The power of perfect timing.

Evernote’s ascent was no accident. They had a first movers advantage by being the only digital productivity tool of its size, and offered a freemium model that attracted a significant user base. In 2006, Evernote merged with Ribbon, an organizational platform created Phil Libin, who saw the potential of accessibility and capturing everything. Libin was like a breath of fresh air for Evernote and made his presence known early on. He recognized that they had to make a daring move towards the future – a move from Windows towards the growing platform of mobile devices.

Your thoughts, always accessible.

As they were growing, they truly wanted to live up to their slogan and give users the ability to truly "remember everything". Anything users wanted to save was now possible - handwritten notes, personal photos, articles, URLs— nothing was off-limits - And all that was now accessible from any device, giving users the convenience of easily being able to pick up where they left off. Evernote had truly become the platform to store anything and everything, with accessibility from everywhere.

A tale of identity crisis.

Further down the line, Evernote wanted to expand and move beyond its core product, sparking the creation of a variety of others such as; Evernote Peek, Evernote Food, Evernote Hello, with more in the pipeline. These diversions led away from the brands vision and identity, directing them into a downwards spiral of bad managerial missteps and the inability to upkeep the many products they now had to offer. Evernote found itself in the midst of an identity crisis. They lost many of its loyal users and its grip on the market began to slip.

A new beginning.

In an attempt to relight the fire within Evernote, they had hired a new captain, Ian Small. Small aimed to steer the ship back to Pachikov's early day's mission, whilst paying attention to their users’ needs. Today, the ‘green elephant’ boasts an impressive 250 million users worldwide, with 6500+ businesses using Evernote Business for collaboration. It’s combination of cross-platform compatibility, organization, search, collaboration, and integration make it a popular choice for many users.

However, with the increased need for digital productivity tools, they are facing stiff competition and challenges, particularly in adapting to emerging trends like generative AI. Competitors like Notion have embraced these trends, releasing game changing AI features, while Evernote is sticking to the basics. The future of Evernote seems troublesome and unclear, and only time will tell the rest of the story.

Let’s explore 3 key learnings from Evernote’s journey:

1. Stick to the core: Diversifying is not always the solution for growth, sometimes sticking to your core value proposition, and perfecting that, is the way to go. Gain a clear understanding of your company and the external market, and use that knowledge to decide your next steps.

2. Listen to your users: User feedback is your guiding star and user data can help you improve services across the board.

3. Move with the trends: Continuously look outside of your business to see what is happening in the world around you. This way you can stay ahead of the game and remain relevant.