Setting Expectations With Your MSP Clients & Team

How to MSP

Chapters
0:00
Simplicity and the Renada mission.
1:49
– Meeting in "The Dungeon": Connor’s remote office.
3:18
– From Curries to CTO: Connor’s journey.
6:33
– Partnering with companies, not products.
9:21
– Why Halo isn't for everyone.
18:28
– Trust is earned through budget and transparency.
22:41
– Navigating the Ambiguity Trap.
27:16
– When process kills ownership and creativity.
32:30
– The Escape Room exercise: Seniors vs. Apprentices.
43:46
– Why AI is often just a "party trick".
53:19
– Teaching your team what "good" looks like.
56:56
– The power of letting go and saying "no".
1:02:28
– The "Keep It Simple Stupid" philosophy.
1:10:21
– Navigating ADHD and learning via YouTube.
1:12:49
– Worst sales calls and the "Bellend" explanation.
1:22:11
– Recommendations: Why you don't know what you don't know.
How to MSP
Setting Expectations With Your MSP Clients & Team
Apr 10, 2026 Season 1 Episode 7
Andrew Moore

Can Your MSP Scale Beyond You? Avoiding the Process Trap

Most MSP owners get stuck at the same ceiling: they are the smartest person in the room, and their "processes" only exist in their heads. When they finally try to document everything, they often create a bureaucratic monster that kills creativity and slows down service delivery.

In this episode of How to MSP, Andrew Moore and Connor Fagan (Renada) break down the high-level operational strategy required to move from a "hero-based" business to a repeatable machine. We discuss the "Ambiguity Trap," the dangers of over-engineering tools like Halo PSA, and why your senior engineers might actually be the biggest bottleneck in your helpdesk. 

Blurb:  

"Everything I do is: how simple can we make it? I'm obsessed with simplicity in everything I do in my entire life. Because as soon as it's really simple and repeatable, it gets done way more accurately." — Connor Fagan

What You’ll Get Out of This Episode:

  • The Ambiguity Trap: Why technical failures are usually management failures in disguise—learn how to look inward to find the root cause.
  • Process vs. Outcomes: How to give your team "Commander's Intent" so they can solve problems autonomously instead of just clicking buttons in a workflow.
  • The 60% Rule for Growth: Why accepting "good enough" from an autonomous employee is the only way to eventually get 100% results without you doing the work.
  • Solving the Sales-to-Ops Handover: A simple framework to move the "laptop quote bottleneck" away from your high-cost technicians.
  • AI Reality Check: Why AI is currently better at "party tricks" than actual MSP logic, and why you should probably use a script instead.

Ling to Show Notes

About How to MSP

How to MSP is the weekly podcast for Managed Service Provider owners and operators who want to grow, scale, and exit on their terms. Host Andrew Moore — Founder of Ridgeview Advisors — interviews MSP operators, advisors, and investors on the topics that actually move the business: EOS implementation, valuation and exit strategy, sales and marketing, service delivery, M&A, financial benchmarks, and operational excellence.

Watch full episodes on the How to MSP YouTube channel.

How to MSP is produced by Ridgeview Advisors and hosted by Andrew Moore.