Brian HoppeBoard-Level Advisor to MSP CEOs, Brian Hoppe Coaching · Board-Level Advisor to MSP CEOs at Brian Hoppe Coaching

Why PE-Backed MSPs Can’t “Wing It”

2 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:22

In this brief dialogue, Speaker A emphasizes that MSPs backed by private‑equity or other investment groups must adopt a disciplined, data‑driven approach to capital allocation. Rather than experimenting without clear metrics, they must specify the amount to invest (e.g., $100k) and forecast concrete outcomes such as gross profit (e.g., $200k), demonstrating to investors and board members that the plan has been thoughtfully modeled. Speaker B expands on this by noting that the key differentiator between top‑performing MSPs and lower‑quartile firms is the ability to create a detailed plan and execute it, supported by strong leadership and management. He points out that a large majority of MSPs (up to three‑quarters) lack this disciplined business‑management approach, and that adopting it brings added pressure from investors and boards to meet the stated targets. Together, the speakers argue that PE‑backed MSPs cannot “wing it”; they must operate with rigorous financial forecasting, clear execution discipline, and capable leadership to satisfy stakeholder expectations.

Chapters

Now, with an investment group, you have to be a little bit more thorough than that, I would say. You know, you can't just say, I'm going to try this and we're going to see what happens, right? You got to say, I'm going to invest $100 grand because I believe these specific outcomes are going to come from it. You know, we're going to generate $200 grand in gross profit as a result. And if we're right, this will be a good investment and it'll be worth it, right? Yeah. And there's just an element of showing your, you know, your investors, your board, whoever it is, that you've kind of thought that through in a way that I think most founders don't have to. I'm not saying some of them don't, that, you know, by their nature, maybe they want to as well, but they don't have to in the same way. Yeah, yeah, 100%.
And you've probably heard it said, like, the difference between a best-in-class MSP and, you know, average or bottom quartile is the ability to create the plan and execute to that plan. And, you know, combined with the skill of the leadership team or the management team. And so it does follow that like, actually, yes, a lot and probably up to 3 quarters of MSPs don't actually manage the business that way. And so it's probably a good discipline to have in place, um, where, where you're sitting, but also it probably comes with a good bit of pressure, um, as associated with that as well. Right.