Robin Robins interviewed Fred Voccola onstage at the Q1 Producers Club meeting in Orlanda, FL on Feb 6, 2025. Here are some notes on that because I think it is interesting to hear what Fred has to say. But, he didn’t say much.
The top takeaways:
- Voccola is the largest Kaseya shareholder. With a $16bn valuation of Kaseya he’s probably a billionaire on paper
- He’s spending time in DC, without specifying what he is doing
- He thinks that your MSP will go out of business if you aren’t using Kaseya 365 in 2-3 years. This isn’t an exaggeration.
Robin opened by going over some numbers for MSPs and how it was a bad year for many. The average MSP is down two customers (net). This is a pretty big swing from previous years, which were often up. (From my own notes, I believe last year was net +7, although that figure wasn’t specifically stated here.)
According to Robin, there isn’t much upward room for rate growth for many MSPs right now; many feel they’re already at the top of what the market will bear. I don’t think she’s ever said that we can’t raise prices.
Explain Change in Role
Fred Voccola says he is the largest shareholder in Kaseya. He has stepped down from his day-to-day role as CEO and is now Vice Chairman of the company.
Insight Partners bought Kaseya in 2013 from Gerald Blackie.[1] Fred had a long history with Insight, and they asked him to come in to evaluate their new acquisition at the time. They told him:
“[Kaseya] is an RMM product, and it’s dying.”
Fred, along with Alex Cuevas, Kofar, and Frank Tisselano, examined the MSP sector. They realized MSPs were (and are) critical to productivity and success for the US SMB community, but at the time MSPs were only making about 10% bottom line:
“MSPs are critical infrastructure. And if that critical infrastructure is running at 10% profit margin, you cannot invest properly in your business to do what needs to be done.”
He points out MSPs were spending 30% on software, often juggling 17 different vendors, and these products were built for the enterprise (not for MSPs).
IT Complete and Kaseya 365
Fred says Kaseya purchased 17 companies and drastically lowered prices. According to his math, the Kaseya stack costs 66% less than using multiple non-integrated tools (dropping the “kit cost” from 30% to 15% of MSPs’ revenue) and thereby boosting net profit from 10% to 25% or more.
After that, Kaseya began focusing heavily on deeper integration and automation:
“It’s a pretty freaking hard thing to do.”
He describes Kaseya 365 as the productization of their “IT Complete” vision. They spent about $12–$13 billion pulling everything together:
“We created a platform that will change everybody’s life in this industry.”
Fred believes that in two to four years, it will be difficult for MSPs to compete unless they use IT Complete (Kaseya 365).
(Ed: Fred’s earnestness always comes across in interviews. Whether you believe the hype or not, he delivers it with conviction.)
Stepping Down: Why Now?
Fred says he stepped down because he has essentially completed the last decade’s vision at Kaseya, and he wants to devote 80 hours a week to other pursuits. He alludes to higher-level policy or political involvement but does not explicitly detail these projects.
He notes it isn’t odd for a CEO to step down without naming another CEO immediately—what’s odd or “unethical,” in his view, is how most companies keep these transitions hidden from their partners. Given that many MSPs spend about 10% of their gross revenue with Kaseya, Fred felt it was critical to be transparent:
“My successor … will be 100% better than I ever was.”
Is the MSP a Dying Industry?
“The unit economics of your—in our industry, on the software side of your industry—they are broken. Pure and simple. Labor is too expensive relative to the revenue or the fees that you get.”
Fred says the cost of software is too expensive and also lacks enough automation to allow MSPs to scale or cut labor costs. Yet he also points out:
“This industry is growing 11.5% per year. Small to mid-sized businesses are expected to make up 70% of U.S. economic growth over the next four years. That’s the sweet spot. It’s not dying. Everybody wants to get into it.”
But he predicts greater separation between winners and losers. Those who adapt—by integrating and lowering costs—will thrive.
Kaseya’s Size and Commoditization
Fred emphasizes that Kaseya is “the largest software company” in the space. He references $1.7B in revenue with roughly a 37% EBITDA margin (about $680M of EBITDA), giving Kaseya a valuation around $16B.
He calls RMM and security tooling commoditized, noting that Datto RMM, ConnectWise RMM, Kaseya RMM, etc., all solve the same problems:
“It’s all the same shit. It all does the same stuff.”
He believes the main differentiator now is integration so MSPs can automate workflows across multiple products. For example, a phishing simulation tool “talking” seamlessly to your email security tool to save time.
“If your competitor has the unit economics right … and you don’t … they’ll undercut you on price and still make more profit.”
Branding
When asked if it’s still a goal to make Kaseya a widely recognized brand like Intel (“Intel Inside”), Fred says yes. He wants “Powered by Kaseya” to become a worldwide badge of best-in-class MSP service. Fred argues that many people in the United States have now heard the word “Kaseya” (thanks to the Kaseya Center naming rights), even if they don’t know what it is. He claims:
“We expect the brand of Kaseya to pull name recognition for MSPs … We’re going to spend a couple of billion dollars over the next several years making sure that happens.”
How Do You Know When to Step Down as CEO?
“Kaseya is my being, and I love it. … I’ll take bullets for that company … but there are other things in life I need 70 of those 80 hours for.”
Fred mentions “educating a lot of people in Washington about what MSPs are,” reinforcing the idea he wants to influence national-level policy or at least expand awareness. He stops short of explicitly saying he’s running for office, but he strongly suggests involvement at that level.
“The good that you [MSPs] are doing transcends money.”
(Fred does strongly emphasize that you need Kaseya to avoid being left behind, consistent with his overarching sales pitch for Kaseya 365.)
[1] Founder Note
Fred refers to Gerald Blackie as the founder. Wikipedia lists him as CEO starting in 2003 and does not credit him as the original founder. There’s some ambiguity, but Fred repeatedly calls him the founder in the interview.
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