Nicolas Finet
Author profile

Nicolas Finet - CEO Sortlist + Overloop

Nicolas Finet is CEO of Sortlist (1.2M+ B2B agency-client matches) and Overloop (450M+ contacts, AI-powered prospecting). 10+ years building outbound systems for European B2B teams. Author of 100+ guides on cold email, GDPR compliance, LinkedIn automation, and AI sales tools - based on data from 1.2M Overloop sequences and 600K monthly Sortlist demands.

Credentials

Role
CEO, Sortlist
Brussels · Co-founded 2014 · 1.2M+ B2B matches to date
Role
CEO, Overloop
Since acquisition 2024 · AI outbound platform · 450M+ contacts
Authored
100+ blog articles
Cold email, RGPD, LinkedIn outreach, AI sales tools
Speaking
SaaStock, Sortlist events, podcasts
European SaaS B2B, agency growth, outbound
Languages
French · English · Dutch
Based in Brussels, Belgium
Data sources
600K Sortlist demands/mo
Plus 1.2M+ Overloop sequences (2025-2026)

Topics I cover

Everything I write on this blog comes from running outbound for Sortlist's own pipeline, dogfooding Overloop with 450M contacts, and watching what 600K monthly demand requests reveal about how European B2B teams actually buy.

B2B Sales & Outbound Prospecting Cold Email Compliance (RGPD, CNIL, UWG, GDPR) LinkedIn Outreach & Sales Navigator AI Sales Tools & Automation Sortlist proprietary data (600K demands/mo) European SaaS B2B

Recent articles

A sample of guides I have written or co-written on this blog. Every comparison piece is tested for 14+ days hands-on by our three-person review team - see how we test sales tools.

Alternatives
20 Best Apollo Alternatives (2026)
Buyer's guide
Best AI Sales Tools 2026: Buyer's Guide
Listicle
Best Cold Email Software 2026 (14 Tested)
Listicle
14 Best AI BDR Tools in 2026 (Tested & Compared)
Listicle
13 Best AI LinkedIn Outreach Tools (2026)
Listicle
12 Best AI Email Outreach Tools (2026)
Alternatives
7 Best Instantly Alternatives (2026)
Alternatives
9 Best Lemlist Alternatives in 2026
Alternatives
8 Best Outreach.io Alternatives (2026)
Comparison
Top Sales Engagement Platforms (2026 Guide)

Why I write about this

I do not write to fill a content calendar. Every piece on this blog answers a question I have actually had to solve - for Sortlist's own outbound, for an Overloop customer running EU campaigns under CNIL scrutiny, or for an agency rebuilding their cold email stack after Apollo's data fell over in DACH. I write what I would tell a CEO friend over coffee, with the receipts: Sortlist's 600K monthly demands, Overloop's 1.2M sequences, the legal sources, the bounce rates we actually saw. No affiliate kickbacks, no vendor briefings dressed up as opinion. If a tool wins, I say why. If it loses, I say where it loses and to whom.

What I have built

Sortlist started in 2014 as a way to fix a broken match between B2B buyers and the agencies they hire. Eleven years later, the platform has processed over 1.2M matches, runs in 11 languages, and handles roughly 600K demand requests per month across Europe. Every product decision I have made on Sortlist has run into the same pattern: buyers do not lack tools, they lack signal. That insight is what pushed me to acquire Overloop in 2024 - outbound was the other side of the same coin. Where Sortlist surfaces buyer demand, Overloop turns seller intent into pipeline.

Running both companies in parallel means I see the full B2B funnel - the demand side, the supply side, and what breaks in between. The articles I write here come straight from that vantage point. Cold email best practices are different when you have watched 600K monthly demands tell you exactly which subject lines French CMOs respond to. RGPD compliance becomes concrete when you have actually had a CNIL inspector on the phone. AI sales tools stop sounding magical when you have watched the same prompt write three different lies about the same prospect on the same morning.

How I work with the rest of the team

I do not test tools alone. The blog runs on a three-person review pipeline:

No comparison piece on this blog ships without all three signatures. We disagree often. The disagreements end up being the most useful part of the article.

Get in touch

Spotted an error or have a tool you want tested? LinkedIn DM is the fastest channel - I read every message. For corrections to specific articles, email corrections@overloop.com with the URL and the issue. We update factually-incorrect content within 7 days. See the full testing methodology for how every comparison on this blog is built.