AI, Benchmarks, and Modular MSP Stacks: Where True Outcomes Roll

👋 Welcome to the grind

I’m John Harden, and after years in the MSP world, I’ve got a few thoughts—and I’m not shy about sharing them. You might’ve seen me breaking things down on LinkedIn. This newsletter is where I connect the dots: fresh posts, honest takes on what’s really going on in the industry, and clips from recent webinars and livestreams. If you're building an MSP, navigating change, or just want a voice that gets it, you're in good company here.

Coffee Chats Recap: Building a Modular MSP Stack That Rolls: Wheels, Outcomes & True Differentiation with Dan Le

We dove into the power of modular systems with Dan Le, dissecting the “wheels” every MSP must have and the massive outcomes they unlock, from richer client relationships to relentless curiosity. How do you future proof your stack and business? Let’s break it down:

(Watch the episode)

🔍 What we learned:

Dan Le (Red Cup) pulled back the curtain on how he constructs a next-generation, modular MSP stack, using the “wheels” analogy: every provider needs core, non-negotiable components, but over-investing in features or tools can slow you down. By treating the stack as a thoughtfully integrated ecosystem, not a mess of tools, MSPs can elevate operational efficiency and create customer-centric solutions that foster trust, curiosity, and real partnerships. “You’ll definitely need wheels no matter what, but do you need the best tires in the world? Maybe not. If you don’t have wheels, though, it’s not going to roll,” Dan stressed.

💡Biggest Takeaways:

1. Modularity Wins: Treat your stack like a car and prioritize foundational components (“wheels”) that make the system move, then focus on integrations and flexibility, not just collecting the flashiest features.

2. Tool Consolidation & Interoperability: Integration and the ability to consolidate tools are mission-critical; Dan battle-tests multiple vendors in every category, ensuring deep due diligence and making sure everything connects and integrates together.

3. Customer Outcomes Over Features: “It’s a lot more than just the tech, but definitely about the people and relationships.” The right stack directly fuels customer trust, transparency, and business alignment.

4. Curiosity & Communication as Secret Sauce: “Listening and curiosity are the most underrated skills in our field.” Spending time in-person with clients, asking how their business works, and relentlessly learning their goals helps deepen relationships and identify new value opportunities.

✅ Recommendations:

• Audit your stack today: What are your “wheels”? Distinguish what’s essential from what’s noise and ditch the shiny-object syndrome.

• Ramp up direct, human conversations with clients. Take Dan’s advice and grab coffee or hop on a call just to listen, not to pitch.

• Encourage a culture of curiosity in your team. “Flex that curiosity muscle,” real business impacts will follow.

Huge thanks to Dan Le for sharing his playbook on modularity, tool selection, and building relationships that last. “Care a lot, be relentlessly curious, and always deliver outcomes your clients actually understand, not just more acronyms.”

Stay tuned for upcoming Coffee Chats where we’ll unpack even more frameworks for driving MSP growth and customer delight. Ready to roll your stack forward? Drop your modular must-haves or DM to join a future episode!

Will Benchmarks Beat Marketing in the AI Era?

There’s a well-worn SaaS trope: A-plus marketing + C-minus product > A-plus product + C-minus marketing.

And in most categories, it holds true. Just look at cybersecurity… massive GTM spend, big brand names, glossy marketing campaigns, and customers still buy from the vendors who can tell the biggest, loudest story. That’s not unique to security; it’s the blueprint across most SaaS categories.

But AI might force a rethink.

Billions of dollars are already pouring into AI marketing, so it’s not like the script has flipped overnight. Still, unlike most SaaS products, AI systems are inherently measurable. A model’s performance can be benchmarked. You can prove in numbers whether a system closes tickets faster, reduces cost per interaction, or drives higher conversion.

That raises the question: if AI models can be compared side-by-side with real data, do we start to see a world where performance, not brand spend, drives buying decisions?

What Would Have to Change

If performance starts to matter more than marketing, we’d likely see a few big shifts in SaaS and AI buying behavior:

1. Benchmarks Become Table Stakes Buyers would expect transparent benchmarks: accuracy, latency, efficiency, ROI. Vendors would need to publish hard numbers, and analyst firms might create standardized frameworks for comparing AI models across use cases.

2. Proof > Promises Instead of glossy product sheets, the conversation shifts to demos and trials. Customers would expect vendors to show impact in their environment before signing.

3. Niche Excellence Wins If benchmarks define the market, specialized models that dominate specific use cases could beat out generalist platforms with stronger marketing machines.

4. Procurement Gets Technical Buying teams would need more technical expertise, or at least trusted third-party validation, so they’re not swayed by big logos alone.

5. The Marketing Playbook Changes Marketing wouldn’t disappear. It would evolve. Storytelling would lean less on aspirational promises and more on amplification of proven results. The new “brand” might simply be: the one with the best benchmarks.

Will Marketing Still Win? Probably.

Human psychology doesn’t change overnight, and marketing has always been about more than rational proof. Relationships, trust, and perception still drive buying. But in an AI-powered market, there’s at least a glimmer of hope: buyers might finally have numbers in hand to challenge the narrative.

The big question is whether vendors will embrace this shift or fight to keep the spotlight on the story instead of the scorecard.

🎙️ I’m Live Next Week

Perspectives of Real AI Value from Product & Engineering Leadership (Thursday August 28, 9am ET)

Join us this Thursday for an unfiltered dive into AI with John Astorino, COO of Auvik. Get the real scoop on AI value direct from the top

Why this matters: John has navigated AI transformations and knows what truly moves the needle, so he'll share his experiences and expose what’s hype versus reality in AI leadership.

What we’ll cover:

• The biggest myths about AI he’s encountered

• What makes "cool AI" versus "useful AI"

• Key lessons from deploying AI in real-world scenarios

Thursday, August 28st, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST on LinkedIn Live. Catch us live on LinkedIn and don’t miss the chance to ask John your burning AI questions live!

🎧 Register here 

🔗 Stuff Worth Clicking

• Perspective: MSPs Must Ensure Their Clients’ Cloud Services Will Survive the Next Big Outage

• Microsoft keeps adding stuff into Windows we don't want – here's what we actually need

• eChannel News: Interview with Auvik at ChannelCon 2025 (oh hey it’s me!)

📬 Hit Me Back

Dan Le didn’t just talk tools—he laid out a roadmap for building stacks that actually roll and relationships that actually last. So let’s hear from you:

🛞 What are the non-negotiable “wheels” in your MSP stack—the components that keep everything moving?
🧠 Where are you doubling down on curiosity or real client conversations instead of shiny new features?
📊 And as AI becomes more measurable, do you think benchmarks will start to beat brand when it comes to buying decisions?

Whether you're refining your stack or rethinking your go-to-market in the age of AI, we’d love to hear what’s working—and what you’re ready to roll past.

Let’s trade acronyms for outcomes.