When I look back on my journey as a business owner, there isn’t one defining moment. Rather, a series of decisions slowly changed my MSP leadership mindset. It transformed the way I saw myself, my business and my responsibility to both.
My ownership came through sweat equity. My brother Carlos Maldonado had established a successful book of business. Eventually, it became more than one person could manage. He asked me to become business partners and take majority ownership of the business he had built up to that point. Together, we saw an opportunity to formulate something bigger.
Key leadership lessons
Through the years, several lessons have helped us transform our small family-owned business into a scalable MSP. Here are some of the most valuable ones.
1. Mindset comes first
Ownership changes you. Suddenly, there’s no boss to blame and no roadmap to follow. Every decision carries more weight because it affects your employees, clients and the company’s future.
That reality forced me to focus on something I never expected would become one of my biggest leadership lessons: mindset.
Early on, I realized that fear and uncertainty would always be part of the job. I didn’t try to eliminate them. Rather, I focused on keeping them from making my decisions. I started studying philosophy, practicing meditation and paying closer attention to how I responded to pressure. The better I understood myself, the better leader I became.
That’s true for every MSP owner. As your company grows, your biggest limitation often isn’t technical knowledge. It’s your own mindset.
2. Build trust through structure
Another lesson came from working alongside my brothers. Family businesses can be incredibly rewarding, but you must protect the business and its relationships. We learned quickly that trust alone isn’t enough. You need structure.
For us, structure came through clearly defined roles and an operating system that gave us accountability. Instead of assuming who owned what, we documented it and revisited it as we grew. That clarity reduced conflict and made difficult conversations much easier.
Whether you’re working with family or not, every growing MSP reaches a point where roles need to be intentional.
3. Let go to grow
Growth also requires letting go.
In the beginning, I put on every “hat” to complement Carlos’ strengths. My goal was to allow Carlos to focus on his working zone of genius, and I would fill in the gaps. I was field engineer, office manager, help desk technician and account manager. If something needed to be done, I did it.
Eventually, I realized that approach wouldn’t scale. A turning point came when I hired an assistant. It sounds like a small decision, but it wasn’t. It forced me to admit that my time had become more valuable elsewhere.
Since then, I’ve tried to replace myself in every role I outgrow. If someone else can do a job better than I can, they should. That’s how organizations grow beyond their founders. You should always be working yourself out of the job.
Marissa Maldonado
4. Compete on value, not price
One of the toughest lessons I learned while scaling our MSP is that competing on price is a losing strategy.
Like many young MSPs, we started by trying to be the cheapest option. It helped us win business, but it wasn’t sustainable. Over time, we realized that our value was based on the expertise we brought, the risks we managed, and the trust we built with clients.
Raising prices was uncomfortable. Of course, we worried about losing customers. However, we found clients who valued partnership over discounts. That changed our business.
Instead of worrying about competitors, we focused on becoming better than we were yesterday. The MSP market is enormous. There are plenty of opportunities for businesses that deliver genuine value and build meaningful relationships.
5. Culture is a competitive advantage
Culture has also become one of our greatest differentiators.
Our leadership team laughs together. We challenge each other and have difficult conversations without losing respect for one another. We want people to enjoy coming to work because they’re doing meaningful work with people they genuinely like.
Culture isn’t soft. It’s one of the hardest things to build — and one of the easiest things to lose.
6. Leadership evolves
Early in my career, success meant building a growing business. Today, it means building a healthy, sustainable one. I want our employees to feel like they can find purpose, our clients to feel protected, and our leaders to keep growing with the organization.
Personally, success looks different for me, too. Becoming a mother changed my perspective. It reminded me that presence matters more than constant hustle.
There will always be urgent emails and unfinished projects. There won’t always be another opportunity to be present for the people who matter most.
Shaping your own company’s growth
My advice for MSP leaders is that leadership doesn’t get easier. You simply become stronger. Every stage of growth asks you to become a different version of yourself.
The MSPs that thrive are led by people willing to keep evolving alongside their businesses.
MARISSA MALDONADO
CEO and co-founder, Proda Technology
- Founded: 2011
- Headquarters: Atlanta
- No. of employees: 41
- Website: prodatechnology.com
- Company focus: Protecting and advancing the mission of values-aligned organizations through strategic technology partnerships
- Professional memberships: Provarro, GTIA, Bluebird Leaders, Strategic Coach, Leadership Georgia, UGA Alumni Council, Cobb Chamber of Commerce
- Recommended book: “Unreasonable Hospitality”
- Favorite part of my job: Coaching, mentoring, and educating both employees, the channel, and the clients we serve
- Least favorite part of my job: Being pulled into the same problems repeatedly, and making necessary decisions that may disappoint or hurt someone even when I know the decision is right for the greater good.
- What people are surprised to learn about me: Beneath my confident CEO exterior, I am deeply reflective and probably question myself more than people realize.
Images: Marissa Maldonado
