I recently had the honor of watching a dear friend and mentor, Manuel Villa, receive the 2026 MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement Award at the MSP Summit's MSP 501 Gala. The speech his sons Mike and Tom gave introducing the VIA Technology founder is still on my mind.

Mike Villa and Tom Villa, gentlemen like their father, opened by thanking the MSP Summit for the work it does advocating for channel companies, then got personal.

"Very few people get the opportunity to work with their family," Mike Villa said, "and even fewer know what it's like to work with someone who has a personality as big as Manny's."

He talked about the two different versions of his dad — strict but fair raising his own kids and seemingly rules-free with his granddaughters. "I'm convinced he used up every 'no' he had on my siblings and me," Mike joked, "because his granddaughters have never heard it."

He talked about backyard basketball and football games where Manny's competitive streak was always on full display — trash-talking his own 10-year-olds, and still, to this day, fondly recalling the no-hitter he threw in coach's pitch. Through it, Manny Villa taught his kids the value of competition, hard work, and perseverance. Up until the awards ceremony, Manny did not know he was being honored with an MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement Award. We watched him buried deep in the audience fighting back tears as his sons took the stage.

But the line that stuck with me most was this: Mike remembered sitting in his dad's office, anxious about the birth of his first daughter and some challenges at work. Manny listened, paused, and said, "Life's tough, Mike, and it doesn't get any easier." Not the comfort Mike was looking for at the time — but years later, he understood. It wasn't about avoiding hard things. It was about being prepared to face them.

That's a lesson Manny has lived professionally for more than 30 years. He founded VIA Technology in 1995 with four kids under five at home — a leap that took real courage and a belief in himself most people never find. What started as an IBM, HP, and Sun Microsystems reseller helping automotive customers with Unix-based workstations has become a company built on core values, reinvented repeatedly as technology, opportunities, and challenges shifted. He was fearless every time, because it meant better serving his customers. Today’s AI-focused MSPs will go through the same cycle Manny did if they are fortunate enough.

Manny Villa
Manny took the stage with no script because the award was a surprise. He simply said: "Tonight is a gift for all of us."

Having known Manny Villa as a friend and mentor, I can say the gift has gone both ways. Congratulations, Manny — on the award, and on a lifetime of showing the rest of us what staying power actually looks like. Villa now joins an illustrious group of accomplished professionals who have won MSP 501 Lifetime Achievement Awards.