Tech Leaders: Tal Raz, VP Product, Zoominfo

Welcome to my Tech Leaders Interview Series, where I interview impactful leaders and ask them to share tips and techniques that have benefited them, both in their personal and professional lives. 

This interview is with Tal Raz, VP Product Growth at Zoominfo. 

About Tal: 

Tal joined ZoomInfo 4.5 years ago as a marketing analyst when the today-2,000-employee-company had merely 200 employees, 7 of them in Israel. 

It’s her knack for numbers that allowed her to find opportunities to improve and grow the business. Tal – not being shy to take initiatives – quickly turned to the leading Marketing Operations manager, helping the marketing team grow – leading the company to one of the most successful IPOs of 2020.

Following the success, Tal was tasked with a mission to grow a world-class product organization. Rising to the challenge – she took full operational responsibility for the Product Operations, Product Design, Product Analytics, and Product Growth teams – leading the company in its bigger than ever challenge of expanding the product reach. 

What are your main productivity tips? 

Delegation of authority, trust in employees. Give them the feeling that I am behind them and believe in them.

Instead of managing employees in micro-management – I prefer to give them freedom. In order to be able to keep track of what the achievements and periods are, I prefer to sample them in macro form, less micro.

This allows me to conduct a much broader operation at once. Releases me from the small details.

And – on a practical level – to silence the slack. I may have a tendency to want to reply to every message, to respond to every group. So I just mute the app.

Q: What is your favorite drink? 

Moscow Mule. 

And there is an explanation for that. There are a lot of commutes from work. After a day of work, we usually go out for a drink with colleagues. Everyone very clearly orders a drink, and I always had to hesitate and order cocktails that I did not flow on – simply because I do not know cocktails. So I would order and not enjoy it. I once tried this drink, and since then – it’s my regular. And like everyone else – I honestly know what I want to order, and it conveys the peak of confidence.

Q: How do you deal with stress and anxiety?

Moscow Mule.

But seriously – there is a group of people at work that I know I can turn to. These are also people I have been running with for a while at work, but also those who know how to help me think rationally, break down the stress into factors. This is what helps me the most—the people around me.

Q: Your tips for aspiring entrepreneurs? 

Try. Dare. Not to be afraid. At worst — make a mistake and go back to the last point where we succeeded. But if you have already jumped into the pool – it does not matter what it’s depth is. The worst thing is not to try, not to dare. Then look back and regret not trying. If you do and do not succeed – look back on the road, what we learned, and what we did achieve. After all, today, we already have “not in hand.” Max – at the end, we will have a “yes.”

Q: If you could live anywhere, where would it be? 

New York. I love the noise, the mess, the life, the food. The pace is dizzying. I feel like I should have been born there. Or at least move there. It’s a city that is run just as I run my life. There is a correlation between who I am and this city.

Q: What is your favorite book recommendation? 

Between us – we read fewer books today. Yes – lots of professional content, blogs, etc. But if not a book, let’s go for something more original – a series – The Kardashians. Think about it – they are marketing geniuses and the best businesswomen in the world on how to take something and turn it into a brand anywhere, anytime. Chris Jenner is a marketing genius.

Q: Why are you in Tech? 

It’s like New York. I love the noise, the rhythm, the mess, the changes, the dynamics. There is no single moment that is boring – things are constantly evolving and changing. You can dare.

About Zoominfo: 

The ZoomInfo platform arms sales, marketing, and recruiting teams with the data, insights, and technology to help them target their next best customers with the right messages at the right times.

As a leading technology company, ZoomInfo has around 600 engineers and product managers, out of which more than 300 are in Israel – making Israel the company’s R&D and product motor. 

The company is growing super fast. At every given moment, we have dozens of open positions to fill in all R&D and product departments in ZoomInfo Israel (currently with a total of 360 employees).