On the other side of what? Selling our MSP back in 2021! I can’t believe it has been 5 years since we chose Evergreen as the permanent home for Nucleus Networks, as they say, time flies when you’re having fun. I’ve been reflecting this week on 5 years post-sale, the journey before that, and looking into the adventure that’s ahead.

Everything starts with a conversation

We weren’t looking to sell, in fact, since I joined Nucleus in 2013, we experienced year over year growth and showed no signs of slowing down. The only moment that caused us to pause and think whether “is now the right time” was on the tail end of the pandemic. While the business significantly expanded due to remote work, cloud migrations, and VOIP projects, it was a grind to make it to the other side. When Ramsey Sahyoun reached out, I figured, what’s the harm in having a conversation. That initial conversation led to many zoom meetings, text messages, and phone calls. Six months later the deal closed in July of 2021, and I haven’t looked back since (other than to reflect in this blog post).

Why Evergreen Services Group

There’s a long list but for us certain things were very important. The most compelling being “decentralization”. What did this mean for us? It meant we could keep our brand, our culture, our teams, and still be employed to grow the business we loved. We didn’t have to merge or integrate, and we weren’t asked to reduce headcount due to “overlap”. Truthfully, we didn’t even know this was an option. We had other buyers try and acquire Nucleus over the years, some at inflated values, but the discussion was always about merging and integrating, which ultimately meant we’d lose our identity and our culture.

At the time, Evergreen‘s core values got us excited and having lived both as an operator for 2 years post-sale, and now 3 years at Lyra Technology Group, these are all very real. I’ve never been a part of an organization that values and empowers talent as much as Evergreen and Lyra; the support network, collaboration, and thought partnership across 125+ MSPs is something special. Rolling Snowballs is a real thing, when we sold our business, we were considered a “best in class” MSP yet the business has thrived and accelerated growth (like a rolling snowball) over the last 5 years. I’ve never heard the terms ruthless prioritization and P&L intensity before joining the ecosystem but now, they’re a core part of my personal playbook.

Why decentralization was important to us

First off, I can’t tell you how many horror stories I’ve seen with mergers or rollups, just ask around the industry how these have gone and I’m sure you’ll learn why decentralization is the way. I’m only speaking from personal experience and conversations I’ve had with others; I’m not saying it’s not possible for other situations to go well, I’m just saying decentralization preserves the integrity of your brand and your culture. Here are some additional reasons why decentralization was one of the main reasons we chose to partner with Evergreen:

Customer Retention

It’s less disruptive, because you’re not integrating, merging, or changing systems, your customers don’t even feel it. This is a game changer because there’s nothing worse than getting acquired only to have service delivery suffer and customer relationships erode. It also opens a sister network MSPs in markets and areas that previously couldn’t be serviced. There have been many situations where an MSP was able to retain or expand a customer relationship simply due to the Lyra network of expertise and reach.

Entrepreneurialism

Every business still has a CEO in the driver’s seat who owns their own P&L, and you still have the flexibility to be creative, take the bets you want to take, and manage the resources as you see fit. When we sold Nucleus, I had no plans of letting go of the CEO seat and I spent 2-years running the business like I did previously only with a supercharger attached. Of course you’re still held accountable to performance goals, but you have the entrepreneurial freedom to decide on how you want to get there, the only difference is that you now have a thought partner on demand (Lyra).

Lower Risk

We entertained one situation before we eventually sold to Evergreen that was an integration play. One of the major caveats was that it was 50% cash upon close and 50% rolled into equity within the mothership. The challenge there is that future liquidity event may or may not ever happen, so do you roll the dice with the unknown or take 100% of your chips off the table in a decentralized play where your can find a permanent home for your business and the people that power it.

Employee Retention

Like customer retention, you’re not integrating or merging teams. This was extremely important to us and truthfully was the number one question we received from staff after announcing the acquisition. “Does this mean people are losing their jobs” – people were apprehensive but the more everyone got familiarized with decentralization, the more people realized that in fact nothing major was changing and no one was getting eliminated because of it.

Brand Preservation

Evergreen acquires MSPs and holds them indefinitely. This means the business and the brand you’ve built can live on forever. Evergreen’s approach to long-term orientation was another key reason why we chose to partner with them, we were extremely passionate about the award-winning brand we built over the years and the last thing we wanted to see happen was our legacy get dissolved in a merger.

Opportunity

The network is vast and the opportunities are endless. If you are looking to move somewhere or have a desire for a different role, Lyra presents a plethora of options for people (there are many success stories). When I put up my hand looking for a change after decade building Nucleus and running the business for 2 years post-sale, I had options. At the time, assuming the role of Canadian board lead and working with other MSP CEOs was exciting. Fast forward to today and 2.5 years in the Regional CEO seat, Lyra Canada has evolved into Lyra North stewarding 11x MSPs.

What does Lyra North look like today

Lyra North is composed of eight Canadian Managed IT Services companies and three MSPs in the USA. As the Regional CEO – North, I’m the Board Lead for each Lyra North MSP. My job is to help and support MSP CEOs, and their teams build thriving Managed IT Services businesses. My role is essentially a consultant on demand, a thought partner/accountability partner available to help with all aspects of their business but primarily focused on growth. Each brand operates independently thanks to our decentralized model but can tap into the Lyra MSP network across Canada, US, UK, and ANZ if needed for specialized solution consulting, onsite support, and a variety of other needs. Lyra represents arguably the largest MSP peer network in the world fostering a culture of collaboration and MSP thought leadership.

The Canadian Ecosystem

Lyra Canada spans from Victoria, BC to Charlottetown, PEI. I wanted to highlight our Canadian presence because we are looking to expand our network. I’m biased, but if you’re an MSP owner, there are a lot of reasons listed above why you should consider Evergreen as the permanent home for your MSP. I’m excited to see Sam Kourkouliotis, a fellow Canadian, join Evergreen this month to exclusively focus on Canadian MSP M&A. We’re getting together in Vancouver the week of August 10th (co-hosting an MSP dinner meetup) and we’ll also be at The CanIT Collective in September with the legend Sarah Ahmed.

5 years on the “other side” and looking back on the experience of selling an MSP, operating it for 2 years post-sale in a decentralized model, and now as a Regional CEO on the buy side for the last 2.5 years, I’ve learned a lot. I have no regrets and honestly couldn’t be prouder of what we’re building at Lyra and Evergreen and look forward to many more exciting years to come!