Peter Horan Steps Down as Goodmail CEO

Peter Horan’s two-year run as Goodmail’s CEO came to an end on Feb. 12, though the Internet marketing veteran will stay on as chairman for the certified e-mail service provider. Speaking with ClickZ late Thursday afternoon, Horan confirmed an Internet rumor that he had stepped down.

Daniel Dreymann, currently co-founder/president of the seven-year-old Goodmail, said he’d “eventually” assume the CEO title – which he held for one year prior to Horan’s arrival. Going forward, Horan (pictured right) said he will provide strategy for the brand and described the relational switch-up as a friendly decision between the two executives.

“As we talked about what I wanted to do, what he wanted to do, and what’s in the best interest of the company, we decided to re-tune the balance of who did what,” Horan said. “He was ready to take on the day-to-day, and I was comfortable participating in a more strategic role as chairman… I was also ready to do more with some other things I have going on.”

Trip planning Web site Nile Guide and social media agency Viral Heat were two of the names Horan mentioned that he has advised in the past and plans to become more involved with. He also suggested wanting more time to focus on the executive board roles he has for the trade organization Interactive Advertising Bureau and financial services brand LendingTree.

Horan said Goodmail hired him in May 2008 with two specific “to-dos” in mind. “One was to go out and raise a round of funding, which we did,” he said. “We did a $25 million round led by [investment firms] Bessemer Venture Partners and DCM… And we had to demonstrate that marketers would pay for certified e-mail, which we really did last year.”

Addressing the latter point, Horan said the company has been converting 72 percent of the business leads testing its 30-day, free-trial offer for its certified e-mail sender service. Meanwhile, Dreymann downplayed any major shift in leadership style now that he’s assumed control again for the Mountain View, CA-based firm.

Dreymann disclosed Goodmail will release a new service called “CertifiedCommerce” in the coming weeks. It will let senders facilitate sales within the body of an e-mail, he explained. In other words, recipients will not have to click through to a landing page to purchase what’s offered.