January 26, 2026
If you’ve been to RSPA RetailNow, you have seen what is essentially the heart of the point-of-sale industry; The “Value Added Resellers” that are the life blood of every ISV’s business. The one detail that is inescapable is the average age of that VAR community. When I got into this business, I was one of the young, up and comers. I was around 30, and the VARs I was pursuing were probably in the 40-50 age range. After attending the 2025 RetailNow, I would put the average age of the VARs probably much closer to 65. If there was any more white hair it would be a retirement home!
So how did we get here? I personally would put much of the blame on previous RSPA leadership. Full disclosure, I’m a BIG Jim Roddy fan, so my bias will probably come through loud and clear. But prior to Jim, often times the leadership got caught up chasing “shiny things” and got away from their core mission: Serving, protecting and nurturing the VAR community. There was the Sahara debacle, when RSPA thought it should be in the hardware business. Then there was the bright idea to pull any computer service company into RSPA (even though it wasn’t a great fit and they probably already had their own industry group). Then Cannabis POS was going to be the savior of the RSPA. Then the payments companies came with big fat sponsorships and the rest is pretty much history.
With the payments companies came the ISV rollups, and ultimately that spilled over into the largest, most successful VARs getting bought out as well. Many of my Future POS resellers got multi-million dollar paydays and rode off into the sunset. I get it – why would someone with all the money they will ever need want to take a phone call from a pissed off restaurant owner on a Saturday night? They have better things to do now, like go golfing, or boating, or pretty much anything that doesn’t involve getting yelled at.
When I started Round 2, I knew this would be a piece of the challenge. The sad part is, there’s lots of money to be made, but few people that know how to do the VAR job and most of the good ones are gone. So, I took the approach that if I could create a set of tools that streamlines the VAR business model (Round 2 CRM), this lucrative business model could be shared with non-POS business people who are just looking for a solid opportunity.
Then I decided to take it one step further: Using it to the benefit of the men and women who have served in our country’s armed forces. Their sacrifice is what allowed people like myself and my resellers to live the American dream in a safe and prosperous country. It’s really my way of paying forward all the blessings that point-of-sale and RSPA have allowed me to enjoy. While I would love to be able to help every veteran, my skills and opportunities are limited to the best and brightest who are leaving the service and coming back to civilian life.
So, here’s the pitch. If you or someone you know is a “best and brightest” soldier transitioning from active duty to civilian life, please get in touch with us. I have numerous “rags to riches” success stories from the people who have sold my POS solutions in the past; It would be the crowning achievement of my career if I could help veterans build something for themselves and their families and allow them to retire VERY comfortably. I can also promise that prior to that “happily ever after”, it’ll be lots of hard and thankless work. Nothing worth having in this world ever comes easy, and nobody knows that better than an American soldier!
