Address the World and Exclude Nobody with Textmetrics

Marcel Leeman, CEO, and founder of Textmetrics tells us about quality content writing & real-time improvement suggestions.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Marcel Leeman: We at Textmetrics feel most of all for all the people all over the world that are suffering as a result of this pandemic. At Textmetrics we feel lucky that the crisis has not hit us that hard. We are hoping that vaccination programs all over the world will quickly improve the health of everyone. And that we can go back to our ‘normal’ lives very soon. We especially think about the less fortunate countries in the world and support any initiative to get vaccines to them as well.

Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded Textmetrics.

Marcel Leeman: After being responsible for the internet development of the largest insurance company in the Netherlands, my business partner and I decided to start our own business. We started a platform that enabled insurance advisors to be found on the internet. After selling this company we evaluated that one of the most difficult elements of that business was to make sure that all content was produced on a consistent high-quality level. For example, in terms of brand identity, SEO rules, gender-neutral content, without excluding people and without using complex language. That was the start of Textmetrics.

How does Textmetrics innovate? 

Marcel Leeman: Our platform is built on data and all types of algorithms. We use Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to power our platform. We have a department we call “Lab” to make sure we have a continuous innovation process. Because the fields of language, NLP, and AI always keep developing. 

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business and how are you coping?

Marcel Leeman: Luckily, it did not affect our company much. Without this pandemic, our company most likely would have grown even faster, but you will never know this for sure. We can only guess.

Did you have to make difficult choices and what are the lessons learned?

Marcel Leeman: We have to make difficult choices almost every day. We are always short on capacity and time. But these are all positive choices as a result of our ambitions and current growth.

What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to navigate this crisis?

Marcel Leeman: Of course, we have to work from home and do not often get together in person. We use all kinds of tools to talk to each other online. And we have other online activities to make work a bit more fun. In these strange times, without seeing your colleagues at the office, it’s even more important to focus on team building and once in a while checking in with each other. Good (mental) health is key to navigating through this crisis.   

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Marcel Leeman: We do not really have competitors. Some companies cover partly what we do, but they don’t have all the aspects we offer. For instance, they only focus on elements like brand identity, SEO, diversity, and inclusion (D&I), or they only operate in the recruitment or marketing industry. Textmetrics covers all of this, and even more. And not only in English: our platform currently supports 12 languages.

Your final thoughts?

Marcel Leeman: These may not be the easiest times to keep your business running and innovative. But at Textmetrics, we don’t know any better than to focus on innovation. So, we will work every day on improvements and stay ahead of our competition. This we hope to do in good health, of course, with the whole team. And hopefully, we will soon be able to return to normal life, including being at the office on working days. And then we will grow even faster, and become more innovative than we already are. Stay healthy, and stay safe!

Your website?

www.textmetrics.com