so much of leadership. I sort of went on a listening tour. Honestly, and obviously I've been around for a while, I knew everybody, but just tried to go you know, now in a different role, you know, get a pulse of what's going on. You know now in a different role, you know, get a pulse of what's going on.
Speaker 1:And I think the biggest thing and not that this wasn't happening, but really just empowering people and listening and trusting them to go execute and trying to really just set some big picture, top level goals hey, here's what we want to accomplish. I think, like a lot of companies, we could and we still can, get in a tendency of trying to knock out 10 different things and maybe doing all of them OK, as opposed to that saying, hey, what are a few big rocks? And let's go execute on those biggest rocks, let's knock them out and then let's go on to a few more big rocks, yeah very good, good EOS reference there for those view you MSPs listening that haven't done any research on that.
Speaker 3:So obviously lots of different responsibilities as president, way more than when you were leading the sales team, and I assume you still have your eye on the sales side of the business. I know you were on a call before this meeting, so you're as you rightfully should. You are, you are, they are buying you now. Right, You're the face of the company. Your dad was for years and the Riddick name. You're that face. So you're still very much involved. But let me ask you, of all the responsibilities and the roles, what's the thing that gets you the most excited? What do you wake up every day going? I can't wait to do this or be part of this.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I I'm such a vision strategy guy. I love thinking where, where are we trying to get to? And, um, you know, two, three, five years down the road, where do I think we need to go? And again, I'm also competitive and I love winning, so I love to be able to see, um us taking steps to get there. So I think that that's definitely what excites me the most. And then also, though I am a culture, I'm a relationship guy.
Speaker 1:I love just making those connections with our employees. I mean, I'm such a big believer in our vision is to leave a positive, lasting impact on our people, our clients and our community. And to me, in my mind, it's got, it has it's. It's very deliberate that our people are first and we just got to leave an impact on them. And I'm a realist. I'm not from an age where I expect people to work with us for 50 years and get a Rolex at the end and ride off into the sunset after a big, you know, retirement party, but saying, hey, how can we grow and build up the individuals in our team? And if it works for them to be at CSP for a while, great. But hey, if I grow somebody to the point, and maybe they've outgrown us and they go on and have an awesome career somewhere else, then I've done my job as well. So I just I love that, those relationships and trying to groom success for everyone.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. I bet you're a really fun guy to work for too. You seem like you bring a lot of energy and positivity to the job on a daily basis, so so keep up that that mantra there, that good work you've got. So you decided, like many MSPs, to join a peer group with MSPs that were sort of similar maturity. Why was that so important for CSP at the time you did, and what's that sort of meant for you over the over the couple of years?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been an incredible opportunity for me and I mean, we'd been a part of some my dad had been a part of some and got me engaged in the past.
Speaker 1:But again, I was more on the periphery of those and then I think when COVID hit, obviously everything sort of blew up and everybody sort of battened down the hatches and it's sort of all right, let's get through this and that then sort of timed with then coming out of that. Then when I became president and said, all right, hey, I think this is something I really want to re-engage in and the value to me has just been instrumental. I age in and the value to me has just been instrumental. I think I like a reference. I'm a sponge, I love to learn and I hope I have a few good ideas to share with the peer group. But just the trust, camaraderie, the accountability that it brings and seeing what some just incredible MSPs are doing and hopefully just take no offense but yes, you know, borrow a great idea or two while hopefully I can do the same with them is been just enormous for us.
Speaker 3:The thing that I loved about you joining the uh, the in-person peer group that we have here and enable, was, um, you were you weren't the original founding member of that group. You had to be let in, and so one of the things you had to do was sort of interview or try out, and you had prepared so well for that that I think you know I sat with the group afterwards and they're like yeah, that's a, this is a no brainer. You had done such a good job and and sort of conveyed what you were trying to get out of it and I thought it was a rubber stamp approval, but I still wanted to prepare, and for me it was a great exercise though, because, again, it forced me I think all of us as business leaders.
Speaker 1:It's so easy to get stuck in the business and that day to day just responsive in the business, and I think that really forced me to come out of the business and really think through. I wanted to be able to share with them. Hey, here's my vision. Also, it forced me to be focused on the business a little bit, and it turned out that, again, I guess it wasn't a rubber stamp, but I'm glad I spent the time on it Well, done.
Speaker 3:It stuck with me. That's how well it was done, so great job. So I've gotten to know you over the last few years through the relationship really that you've had with Enable and really the partnership that you have with Enable, and so let me just ask you talk about how important, or why partnerships are so important to CSP.
Speaker 1:Definitely so. We now go by CSP, but our name is Computer Service Partners was our original and we ultimately went CSP. It sounded a little antiquated like break fix but partners and we ultimately went CSP. It sounded a little antiquated like break fix but partners, and so much. Again, going back to our vision and our mission, it's developing partnerships.
Speaker 1:One of our core principles is personalize it. You know we're in an industry that so much of what we can do can be done remotely, can be done via an automation. But I'm still we're in North Carolina, I'm still a big believer that people buy from people, that people work with people and it's all about cultivating those relationships. Honestly and I'm not saying this just because you invited me in today but when I look at where Enable's come here in the past few years, I feel like there's much more of that the relationship and the partnership that we have. We feel like it is a true partnership as opposed to, candidly, some of the other vendors right now Maybe we don't feel like that as much. We feel like we're maybe just a number or just sort of a mechanism to go sell. But yeah, very high on Enable for that partnership.
Speaker 3:Appreciate that and it goes both ways Like it's incredibly valuable to get your feedback on what we're doing, both through the product as well as through some of the programs that we're running. So it's been great to have folks like you, partners like you, really share. So it's awesome. All right, so last couple questions here. Talk a little bit about the sort of where CSP is today and maybe the outlook for the future. Do you have any sort of goals or rocks that you have identified that you're hoping to take care of over the next couple of years?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean, where we are now is, man, I'm just so proud of our team. We've, I think, and nothing that I've done, but since I became president, I think we're up, you know, 30, 35% or so top line. So I mean there's been some great growth that we're very proud of. I mean, our big theme, though, this year, is the foundation, cause I mean I really want to keep growing.
Speaker 1:I want to keep growing a lot and, um, another expression I love is what got you here, can't get you there, and I think you know we've unlocked a few things to get us here, but now to get us there, I think we need to unlock more and really we got to build more of a foundation for scalability. I think everyone on our team cares so much, and I think we've been able to let hard work get us here. We will outwork anybody and we'll build those great relationships, but I think to truly scale it, there's a lot more we need to do from an operational efficiency standpoint. Another reason I've loved the peer group is because they've given me so many ideas and I see how great some of these MSPs are when it comes to their operational efficiency. So, uh, and also sales too, I mean, I think with our sales, uh, really across the board. Long story short, we just need to continue to build a scalable foundation that can really just push us to even greater heights.
Speaker 3:That's great. I'm confident you guys are going to do that and I wish you the best of luck there. So, uh, what advice would you give to younger Steven? Maybe ski bum Steven, or or even before that, now that you uh have gotten to where you are today?
Speaker 1:man, I really think, um, you know, I try not to look back a ton, I try not to live with any regret. All right, here's the oh. I'm going to go very small and tactical here. I have a cousin who I'm super close with and he lived. He was working with Caterpillar at a school and he was living in Beijing and me and his brother and another one of our cousins we're going to try to take like a two-week trip, uh, one summer, to go visit him and do all of southeast asia. He was living in beijing so we had a tour. He got built in, for whatever reason. I was 25, I was at cisco making good money. I could afford it. I think it was honestly like summer. So cisco's q4 and I'm just like guys, sorry, I can't pull this off and that is a huge. That's probably the only regret I have. It's, like you know, looking back, why in the world didn't I just get in and go travel.
Speaker 1:Exactly, take that trip, sorry that's not what you're looking for, but that is one that I'll go with.
Speaker 3:I think that's good advice, because I think a lot of business owners, or even you know folks that are trying to move up in the world they say no to a lot of stuff that are missed experiences world. They say no to a lot of stuff that are missed experiences, and so I think that was one of the best pieces of advice that I ever got early on is work hard but play hard, Enjoy your life, Enjoy the time, because life is short and you know you never know that you may not get to take that trip again. So I think that's good advice for sure, Stephen, All right, so we like to ask this question to every single one of our guests, and uh, and I didn't tell you that I was going to ask this question, so, so I'm hoping that this doesn't stump you, but this is what? Uh, the name of the podcast is the now that's it. Podcast. So I like to ask everybody when did you know? Now that's it? When did you know? Now that's it?
Speaker 1:Man, I'm going to take a different direction there too. I really I mean, I think, my family, having kids, getting married and having kids, to me that is. I love what we're doing at CSP and I'm so proud of what we're doing at CSP, but I truly do. I work to live and not live to work, and you know, for me that's it. When it comes to the family and those experiences that you referenced having fun with them, raising that family just incredible.
Speaker 3:That's important, and maybe the type of father you are, the type of leader that you are, maybe you inspire them to work for you someday and take over the business right. So this could be the beginning of the next phase of CSP. So that's great, stephen, thank you so very much for being here today. This is always a pleasure talking to you. I love hearing your stories. I wish you and the rest of the team your dad. I wish you guys the best of luck.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you, chris, and thank you for the invitation and great to spend some time with you Sounds and. Thank you for the invitation and a great to spend some time with you, sounds good.