When I first met Baxter Lanius at a Pax8 event, I had no idea he lived just around the corner from me in Manhattan. It was one of those serendipitous moments that sparked a deeper connection and ultimately led to one of the most insightful, energizing conversations I’ve had on Sunny’s Silver Linings podcast.
Baxter’s entry into the MSP world is anything but typical.
Before founding Alternative Payments, he spent a decade in private equity investing in everything from funeral homes and restaurants to massive tech platforms and BPO companies. But no matter the vertical, the same issue kept surfacing: getting paid was broken. Even billion-dollar enterprises had archaic AR systems: think PDF invoices, delayed payments, poor visibility, and manual chaos.
That’s what sparked a realization in Baxter. He saw a gaping hole in how businesses, especially MSPs, managed financial ops.
Fixing the Most Overlooked Part of Your MSP
Four years later, Baxter’s team built a best-in-class AR automation platform tailored for MSPs: the results speak for themselves. On average, his customers reduce Days Sales Outstanding from 35 to under 10 days. That’s a great boost in cash flow confidence, EBITDA, and operational sanity.
He joined me on Sunny’s Silver Linings podcast to share a few timeless insights that stuck with me:
- “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash flow is reality.”
- Automating payments reduces labor, boosts customer experience, and improves EBITDA.
- And above all, cash confidence builds stronger, better businesses.
The Real Problem? MSPs Weren’t Built by CFOs
One of Baxter’s most powerful points was this: Most MSPs are built by technologists, not financial operators.
They excel at service. At people. At tech. But many struggle with billing systems, receivables, collections, and financial workflows. And that’s where they unknowingly bleed value.
Alternative Payments steps in to automate everything from invoice creation to follow-ups, reconciliation, and payment processing, so MSPs can finally stop chasing checks and start focusing on what they do best.
Bigger Than Just Tech: Baxter’s Entrepreneurial Playbook
What sets Baxter apart isn’t just his product; it’s how he thinks.
Having invested in dozens of industries, he’s seen firsthand that every business, regardless of vertical, shares the same core challenge: you must wake up, grind, and move the needle forward: every single day.
But grinding isn’t enough. You need clarity. A North Star. Whether your goal is to scale, exit, or build a legacy firm, your decisions, and your team’s decisions, need alignment.
That’s how resilient companies are built.
What MSPs Can Learn from Private Equity Thinking
Another takeaway that stuck with me: time horizon clarity. Coming from PE, Baxter operated with 5–7 year windows in mind. But today, building for the long-term, he’s had to reframe that mindset. And it’s a shift MSPs should make too.
Whether your vision spans 3 years or 30, having that runway visible helps your team prioritize the right bets — and know which distractions to ignore.
Where to Meet Baxter Next
Baxter is joining us at Build IT LIVE 2025 as part of our Coaching by Design experience. He’s not just sponsoring; he’s showing up to have real conversations with MSPs who want to run more efficient, profitable businesses.
If you want to scale with more cash confidence, less manual friction, and more time for strategic work, book a 1:1 session with Baxter. I promise you, the ROI on that conversation will be exponential.
