The Fierce Video editorial team is proud to present its second annual Emerging Leaders Awards, recognizing the brightest young professionals rising up the ranks of the streaming TV industry. Throughout the months of May and June we’ll be featuring these profiles with each of our finalists. We will announce the winners during our StreamTV Show with an awards ceremony June 17 at 3:15 p.m. ET. Not yet registered for the StreamTV Show, running June 15-17? Be sure to register now and save your spot at this free virtual event!
Saajan Patel/Sightly:
At Sightly, Saajan Patel is focused on building supply partnerships for brand and agency partners, implementing media mix strategies for marketers and spearheading company growth into new platforms.
What his colleagues are saying:
"Saajan is an emerging leader in every sense of the phrase. He has spearheaded Sightly’s publisher development department for the last couple of years and is constantly juggling 100+ publisher deals at any given moment. Saajan personally handles the day-to-day operations and client support for our CTV and livestreaming offerings while hunting for new partnerships that will enhance customer benefits. Moreover, Saajan is the foremost expert in all things esports and he amplifies this personal passion into real business application, especially with recent consumption trending towards livestreamed esports events. He often times knows schedules, teams playing and their sponsors offhand without consulting any sort of schedule. This real-time knowledge and its application to Sightly’s customers and their campaigns is unmatched." - Greg Garunov, executive vice president of business development at Sightly
"Part of Saajan’s success, and one of the reasons he will continue to emerge as a leader in our company and the industry, is his ability to connect with people and develop trusted relationships. With Sightly being a startup, all of its employees have to have multiple responsibilities. Saajan has thrived in this environment by connecting the necessary dots between sales, accounts, strategy, marketing, product, engineering, and operations in getting this done. He has become a go-to for many at Sightly because he is dependable, knowledgeable, and injects levity and an element of fun. Saajan’s positivity shines through in everything he does which is contagious in the best way." - Adam Katz, chief revenue officer and general manager at Sightly
Streaming Industry Q&A:
What streaming services do you subscribe to?
Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, FuboTV and Paramount+.
Describe your biggest career highlight so far.
Building new partnerships in the live streaming and programmatic world to help Sightly grow in new areas. It has been great being able to offer new and exciting products to our clients.
What has been your biggest career learning experience?
Joining Sightly has been a huge learning experience for me. Previously I was not working as closely with advertisers but working with advertisers so closely now has helped me learn more about the types of products and inventory they are looking for. This has helped me drive new partnerships across live streaming, CTV and esports.
What's next for you in terms of new challenges in streaming TV?
New challenges for me are to build more and more partnerships with companies in the streaming TV world. As streaming TV grows rapidly, there are an increasing number of unique opportunities we can provide advertisers. Being able to learn about new technologies/services and to be an industry expert is vital.