Fusion Connect Nabs Vonage Channel Chief, PaeTec, Broadview Alum, as CRO

Mario DeRiggi, who spent less than two years as Vonage channel chief, is Fusion Connect‘s new chief revenue officer.

Fusion Connect’s Mario DeRiggi

There is familiarity in the move for DeRiggi, He worked with Brian Crotty, Fusion’s new CEO, at Broadview Networks, which Windstream acquired in 2017. Crotty was COO and DeRiggi was executive vice president.

Fusion emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, eliminating about $400 million of its long-term debt in the reorganization. Fusion’s lenders now own the company.

At Vonage, DeRiggi was senior vice president of channel sales and business development. He joined Vonage in October 2018.

Before his stint at Broadview, he was executive vice president of national sales and service for PaeTec Communications, which Windstream bought.in 2011.

Crotty said he looks forward to accomplishing a lot with DeRiggi as chief revenue officer.

“He was with me for six to seven years over at Broadview, running all of my sales,” Crotty said. “We are very excited because Mario is not only in charge of new revenue, he is in charge of that entire customer experience. [He is] taking care of and servicing our existing customer base, as well as all marketing for the company.”

“I am thrilled to join the Fusion Connect team,” said DeRiggi. “Fusion Connect’s vision for the future of communication and collaboration, its customer-focused culture, and world-class team have the makings for an incredible company. I am excited about the opportunity to use my experience around building enterprise programs to further transform Fusion Connect.”

Long-Term Growth and Success

Hiring DeRiggi is “another perfect example of Fusion’s board of directors backing the company for the long-term growth and success,” Crotty said.

Fusion Connect’s Brian Crotty

“Anyone who knows Mario knows that he cares a lot about our partners and our customers. And he is passionate about customer experience,” Crotty said. “He’s also an amazing leader. He ran global sales for PaeTec Communications prior to coming over to Broadview. But at Broadview, he was right there with me as we accomplished a lot of the same things that we need to do at Fusion. So it becomes hand in glove to have him as the leader of the team in the field as we go through this overall transformation for Fusion.”

Fusion filed chapter 11 bankruptcy last summer after its acquisitions of MegaPath and Birch Communications’ cloud and business-services business failed to meet performance projections.