Listen to this articleSerial entrepreneur Liviu Tanase, the founder and CEO of ZeroBounce, talks about the importance of email validation, his passion for chess, and business strategy.
Q: For those who haven’t heard of it, what is the best way to describe ZeroBounce?
A: ZeroBounce is an email validation service that helps brands and individuals communicate better through email. Our system removes obsolete and risky data from email lists – spam traps, invalid, abuse or catch-all email addresses, to give you some examples.
Only when senders operate with accurate, healthy email lists can they thrive in their transactional and marketing communication.
Q: Liviu, can you tell us something more about your background? What were you doing before ZeroBounce?
A: I’ve been an entrepreneur almost my entire life. At 18, I started a business that sold computers offline. I’d learned how to build cutting-edge computers for the time. Word spread and my business grew quickly.
I realized that I had a competitive advantage in creating internet-ready computers, and I realized the value of understanding the connections of computers to the world more so than just the computers themselves. It was the connection to the world that mattered. I moved on to create a telecom company selling B2B internet connections and services. That was the first business I sold.
Then I went on to found other tech companies in my home country of Romania and expanded to the international market. Five years ago, I relocated to the U.S. and started ZeroBounce soon after.
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Q: What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Any hobbies?
A: I’m always down for a good game of chess! I’ve loved chess since I was a kid and have continued to practice it throughout my entire life.
Many of the principles of this game have served me well in business. It’s all about creating and following good strategies while staying alert so you can adapt and switch to a different plan quickly – if you have to.
Q: Do you have some email deliverability tips for our readers?
A: We wrote an entire guide on email deliverability – it’s a free resource we’re happy to share with everyone. If I were to sum it up, I’d say it’s all about your sender reputation.
How do Internet and email service providers see you? Are you taking your email marketing seriously and following best practices? Ask yourself these questions often and strive to solve every issue as soon as it occurs.
Here are some actionable tips to use regularly:
• stay on top of your email hygiene. Clean your list every quarter (at least) and install an email verification API on your signup forms. It’s so easy to do and keeps your database in shape.
• use the double opt-in. This subscription method requires new subscribers to confirm they really want to be on your mailing list. It reduces the amount of invalid and spam addresses you could collect, so don’t hesitate to implement it.
• email consistently. You can’t show up in people’s inboxes only when you have something to promote or sell. Make it a habit to email them at least once a month, ideally every week. Also, send your emails on the same day. The more familiar your audience becomes with your brand, the more it will interact with you. Not to mention you build a good rapport with Internet Service Providers, who are thus more likely to deliver your emails to the inbox.
Q: What is unusual or unique about your business, in comparison to your competitors or similar businesses?
A: What’s unusual, perhaps, is that although our team is spread across the world, we manage to be so well banded together. Of course, using email has a lot to do with that! We offer 24/7 customer support, so we’re always online and always working together.
When it comes to the service, what’s unique is that ZeroBounce is probably the most secure email verification service you can find. I don’t know of any other service that deploys the security mechanisms we do to keep data safe.
Then, ZeroBounce is more than an email verification system. Apart from cleaning email databases, we make them better by adding information to them.
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Q: What does that mean?
A: For example, if you’ve been gathering email addresses without asking for your subscribers’ names, we can append those names to your contacts, along with their gender and location (where available). This feature is free, it’s included in your email verification service, and comes in handy when you want to personalize your emails and segment your lists.
Also free is the removal of duplicate email addresses. Those emails that appear twice in your list and waste part of your marketing budget? We don’t charge for eliminating them.
Finally, a truly popular service on our platform is our scoring system. ZeroBounce A.I. uses artificial intelligence to return a quality score for each email address on your list. Not only will it score any lead, but it’s an excellent way to further validate catch-all emails. It’s been a real challenge-solver for our customers.
Q: What’s next for ZeroBounce and you personally?
A: We’re continuing to expand. Soon enough you’ll see a suite of new services on our platform, all meant to help our customers build healthier, more powerful email lists.
As for me, I’m beyond excited about these enhancements and working with our team to create an even better ZeroBounce. Running my businesses is a big part of my life and doesn’t leave me much personal downtime. On the other hand, how many people have the privilege I have? Entrepreneurship is a tough game, but it gives you back more than you put in. I can’t complain.
