Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, N-able
Search every verified Jeff Nulsen interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jeff Nulsen, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at N-able, has discussed the company's growth and rebranding following its spinout from SolarWinds in 2021. He stated that the company grew from approximately $300 million to $500 million during that period. Nulsen noted that the spinout occurred after the December 2020 SolarWinds cyber attack, which he described as a nation-state breach of SolarWinds software, not of N-able's software, but which affected N-able by association. He said the company prioritized product and infrastructure security during the spinout. Nulsen described events as a key marketing pivot for rebuilding brand trust, and said the company branded its data protection product as Cove with a calming tone rather than using fear-based messaging. He also stated that N-able debated a point-solution versus platform strategy, advocating for acquiring point solutions and using the platform narrative for cross-selling. In 2025, Nulsen promoted N-able's Empower 2025 conference in Berlin, highlighting content tracks on automation, M&A, growth, sales, disaster recovery, and cyber defense, and said he would host a panel on future MSP industry trends. During a LinkedIn Live discussion on the 2025 MSP Horizons Report, Nulsen stated that 90% of MSPs are actively considering M&A as a growth strategy, and that 49% of surveyed MSPs expect more than 20% growth in managed services revenue. He said MSPs should avoid commoditization by focusing on best-of-breed technology stacks and differentiating through verticalization and specialization. Nulsen also noted that less than 10% of MSPs are selling AI as a service, though many use it internally, and that the percentage of MSPs moving into the co-managed space rose to 37% from 17% the previous year.
“I joined in May of 2021, two months before we spun off from a company called SolarWinds. That was a very significant shift for the company as you can imagine — a lot of new people, new technology, new process and an entirely new leadership team.”
“We went from about $300 million at the time to about $500 million now — so it's been quite a journey.”
“SolarWinds in December of 2020 had been the target of what at that time was the largest nation-state cyber attack in the history of cyber — there was a successful breach of SolarWinds software, not of SolarWinds MSP or N-able software, but because of association N-able was assumed by many to have been breached.”
“Because we sat next to this company that just experienced the biggest cyber attack, we got to see what that was like — the FBI in your office for a couple months — so during the spin we prioritized above all else ensuring that our products and our infrastructure was secure.”
“I think events were the most meaningful pivot for the brand — the MSP community favors relationships and the ability to have an honest conversation, and showing up at events with our experts to educate people was the path toward turning the tide.”
“We branded our data protection product as Cove and deliberately chose a calming tone versus the typical FUD approach — we weren't trying to drive fear, we were trying to drive the belief that N-able and Cove are the places to go to get comfort.”
“We've debated point solution versus platform — we should continue to acquire with point solutions and use the platform narrative as a conversion and cross-sell lever; the platform is there for customers to grow into rather than forcing them into it.”
“AI can help every single aspect of marketing — especially personalization and workflow automation — but it should assist us, not replace oversight; we need governance because it will get things wrong sometimes.”
“Hey everybody, my name is Jeff Nulsen. I am the CMO here at N-ABLE and we could not be more thrilled to be hosting you in Berlin for Empower 2025, just a little less than a month away, April 7th through 9th.”
“There are three reasons that you should be thinking about attending. Number one, you will be surrounded by some of the top MSPs in the world and their experiences and leading thoughts, all of which you can contribute to and learn from.”
“Number two, the content. We will have excellent content tracks that will drive real world takeaways for you. That is our number one goal — that you walk away from this event with some small number of things that you will do differently.”
“Those tracks will include automation, M&A, growth, sales and business development, disaster recovery, and cyber defense.”
“I personally will be hosting a session, a panel discussion on the future three-year kind of trends for the MSP industry — what does the future of cyber resilience look like, what does the future of M&A look like, what does the future of AI look like?”
“You'll get to hear real world examples of where their business is headed and where they've been and what that journey's looked like for them. Can't wait to see you there — it's going to be an amazing few days and we're going to have a lot of fun as well.”
“Almost half, like 49% of the MSPs that we surveyed, they're expecting more than 20% growth in their managed services revenue this year. Less than 5% believe they'll be flatter or declining, which is incredible compared to other industry reports suggesting low teens growth.”
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