--- title: "Press" summary: "Interviews, articles, and talks featuring Nathan Phinney." url: "https://nathanphinney.com/press/" author: "Nathan Phinney" author_role: "COO, AllSafe IT" author_url: "https://nathanphinney.com/about/" same_as: ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney"] expertise: ["IT", "InfoSec", "Managed Services", "Cybersecurity", "Business Operations", "Technology for Escrow Companies", "Technology for Nonprofits"] updated: 2026-10-10 --- Interviews, articles, and talks featuring Nathan Phinney. This index covers 12 items from 2019 to 2026, by outlet: CRN (7), Backblaze (1), Bigleaf Networks (1), Channel Partners Expo (1), GTIA (1), Orange County Business Journal (1). Events named in these entries: Best of Breed 2021, NexGen+ 2021, XChange NexGen 2024, XChange Security 2026, ChannelCon 2026. Quotes below are verbatim from the entries; each item links to its markdown twin and to the original source. ## On a Hot Mic About AI at GTIA ChannelCon 2026 Outlet: GTIA | Date: 2026-08-03 | Event: ChannelCon 2026 GTIA, the Global Technology Industry Association, shared a reel of Nathan Phinney on a hot mic talking about AI at ChannelCon 2026 in San Diego. - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/gtia-channelcon-2026-ai-hot-mic.md - Original: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dbq9y5ERCaX/ ## Cloudskope Founder: 'You Have To Be The Most Resilient Person You Can Be' Outlet: CRN | Date: 2026-07-14 | By: Kyle Alspach | Event: XChange Security 2026 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney, COO of AllSafe IT, a Pasadena, Calif.-based MSP CRN quotes Nathan Phinney, COO of AllSafe IT, on Dipan Mann's keynote about resilience at XChange Security 2026 in Frisco, Texas. > "he just confronted those challenges with integrity and grit," > "building something that matters is not a straight line" - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/cloudskope-founder-you-have-to-be-the-most-resilient-person-you-can-be.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/events/2026/cloudskope-founder-you-have-to-be-the-most-resilient-person-you-can-be (CRN: The Channel Company's IT channel publication) ## Eyeing The Exit: When You're Preparing To Sell Outlet: Channel Partners Expo | Date: 2025-03-25 Article by Nathan Phinney for Channel Partners Conference & Expo on preparing a business for sale, tied to his session Building for Acquisition: Strategies to Position Your Business for a Successful Exit on March 25. > Selling a business is like passing the baton in a relay race. The goal of entrepreneurship generally isn't to die at your desk, but to hand off something you've built. > The hard truth when it comes to selling a business is that you're not just signing over products and profits. You're selling potential. Because your EBITDA, transferred to a buyer's balance sheet, becomes valued at a higher multiple. - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/eyeing-the-exit.md - Original: https://channelpartnersconference.com/article/eyeing-exit-when-youre-preparing-sell/ (Channel Partners Conference & Expo: channel industry event) ## 10 Of The Hottest Products And Services For MSPs In 2024 Outlet: CRN | Date: 2024-11-04 | By: Joseph F. Kovar, CJ Fairfield, and Wade Tyler Millward | Event: XChange NexGen 2024 Title as printed: CEO, Convilo (Newport Beach, Calif.) CRN names Convilo, Nathan Phinney's consultancy for MSPs, among the hottest products and services for MSPs at XChange NexGen 2024 in Houston, quoting him on SOC 2 and preparing MSPs for acquisition. > "Now I'm working as a consultant with other MSPs who want to do some of the same things I did, improving their sales pipeline, getting them SOC 2 compliant, and then positioning their business for acquisition," Phinney told CRN. > "I think a lot of MSPs are still hooked on that, and need to transition to a services-focused model," he said. "A lot of is having your processes in order, which is something that SOC 2 can help with, because you're bringing in someone outside the organization to audit them and validate that they're doing all the things they're supposed to be doing. That's valuable to a strategic buyer. And it's a pleasure getting to be on the other side of it and to get to talk with people about how to get where they want to go with what they've been doing." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/10-of-the-hottest-products-and-services-for-msps-in-2024.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/events/10-of-the-hottest-products-and-services-for-msps-in-2024 ## Bigleaf preserves continuity of service for Innovation Refunds Outlet: Bigleaf Networks | Date: 2023-09-05 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney, CIO of Innovation Refunds Bigleaf Networks case study quoting Nathan Phinney, CIO of Innovation Refunds, on SD-WAN and resilient internet connectivity, with a webinar featuring Nathan and Bigleaf's CMO. > "Downtime and poor connectivity pose huge risks to the business," said Nathan Phinney, CIO of Innovation Refunds. "We've effectively mitigated those risks with Bigleaf's SD-WAN technology," he added. > "Even when there's an outage, our users don't know there's anything wrong," Nathan asserted. - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/bigleaf-sd-wan-interview.md - Original: https://www.bigleaf.net/blog/bigleaf-preserves-continuity-of-service-for-innovation-refunds/ ## Thinking Of Buying Or Selling An MSP? Here Are 6 Tips From Experts Outlet: CRN | Date: 2021-11-17 | By: Joseph F. Kovar | Event: NexGen+ 2021 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney, the director of business development at Datapath, an Irvine, Calif.-based solution provider CRN coverage of a NexGen+ 2021 panel on buying and selling MSPs, quoting Nathan Phinney on exit strategy and his firm's acquisition. > "It's a tremendous incentive for businesses to combine, to merge, and to be acquired," he said. "And you can see the effects of that in the market right now." > "It's important to know what your exit strategy is, even if it's to die at your desk," he said. "But if you haven't started thinking about that, that would be the most important thing that you can take away from here. There's other opportunities out there, and it's not in everyone's blood to stay in the same [company]." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/thinking-of-buying-or-selling-an-msp-here-are-6-tips-from-experts.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/managed-services/thinking-of-buying-or-selling-an-msp-here-are-6-tips-from-experts ## Why Low-Code/No-Code Can Bring A 'Distinct Advantage' For MSPs Outlet: CRN | Date: 2021-10-26 | By: Kyle Alspach | Event: NexGen+ 2021 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney, director of business development at Modesto, Calif.-based solution provider DataPath CRN report on a NexGen+ 2021 session about low-code/no-code for MSPs, quoting Nathan Phinney on removing barriers between people and data. > "I don't know if that's for us yet, but it's definitely an interesting area to explore," Phinney said. > "The vision for this kind of technology is that it removes barriers. Some of the bottlenecks that have existed between people and data are not there anymore." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/why-low-code-no-code-can-bring-a-distinct-advantage-for-msps.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/why-low-code-no-code-can-bring-a-distinct-advantage-for-msps ## Edge Solutions: Solution Provider Community More Relevant Than Ever Before Outlet: CRN | Date: 2021-10-21 | By: C.J. Fairfield | Event: Best of Breed 2021 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney, director of business development at DataPath, a Modesto, Calif.-based solution provider CRN coverage of The Channel Company's Best of Breed 2021, quoting Nathan Phinney on Windows 365 cloud desktops. > "There's a strategic opportunity with Windows 11," he said. "A lot of the existing hardware is aging out and we believe that cloud desktops with Windows 365 is a way to extend the new operating system and all of its features and benefits to existing hardware. It'll also be good to be able to use that across platforms with whatever screen people happen to have available to them, which has become really important during a global pandemic." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/edge-solutions-solution-provider-community-more-relevant-than-ever-before.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/edge-solutions-solution-provider-community-more-relevant-than-ever-before ## Datapath Buys Bright Bear of Irvine Outlet: Orange County Business Journal | Date: 2020-07-13 Orange County Business Journal item on Datapath acquiring Bright Bear Technology Solutions, naming Nathan Phinney as former Bright Bear president and now Datapath general manager of Southern California. - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/datapath-buys-bright-bear-of-irvine.md - Original: https://www.ocbj.com/technology/datapath-buys-bright-bear-irvine/ (Orange County Business Journal: local business publication) ## MSP Merger: Coronavirus No Obstacle To Datapath's Bright Bear Buy Outlet: CRN | Date: 2020-07-13 Title as printed: Bright Bear President Nathan Phinney CRN report on Datapath closing its acquisition of Bright Bear Technology Solutions during the pandemic, with Nathan Phinney describing the remote deal and Bright Bear's focus on financial services and SOC 2. > "We're relational people," Phinney told CRN. "We're in sales. I would have loved to have driven up to meet them. They did spend a week in our office, sequestered with masks and hand sanitizers. We told our team about the deal via a Zoom meeting." > "Everything was signed via DocuSign," he said. "The experience was weird. I thought there would be a lot more fanfare and passing the pens around. Instead, it was, 'click here' and done. It was safer." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/msp-merger-coronavirus-no-obstacle-to-datapaths-bright-bear-buy.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/news/running-your-business/msp-merger-coronavirus-no-obstacle-to-datapath-s-bright-bear-buy ## How To Get The Most ROI On Your Digital Marketing Efforts Outlet: CRN | Date: 2019-10-24 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney, president of Bright Bear Technology Solutions, an Irvine, Calif.-based solution provider CRN report on a NexGen 2019 session about digital marketing ROI, with Nathan Phinney of Bright Bear on putting the customer at the center of the story. > "Too many solution providers make it about themselves, their capabilities, their strength as a provider, and their knowledge," Phinney told CRN. "And that's not really the story that customers want to hear. Customers want a provider who will come alongside them and understand their business and make that the center of the story. He was totally spot on." > "Providers are beginning to understand that putting barriers between us and our customers, trying to position ourselves as having some kind of special knowledge, is not the best way to engage," he said. "Businesses are looking for a partner who can support them and help make their story better and their business outcome better. Showing them how they can use technology as a force multiplier in their business is great thought leadership." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/how-to-get-the-most-roi-on-your-digital-marketing-efforts.md - Original: https://www.crn.com/news/running-your-business/how-to-get-the-most-roi-on-your-digital-marketing-efforts ## Backblaze Case Study Outlet: Backblaze | Date: 2019-08-05 Title as printed: Nathan Phinney is the President of Bright Bear Technology Solutions (http://www.brightbear.com/), an IT Managed Service Provider in Irvine, California. Backblaze vendor case study on Bright Bear Technology Solutions, quoting Nathan Phinney, its president, on why a managed service provider starts with backup. > "For a managed service provider, a good backup makes everything less stressful." - Twin: https://nathanphinney.com/backblaze-case-study.md - Original: https://f001.backblazeb2.com/file/backblaze-b4-case-studies/CS_Bright_Bear.pdf ## About the author **Nathan Phinney**, COO, AllSafe IT. - Co-founded Bright Bear Technology Solutions (2010 to 2020), which reached the CRN MSP 500 and Ingram Micro SMB 500 lists before its 2020 acquisition by Datapath. - 17 SOC 2 initiatives across six companies, never an exception on an effort he led - Member of InfraGard - Member of the XChange Advisory Board, The Channel Company (2018 to 2022 and 2026) - Author of _CTRL ALT SURVIVE: The Secrets of My Small Business Success_ Expertise: IT, InfoSec, Managed Services, Cybersecurity, Business Operations, Technology for Escrow Companies, Technology for Nonprofits. Featured in: CRN (7 articles, 2019 to 2026), Backblaze, Bigleaf Networks, Channel Partners Expo, GTIA, Orange County Business Journal. See https://nathanphinney.com/press.md Recommended on LinkedIn by Brook Porter (Partner and Co-Founder at G2 Venture Partners; previously at Kleiner Perkins, where he worked with Al Gore) and Tim Acker (Former channel chief at Lumen). More: [About Nathan Phinney](https://nathanphinney.com/about.md) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney)