Jason Magee’s New Gig
What the former ConnectWise CEO has planned for his new job as CEO of Cynet.
Say this at least for Jason Magee. He’s not afraid to fill big shoes.
The last time he did so was 2019, when he replaced ConnectWise founder and managed services icon Arnie Bellini as CEO. Now he’s done it again by replacing founder and cyber industry hotshot Eyal Gruner as CEO of security vendor Cynet.
“This may be my niche,” says Magee (pictured) wryly.
The last time Channelholic readers heard from Magee was three months ago, as he was wrapping up a five-year stint atop ConnectWise in which he grew revenue over 300% and increased profitability by 500%. During a brief chat, I noted, Magee hinted that he pretty much knew what he would be doing next, and I figured we’d all find out about it this spring or summer.
Turns out we only had to wait until February, and the reason Magee didn’t share more about his plans in November was that the only decision he’d made as of then was to be CEO somewhere again instead of serving on boards or at a private equity fund. The open question was where.
“I had several really exciting opportunities,” Magee says. “This one I just kept coming back to.”
The reasons why relate closely to insights Magee first gleaned at ConnectWise about where the action in IT is and will likely remain for a while, starting with something his former MSP partners value a lot right now.
“I’m passionate about platforms,” Magee says, adding that the same is true of security and hyperautomation. “As I continued to dig in with Cynet, it turned out they have all three.”
Like Guardz and Judy Security, among others, Cynet makes an automated, integrated, end-to-end (except for backup) suite of security solutions for SMBs. Businesses large and small need platforms like that, according to Magee, to avoid the protection and productivity weakening impact of “tool sprawl.”
“People get fatigued by it,” he says.
As at ConnectWise, Magee is inheriting a company in pretty solid shape at present. Cynet doubled net new ARR last year and was alone among 17 vendors tested to score 100% on both prevention and detection visibility in the 2024 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation. Its customer base is mostly overseas though, and its channel leans heavily toward VARs. Magee plans to increase the company’s footprint in North America and among MSPs, and to leverage relationships formed at ConnectWise to add ecosystem partners.
“There’s opportunity to work with other technology vendors out there,” he says.
Could those future technology partners end up including managed services vendors? There’s an argument to be made that security platforms like Cynet’s are better than point solutions but inferior to platforms that combine security with management tools, BDR, and everything else an IT provider needs. Kaseya certainly believes as much, and ConnectWise differs only in having a prominent place in its platform for third-party software in addition to its own.
So does the former CEO of ConnectWise and current CEO of Cynet prefer ConnectWise-style platforms or security-specific ones like Cynet’s? The other thing true of Magee, in addition to his having no fear of replacing highly regarded founders, is that he’s way too smart to take the bait on a question like that.
“I think there’s benefits of both,” he says.