"Success is the joy of doing what you love with a purpose – serving others."
Liviu Tanase Tweet
Welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview with Liviu Tanase, the visionary entrepreneur and founder of ZeroBounce.
In this in-depth conversation, we delve into the fascinating journey of a business maven whose passion for technology and commitment to solving real-world problems have propelled him to the forefront of the industry.
From his early foray into entrepreneurship in Europe to founding multiple tech companies and eventually establishing ZeroBounce in the United States, Liviu Tanase’s trajectory is a testament to relentless innovation and strategic thinking.
As the CEO of ZeroBounce, a leading email validation and finding platform, Tanase shares insights into the challenges faced by businesses, his approach to fostering employee happiness, and the company’s remarkable achievements, including a prestigious spot on the Inc. 5000 list.
Join us as we explore Tanase’s perspectives on the ever-evolving landscape of business and technology, his reflections on success, and his vision for thriving in 2024 and beyond.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Liviu Tanase: It’s a great pleasure to be with you and your readers. Call me Liviu.
I’ve got several passions, but the ones that border on obsession for me are business and technology. Figuring out how to use technology to help people save time and make more money is something I’m involved in and think about a lot.
Business started early for me. I started my very first business in Europe when I was still very young and since then, founded several tech companies.
About nine years ago, I moved to the US to pursue my bigger business goals and expose myself to a new culture and business environment. It’s been such an incredible experience so far!
One of my businesses in Europe focused on email sending, and a challenge we had was data decay. Email addresses go bad quickly.
Those emails bounce back – and that causes companies to lose money. My team and I set out to solve this problem in a better, faster, and more secure way. That’s how ZeroBounce was born.
It’s an email validation and email finding platform now helping more than 300,000 companies get better email marketing results.
Some of our customers are Amazon, Netflix, and Disney, but we also serve smaller businesses and even solo business owners trying to monetize their email newsletters.
I gathered some of the smartest and most experienced people on my team. People who never settle or think something is “good enough.”
We’ve never stopped making our products better, which is why ZeroBounce experienced success so early. Within three years, we were no. 40 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America.
When I’m not working on the latest ideas, I love chess. Also, ask me about the latest movie I watched. Every night is movie night.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, are an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle to keep talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are you adapting to the current shift we see?
Liviu Tanase: I always think about the top reason someone regularly shops at one grocery store for years and then goes somewhere else.
It’s not typically because of store cleanliness, convenience, or even price. It’s because the customer perceives an attitude of indifference. Indifference will cost you more than anything in this life.
That 82% number is telling and also the answer to that problem. The answer to employee retention is hearing your people. Value them and strive to understand where they are coming from.
What keeps employees happy? When you try to find out what they want and surpass their wishes. Having an employee ask for a raise and agree to it is one thing.
It’s another thing to call or email them and let them know you just gave them a raise because you see what a hard worker they are.
I don’t need to adapt in this case because ZeroBounce is a leader. We never participated in the current miasma out there.
Here is a two-fold question: What is the book that influenced you the most and how? Please share some life lessons you learned. Now what book have you gifted the most and why?
Liviu Tanase: Books are a vital part of my life. What book influenced me the most: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
For a book that’s 1,800 years old, it is the most inspirational I’ve read, but it is also the one I have given more copies to friends and associates. I give it to people because I like hearing their reactions to what Marcus Aurelius wrote.
The one quote from Meditations that has jolted me the most through the years is: “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Whenever I’m unsure of something, I reflect on those words and consider that time is always ticking. Then I go in the right direction and always consider how you should strive for goodness more than success.
Meditations is an exercise in self-mastery. For instance, take these lines: “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
I’ve learned that you are the ultimate authority of how you feel. If you allow events and people to control you, you’ll be like a boat without sails or oars in the middle of a storm. Self-control and mastery are your navigational tools to get you wherever you want to go.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Liviu Tanase: The real challenge right now is the endless distractions that make up the daily life of the modern human being. I see this as an obstacle for children, young people at their first job, and executives. The world now has a million pings, chimes, and notifications.
We can use technology to help us, but all too easily, technology can use us. It all comes down to mindfulness.
More than a few times throughout the day, you must exist without a technological device in your hand or pocket or even connected to your Bluetooth earbuds.
When we step away from the gadgets, we’ll find we can use them more effectively and purposefully when we return to them.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Liviu Tanase: It’s tough to find out everything your team is going through, especially when you have a lot of team members. Some people will tell you everything.
Other people are more demure. You’ll be disadvantaged if you don’t know what people need to do daily and their feelings.
You can’t know everything, but you’ve got to try. It’s challenging to keep a pulse on what workers are doing when they’re scattered around the world.
But you’ll never regret learning whatever you can about what the different subsections of your company each do. Get to know the team leaders and, when possible, some of the people on the ground.
What does “success” in 2024 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Liviu Tanase: Bob Dylan said, “a man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”
That always impressed me because it made me realize that everything I do is because I want to do it. Making a living is motivating, but it’s not the main thing.
Success for a person or a business is the same. Doing it because you want to, and inevitably, that thing you do is about service to others.
Every job is a service job if you’re doing it right. You’ve missed the boat if you’re not trying to be of service.
Sometimes, an idea doesn’t have the exact outcome you envisioned. It happens. But if you’re always being a helper, you can rest assured that you never waste time.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Liviu Tanase for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Liviu Tanase or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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