ABOUT THIS EPISODE
A $13M MSP turned into a $60M platform in four years.
That kind of growth does not happen because the founder works harder. It happens because the business becomes more valuable, less owner-dependent, and built for scale.
Brian Hoppe sits down with Kevin Cook, Chief Strategy Officer at Ntiva and former CEO of The Purple Guys, to unpack what it really takes to move from founder-led MSP to private-equity-backed platform.
This conversation gets into enterprise value, acquisitions, leadership development, AI, and the hard decisions owners face when they want the business to outgrow them.
In this episode:
- Why owner dependence is one of the biggest value killers in an MSP
- How Kevin went from a $13M MSP to a $60M platform through PE and acquisitions
- What acquirers actually look for beyond EBITDA
- Why culture fit can make or break an acquisition
- How AI is changing the timing and strategy behind MSP exits
If you’re thinking about how to build a business that can scale, sell, or survive beyond you, this is the conversation.
If you want to go deeper on the levers behind growth and valuation, you can get the Value Creation Blueprint here:
https://brianhoppe.com/blueprint/
Key Moments
0:00 - Welcome to The $10 Million MSP Podcast
1:07 - Kevin Cook joins the show
5:29 - Taking on private equity and becoming The Purple Guys
13:36 - What creates enterprise value in an MSP
24:23 - How AI is changing the MSP landscape
32:22 - What changes after outside investment
37:20 - Why leadership development becomes critical
51:15 - Kevin’s biggest leadership mistake
Connect
Brian Hoppe:
Kevin Cook:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-cook-ntiva/
https://www.ntiva.com/
