Meet Liviu Tanase, a visionary entrepreneur and the mind behind ZeroBounce, a leader in email validation, deliverability, and email-finding.
With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for opportunities in the B2B tech space, Liviu has founded five companies, each contributing to his reputation as a serial entrepreneur.
As an email marketing thought leader, Liviu’s insights and expertise are highly sought after, leading him to contribute to renowned publications such as Inc. and Entrepreneur. His entrepreneurial spirit and contributions to the tech industry have not gone unnoticed, as Forbes magazine honored him on their Forbes Next 1000 list, celebrating “entrepreneurial heroes redefining the American dream.”
Read this exclusive interview with Liviu Tanase for more insights into his journey and about ZeroBounce.
What according to you makes one transformational? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
You become transformational in business when you push for better. As I like to remind myself, your strengths aren’t your problem; rather, it’s your weaknesses.
When you’re willing to conquer your weaknesses, you’ll create dramatic changes in your organization and in the people around you.
You integrate that into your leadership by always leading by example. If you see that someone is missing the mark, try to find out if the cause is something you personally need to improve on. I don’t think you can be transformational or innovative until you start assessing progress and deciding on direction. It’s so important to calibrate. You don’t want to exert your operation in the wrong direction.
Can you share the story of how you ventured into entrepreneurship, and what motivated you to establish ZeroBounce?
I can’t ever remember not having an entrepreneurial heart. I can recall seeing movies early on that depicted businessmen. They traveled around and got to be a part of exciting things.
Also, I’ve always been fascinated by technology. I loved staying abreast of all things tech and was always wondering about technology’s evolution and its impact on the world.
My first business? I was just a kid. I was selling computers, but it was an offline business. Then, everyone seemed to have internet access and I wanted to move with the times. I got involved in telecommunications and worked with some talented people. I was always learning and thinking about ways in which I could bring my contribution to the tech space.
I first got the idea for ZeroBounce about eight years ago. By then, I had already grown an email marketing business in Europe and knew the many facets of email and what goes into running successful campaigns. Connecting with real people is where it all begins – and to do that, you need genuine, valid email addresses.
Email contacts decay fast – about 23% of an email list dies yearly. There were a few services out there that could check the validity of email addresses. Although I was impressed with the technology of these platforms, I couldn’t help but envision some alternative approaches. The idea of improvement is a huge driving force for me, so I gathered a small team of experts and got to work.
Then, the excitement of a new venture started feeding me with energy. We were going to build our own email validation service and improve the way poor-quality data is detected. Our goal was to give email senders a more reliable manner to reach their customers.
Congratulations on being a Forbes Next 1000 honoree. How has this recognition impacted your work and your position as a thought leader in the tech space?
Being a Forbes “Next 1000” honoree was a real achievement. I look at awards and other public recognitions as an indicator that you’re doing a good job, but the thing I always take from them is to try and work harder. You’d think that it would make me feel like it’s time to coast, but it goes back to the desire to be innovative. You won’t get anywhere if you become complacent.
The Forbes award also solidified our hard-earned trust with our audience and got the attention of more businesses looking to boost their email results. That only motivated me and my team further to continue being pioneers.
Please highlight some key milestones and achievements of ZeroBounce that you are particularly proud of.
It was a milestone to launch, which anyone who has started a business can testify. Through the years, there have been a few things that stand out in my mind. When we validated our first billion email addresses. Every billion since then is exciting. We’re at 24 billion now – three times the population of our planet.
It was thrilling when we made the Inc. 5000 list for four consecutive years in a row. Forbes “Next 1000” was a milestone. Anytime someone recognizes you, it’s a reason to be happy. But the number one source of pride comes from our customer reviews. That’s really what it’s all about for us. We’ve got a lot of satisfied customers – more than 300,000, including brands like Amazon, Netflix, and Sephora.
What advice do you have for businesses looking to optimize their email marketing strategies, considering the dynamic nature of the digital landscape?
If you want to optimize your email marketing, you must be willing to put in the time and effort. But thankfully, there are so many aspects you can automate. For instance, the easiest way to engage your customers right away is to send a welcome email. These emails tend to perform well and help you create an immediate connection with your audience.
Also, segmenting your email list allows you to create more relevant emails and increase your click rates. The average person receives about ten dozen emails daily. So, before you send an email, ask yourself if you would want to open it. How will you stand out? By making sure every email speaks to a specific audience and its needs. Personalization is a must.
Finally, keep an eye on your metrics. If it’s been more than six months since you checked your list, chances are many of your emails are bouncing. An average bounce rate of 2% is acceptable, but if it’s higher, your email list isn’t healthy, and your campaigns may be going to spam. It takes only minutes to remove that invalid data and help your emails get to the inbox.
Once you become familiar with email validation, look into other email optimization tools. For instance, you no longer have to wonder where your email ends up. You can use an inbox tester to determine if your email will land in the inbox. If you find out that it’s going to spam, you can make changes so it can go to the inbox.
What are your future aspirations for ZeroBounce, and how do you envision the company evolving in response to the evolving needs of the market?
Global email usage has seen exponential growth. More than half of the people in our world currently use email. It’s astonishing to me that we can all communicate so easily. And we don’t take being a part of the email industry lightly.
Our ultimate goal is to continue building ZeroBounce into the best email optimization platform. We’ve made ZeroBounce a place where businesses can find everything, they need to accomplish their email communication goals. There will be even more services on our platform, one of which is launching soon.
With the proliferation of AI, businesses will try to preserve and strengthen their human connection with their audiences. The first step toward that is to be in people’s inboxes – and all our tools work together to help our customers accomplish that goal.
