Jesse Hanley is a self-taught developer and marketer from Australia who lives in Japan. He launched Bento, an email service provider, in 2018 after managing campaigns from his marketing agency.
He says Bento is an artisanal provider, akin to a high-end coffee shop. He aims for self-funded growth and quality customers who seek excellent email deliverability.
He and I discussed those goals and more in our recent conversation. The entire audio is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.
Eric Bandholz: Tell us what you do.
Jesse Hanley: I run Bento, an Australia-based email service provider operating from Kyushu, Japan. We’re like a local artisanal coffee shop compared to big players such as Klaviyo and Mailchimp. Our focus is ecommerce and SaaS, offering personalized service.
Before Bento, I ran a marketing agency, where I encountered email service providers and got more involved in marketing automation. After selling the agency, I fully transitioned to Bento. It’s been challenging, but the simplicity of the business surprised me. If we provide good service, clients are eager to switch to Bento because they want to be heard and treated well. I aim to grow Bento, stay self-funded, and ensure excellent deliverability to attract good customers who follow best practices.
Bandholz: How do you distinguish your brand from giants like Klaviyo and Mailchimp?
Hanley: We focus on deliverability and user experience. I built features that I wanted from my own email marketing experience. For instance, we offer batch sending, which allows users to send large campaigns over several days. This helps ISPs assess the reputation of emails.
If they make mistakes, users can pause a campaign, fix it, and resume without stress. Bento also includes built-in protections against list bombing and spam, plus an API for email validation. Unlike larger providers, Bento aims to offer a more relaxing, streamlined experience. Customers often find Bento easier to use than competitors, especially as we’ve improved the platform in the last two years.
Bandholz: We’ve used Klaviyo for 10 years. Moving seems like a huge process. What’s it like to switch platforms and recreate all emails, campaigns, and automation?
Hanley: Switching depends on the complexity of your automation. Basic flows like welcome emails and abandoned cart sequences are easy to migrate. For more complex setups, my team can help move everything over. The biggest challenge is integrations. If you rely on third-party tools, Bento may not support them all, but there are often alternatives.
Once the data flows into Bento and automations are set, it’s a smooth transition. The key is ensuring essential integrations are in place before migrating.
Bandholz: What are some of the best deliverability practices for email marketers in 2025?
Hanley: Start by getting the basics right. Ensure DNS records include SPF and DKIM so emails come from your domain, not the provider. It’s crucial that all content aligns with your brand to avoid issues with spam filters. You want to ensure images and tracking URLs are hosted on your own domain to prevent flags from shared resources.
While IP reputation still matters, it’s less of a concern if you follow best practices and avoid sending unsolicited emails. A dedicated IP helps avoid sharing a pool with potentially risky users, especially for larger brands.
Issues often arise from sign-up forms that aren’t secure, leading to spam sign-ups. It’s common for businesses to unknowingly email a large number of invalid subscribers, which harms deliverability.
Clean your lists regularly to remove non-engaged users and watch for spikes in sign-ups, especially from unsecured forms. For this reason, we take extra steps to secure forms and limit spam at Bento. Implementing double opt-ins can also help ensure the legitimacy of sign-ups. With these steps, businesses can improve list quality and optimize email marketing strategies.
Bandholz: What’s on the roadmap for Bento?
Hanley: My goal is to keep improving and address customer needs as they arise. Most days, I wake up, see what’s trending, and work on what inspires me. Recently, I worked on flow automations. Today, I’m focused on a preference management system for the unsubscribe page, letting users easily opt in or out of lists.
One feature I’m building is an in-depth CRM to help businesses like Beardbrand manage customer types, such as wholesalers. Another project is a landing page builder for creating opt-ins. Outside of that, I want to continue improving email marketing and automation.
Bandholz: How can listeners sign up for Bento or reach out?
Hanley: Go to Bentonow.com. On X, @Bento. My personal X handle is @JesseTHanley.