I had a great conversation with Mike Glasman, president of Vitalpoints IT Services in Los Angeles, because he came into the MSP world from a path many of us did not take. Mike spent years in channel and enterprise technology sales, working around major vendors and large solution providers before he became an MSP owner. That background taught him how to get in front of customers, ask better questions, evaluate vendors, and build credibility around difficult technical problems, even though he does not position himself as the person who has to fix every ticket. What really stood out to me was Mike’s insistence that the owner cannot be the single point of failure. He outsourced help desk work from the beginning, built a bench of people he could call on for specialized projects, and trained clients to use the support process instead of calling him directly. We also get into the realities of growing on the side, the high cost of client acquisition, one-year agreements, avoiding unnecessary tool commitments, and why your standard stack still needs room for exceptions when a client has an unusual backup, Wi-Fi, Mac, or large-data problem === Chapters 00:33 Meet Mike Glasman of Vitalpoints IT Services 01:44 From Technology Sales to MSP Ownership 03:06 Why Mike Skipped the MSP Franchise Model 05:56 Growing an MSP While Keeping a Day Job 09:26 Vitalpoints Services and Enterprise Sales Experience 11:16 Wi-Fi Expertise and Solving Difficult Client Environments 15:55 Vendor Management and Avoiding Trade Show Follow-Up 19:00 24/7 Support, Outsourcing, and MSP Contracts 23:02 Going Full Time and the Cost of Client Acquisition 30:22 Backup Strategy for Large Data Environments 36:06 Building an MSP That Does Not Depend on You 40:49 Why the Owner Cannot Be the Single Point of Failure === Guests: Mike Glasman Website: https://www.vitalpoints.net/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelglasman === Resources / Companies / Products / Books / Podcasts Datto ALTO: https://www.datto.com/products/alto/ Druva: https://www.druva.com/ Veeam Backup & Replication: https://www.veeam.com/products/veeam-data-platform/backup-recovery.html Dell PowerProtect Data Domain: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/storage-servers-and-networking-for-business/sf/powerprotect-data-domain Pax8: https://www.pax8.com/ RUCKUS Networks: https://www.ruckusnetworks.com/ Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/ Aruba Networking Website: https://www.arubanetworks.com/ APC by Schneider Electric: https://www.apc.com/ Autotask: https://www.kaseya.com/products/autotask-psa/ Kaseya: https://www.kaseya.com/ CDW: https://www.cdw.com/ SHI International: https://www.shi.com/ Insight: https://www.insight.com/ === SPONSORS: Technology Partner, NetAlly: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/netally/ Technology Partner: Bvoip: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/bvoip Travel Partner: TruGrid: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/trugrid Digital Partner, Designer Ready: http://itbusinesspodcast.com/designerready === SHOW MUSIC: Item Title: Upbeat & Fun Sports Rock Logo Item URL: https://elements.envato.com/upbeat-fun-sports-rock-logo-CSR3UET Author Username: AlexanderRufire Item License Code: 7X9F52DNML === Connect with Uncle Marv🌐 Website: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/🎙 Host: Marvin Bee🛒 Uncle Marv’s Amazon Store (gear & tools I recommend): https://amzn.to/3EiyKoZ☕ Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/itbusinesspodcastIf you found value in this episode, share it with another MSP, IT provider, or tech entrepreneur. Your support helps keep practical, no-nonsense IT business conversations coming every week.

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