Media
I work with managed service provider (MSP) owners on growth, artificial intelligence (AI) and financial readiness for an exit. I’m the fractional chief revenue officer at Cortavo and the founder of NUOPTIMA. These conversations draw on that work and my earlier experience buying and building businesses.
Current thinking
Start with the current operator conversations on Play It Smart, then explore the buyer’s perspective on growth and exits.
Play It Smart: MSP operators
All episodes →On YouTube
All videos →Earlier conversations: the SaaS season
Season 1 of Play It Smart focused on software as a service (SaaS). These archive conversations cover ownership, acquisitions and capital.
Earlier podcast interviews
This Investment Banker "Accidentally" Built a 7-Figure Agency in 2 Years
The full arc: leaving investment banking, building the marketplace, and turning the in-house growth engine into NUOPTIMA, a 7-figure agency, in two years. Published in January 2024, during the agency-building chapter.
Agencies vs. Products + What Happened in the Amazon Aggregator Space?
Why agencies beat products for cash flow, and a candid post-mortem on the Amazon aggregator wave from someone who operated through it.
Winning E-commerce With a Long-Term Mindset
Why we chose compounding SEO over renting traffic from ad platforms, and how a long-horizon mindset changes acquisition math.
DTC Supply Chain, Distribution and Social Proof
Operating brands, not just marketing them: acquisition criteria, supply chain anatomy and what social proof actually does for conversion.
Brand Acquisition and Scaling
The buy-side playbook: sourcing deals in niche markets, profitability before growth, and what makes a small brand worth acquiring.
Growing an E-commerce Marketplace When Paid Ads Are Banned
The constraint that shaped everything: no Google or Meta ads allowed in the category, so SEO and content became the entire traction engine.
Press archive
Coverage from 2021 and 2022 of Alphagreen Group and the years spent building a consumer marketplace. These are historical profiles of that chapter.
My Ecommerce Hero: Alexej Pikovsky, CEO of Alphagreen Group
Profile on solving payments and logistics in a category most providers refuse to touch.
→ 2021 Entrepreneur HandbookInterview: from investment banking and PE to founder
The path from athlete to banker to building a marketplace from scratch.
→ 2021 TechRoundBuilding a trust-first marketplace in a low-trust category
How a marketplace fixes an industry's information problem, and scaling through the pandemic.
→ 2021 Authority Magazine5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Business
Team quality, fundraising strategy and the lessons that came the expensive way.
→ 2022 Grit DailyPortfolio strategy in niche wellness verticals
Why owning efficient positions in niche verticals beats trying to "disrupt" a category.
→ 2022 SalesTechStarWhat E-Commerce Aggregation Means for the Amazon Ecosystem
Guest analysis of the aggregator wave and what it signalled for brand M&A.
→Work on your own MSP.
Know Your Number is a private room for MSP owners and a regular call with me on sales & marketing, AI and financial readiness.
Join the room →For journalists and podcast hosts
I talk about sales and marketing inside MSPs, implementing AI and preparing a business for an exit, with a buyer’s perspective from investment banking and private equity. Message me on LinkedIn for a bio, headshots and availability.