Evergent is a company that builds customer relationship management tools for global digital media, entertainment, and telecommunications providers. With customers in 175 countries ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, Evergent creates flexible, user-friendly solutions that enable each customer to streamline their CRM processes and maximize monetization efforts. To learn more, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Evergent CEO Vijay Sajja.
Vijay Sajja’s Background
Sajja is an engineer by education. “At heart, I’m a problem solver. I grew up in a small village and in a place like that, you have a lot of time on your hands and you do things like make your own toys and solve your own problems. When I went to school, I was drawn to computers and to solving problems there.”
Formation Of Evergent
How did the idea for Evergent come together?
“I saw pay-TV companies, some of whom were my customers at my previous company, struggling with inflexible systems that caused challenges with go-to-market initiatives and market feedback responses. So I wanted to create a flexible, scalable platform that puts the customer in charge. Our product was created to address problems that legacy providers could not solve.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Sajja’s favorite memory working for Evergent so far?
“Probably launching Totalmovie in Latin America during the early days of the company. This was at a time when Netflix was just entering the Latin American market so we had to move fast and launch before they launched across the continent. We navigated the complexities of an emerging market and had a very successful launch. Over time we also became close business advisors as they continued to grow their customer base.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Sajja faced in building the company?
“There have been many challenges that have arisen since the company was founded. It was completely self-funded for the first five years—and we worked out of my garage in Menlo Park! We made it through that time because of the team, and that’s what still makes us successful today. We’ve always been focused on creating value for the customer and continuing to build our product and to find growth opportunities. It’s a continuous journey. It’s also about working on yourself at the same time and helping to grow the company that way too.”
Core Products
What are Evergent’s core products and features?
“We have a full product suite that addresses different customer problems. Our core products include EMP (Evergent Monetization Platform), Captivate and ERRM (Evergent Revenue and Royalty Management). All of them together form the basis of a flexible platform that helps our customers optimize revenue, manage their customer journey and minimize churn.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of Evergent’s most significant milestones?
“Our key milestones are associated with our customers—beginning with our AT&T/DirectTV deal early on and, most recently, securing giant global brands like Sony and NBA as customers. Going through the bidding processes and winning these customers and then supporting millions of their users who want to watch a live event, for example, is extremely satisfying for our entire team. Getting the NBA live by the start of this season and then supporting 16 live games by the second night of the season was a huge accomplishment and milestone for our team. What we do for our customers is what drives our team.”
Customer Success Stories
“Certainly all of the ones I mentioned above are huge for us. I would also note our FOX1 partnership. That one has required complex support that includes managing all of the merchandise they offer as well. We are very selective about who we work with. And every customer with whom we do choose to work is very important to us. So every customer’s success is our success story.”
Funding
The company has grown profitably without external funding.
“I’m glad we took that path and I have never looked back. I have found that no one knows your company like you do.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is Evergent pursuing?
“$100 billion globally. And every Paid TV customer. We address many different types of use cases across all of our customers, which provides plenty of runway for us.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Evergent from its competition?
“The flexibility and scale we bring to customers. We also have great customer success stories that demonstrate the value of our product offerings. Our number one differentiator though is really our team and the culture we have built.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Evergent’s future company goals?
“To deploy the value we have created to hundreds of companies across the globe. To impact half of the global audience through our customers. Our customers are in the consumer business. Our goal is to grow our business and to help our customers grow theirs.”
