Eugen Ilie

Founder

2024 - Current

I help startups and companies succeed by 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 that drive real, sustainable growth. My mission is simple: 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆. Every call, every strategy, and every action we take will be focused on delivering value and empowering you to reach your goals.

Growth Mentor

2024

Core Team Senior Director of Growth Marketing Strategy

2022 - 2024

As a full-time, core team member at Toptal, I led cross-functional initiatives to drive scalable growth, optimize revenue efficiency, and strengthen our market position. I spearheaded the launch of new categories—including Marketing, Technology Services, and Management Consulting—and supported the development of innovative delivery models like Managed Delivery. I’ve reduced SEM spend which contributed to improvements on the LTV/CAC metric through vertical and skill-specific analysis and relaunched the SEM account structure, deploying RSAs at scale. Partnering closely with data teams, I built a prioritization framework focused on high-impact, revenue-generating projects. Additionally, I implemented the PartnerStack platform, developing payout structures and expanding partnerships. As the lead Growth Marketing Strategist, I played a critical role in reviewing and approving all marketing content and campaigns across paid media, SEO, social media, case studies, website changes and new web pages deployment.

VP of Growth

2021 - 2022

At Steady, I managed end-to-end growth initiatives, driving a 128% increase in new users within one year through product and marketing synergies. I oversaw acquisition channels across Organic, Paid Social, Programmatic, and Partnerships, achieving 10% growth across these channels. This expansion included launching a new referral platform, scaling partnerships, and executing TOFU/virality campaigns. I launched our site on Webflow and implemented critical SEO strategies, which significantly contributed to organic growth. Additionally, I managed acquisition separately for Android and iOS, tracking core metrics to ensure platform-specific optimization. Despite challenges from Apple’s ATT rollout, I sustained growth by refining our strategies and pivoting acquisition efforts. Key results included: • Boosted bank account linking conversion rates by 11%. • Increased revenue engagement metrics by 98%. • Achieved a 32.96% QoQ increase in deep-link activity through optimized campaign performance. • Drove revenue engagement up 14.4% QoQ for new users and 19.5% for returning users. • Increased quarterly active users by 12% QoQ. • Led revenue growth of 124% within two quarters. I also launched a successful OOH (Out-Of-Home) campaign, deploying billboards across multiple cities. We implemented a differences-in-differences model to measure the incrementality of the campaign’s impact on user acquisition and assess incrementality.

Head of Growth

2019 - 2021

Responsible for growth across the organization - acquisition metrics and strategies to decrease costs while targeting the right customers based on 13 months PV and LTV • Worked across the organization in Support and Customer Success to improve retention strategies • Data analytics hands-on - Build scorecards for the organization to report on cohort views on conversions and customer LTV • In Q3 worked extensively on improving the data consistency and parity between external platforms (Marketo, Zendesk, Snowflake, etc) and Copper’s CRM as well as deploying new processes through Boomi to achieve data parity • Rebuilt the data sources for data feeding into Copper which improved the account level visibility for Sales and Customer Success teams • Ran experiments (A/B tests) in-app and website to improve conversions from a Trial to a Paid Subscription (applied statistical rigor to data and results)

Director Customer Marketing

2018 - 2019

At GoDaddy, I led customer marketing initiatives across all regions and products, focusing on retention, customer engagement, and revenue growth. I owned the strategy, roadmap, and execution of key deliverables, working closely with cross-functional teams, including Product Marketing Managers (PMMs), Product, Customer Experience (CX), Email Execution Pods, and Advanced Analytics. I collaborated with international leaders from Canada, Australia, and India to align on strategies, optimize pricing, and enhance renewal processes, driving higher customer yield. In partnership with product leads, I executed initiatives to maintain retention and increase engagement. Additionally, I ran large-scale discount campaigns designed to improve retention and drive positive revenue yield.

Head of Growth -LendUp

2016 - 2018

Head of Growth for the Loans business. • Led growth initiatives that contributed to LendUp’s rapid expansion, reaching $100M in revenue within 2.5 years. • Managed acquisition and retention strategies across lending products, driving consistent customer growth. • Collaborated with product and analytics teams to optimize the funnel, improving conversion rates and reducing churn. • Designed cross-channel marketing campaigns (SEM, affiliate, and partnerships) that fueled 100% YoY growth. “He was one of the main contributors to our 100% YoY growth for years, reaching $100M of revenue in 2.5 years.” — Sasha Orloff, LendUp Co-Founder

Head of Affiliate, Partnerships & Integrations

2014 - 2016

My responsibilities include: • Building and maintaining the Affiliate and Partnership relationships • Working with the Legal, compliance and vendor management business units • The overall channel's P&L • Product development • Optimize partner implementations • Funnel and conversion rate optimization

Co-Founder & CEO

2013 - 2014

We've created the concept of Text9 initially as an application in our marketing agency. Ended up to become a SaaS on its own. ---- Engage. Acquire. Retain. Make Raving Fans with Text9 Problem: 97% Lost Customers on mobile - high abandonment rate on mobile devices. Solution: Engage your mobile customers before they leave your site. • Text9 was the an advanced mobile customer acquisition tool that empowers your company to acquire and retain your mobile customer. My responsibilities included: • Product Development • Growth Strategy and channel diversification • PPC, SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Media Buying • Client Management & Business Development • Revenue Forecasting

Co-Founder & CEO

2013 - 2014

BuyerCentric’s value proposition: Leader in online customer acquisition with over 15 years experience in online marketing, allows the buyer, to receive traffic, calls, and leads using the highest compliance standards. Each click, call, and lead is fully branded to a specific business, allowing business owners and customers to engage in a one-to-one relationship and achieve the highest conversion rates. Industries Serviced: Insurance, Legal, Financial

Sr. Vice President, Product & Technology

2013 - 2013

LeadPile is the premier exchange for lead buyers and sellers across multiple verticals. Lead buyers can buy exclusive and qualified leads in real time, while lead sellers enjoy the ability to distribute their leads among a nationwide network of lead buyers. Eugen Ilie offered leadership while building some of the most innovative technologies and processes in the market, which helped the company grow their revenues year over year. The company was listed in the Inc5000 list 4 years consecutively. 2011 Revenue: $25.2M 3-Year Growth: 191% Location: Phoenix, AZ Employees: 19

Operations/Marketing

2002 - 2013

I worked on the work flow around go to market product roadmap, while maintaining a steady movement and growth pattern toward internal customer acquisition. I also helped with launching one the first ping tree technologies (ping/post) in the industry. Highlights: • Marketing analysis and product marketing strategies • Responsible for all the internal media buying and marketing campaigns (being one of the first search engine marketing experts in the industry - started first PPC campaigns on GoTo /Overture which later became Yahoo) • Created and managed re-marketing and customer retention campaigns - email, customer portals • Contributor for the DMConfidential.com (Industry publication) - Tip of the week column • Engaged daily with company’s clients to increase product adoption and overall sales