#28 - From The Trenches - Micro MSP Growth & Streaming (Daniel Oquendo)

A candid conversation with Daniel Oquendo of Whispering Dragons on serving micro-small businesses, pricing with integrity, and using smart security + streaming tools to scale without a large team. Great for owner-operators balancing service delivery, sales, and modern content strategy.

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Daniel Oquendo (Whispering Dragons) shares how a game-studio pivot became a focused MSP serving micro-SMBs, and what it takes to keep them secure, supported, and educated. From real-world stories (a “certificate expiry” trap and nationwide outage risk) to force-multiplying with MDR, he explains how solo and small teams can still deliver enterprise-grade outcomes—without sticker-shocking clients. 👉 How word-of-mouth reliably gets you to ~$1M and why consistency beats splashy campaigns 👉 Pricing reality checks: letting clients “vote” for your sustainability, avoiding undercharging, and preparing customers for market-level rates 👉 Security stack pragmatism: using MDR (e.g., Huntress) to shut down threats fast and calm client nerves with a clear incident flow 👉 Streaming as a growth channel: weekly education shows, multi-platform chat aggregation, and turning content into pipeline (Beam Media) 👉 Operational hygiene: subscription/expense visibility (e.g., Better Tracker) to redirect waste and fund real security This episode weaves MSP pricing strategy, micro-SMB security, and modern distribution (streaming + video) into a practical playbook for owner-operators. If you serve small teams who “don’t think they need IT,” you’ll get stories, scripts, and tools to educate, protect, and grow—without overextending. “Visit https://beringmckinley.com for more MSP resources.”

🔗 Resources & Links • Daniel Oquendo at Whispering Dragons: https://whisperingdragons.com • Bering McKinley MSP Consulting: https://beringmckinley.com

⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Intro & show setup 00:29 – Rebrand origin & early MSP reality 02:20 – From game studio to repair shop to IT services 05:15 – The “expiring certificate” story & fix 10:01 – Transition to IT solution provider 12:37 – Pricing lessons, sustainability, and client pushback 16:12 – Solo operator model & client profile 18:45 – Micro-SMB security misconceptions 20:39 – Legacy goals vs. “go big” pressure 22:46 – Marketing: why word-of-mouth still wins 27:35 – Tools that multiply a solo MSP (MDR/Huntress) 32:26 – Make-or-break year, staying the course 34:18 – Expense visibility with Better Tracker 39:09 – Beam Media: multi-streaming & audience growth 45:33 – Centralized chat and platform strategy 46:04 – Streaming use cases for MSPs 50:24 – The streaming economy: subs, splits, sponsors 56:04 – Where to find Daniel 56:34 – Wrap-up

🔍 Primary Keywords micro msp growth, managed services pricing, mdr for msps, huntress mdr, streaming for small business, whispering dragons, beam media streaming, msp marketing word of mouth

🔍 Secondary Keywords small business it security, ransomware protection, subscription tracking, better tracker, multi streaming platform, riverside podcasting, youtube strategy for msps, pricing strategy msp, client education cybersecurity

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