WE GUIDED

Being an entrepreneur means dealing with situations where you’re on your own when it comes to challenges. You can’t always share your fears, excitement, and doubts with your coworkers because it could mess with your day-to-day work. That’s when you need a “business therapist,” and for me, that’s Dan.

Some interesting posts on LinkedIn, participation in a promotional workshop, and then a one-on-one discussion led to a two-year collaboration. If at first we started with the idea of preparing the company for a partial or total exit, along the way we found solutions to structural problems together. I learned what an investor looks for, I found answers to uncomfortable questions, questions that I probably wouldn’t have asked myself, I discovered tools used in similar projects.

The key elements of my collaboration with Dan are his real business experience and his clear and precise communication style. I believe that our shared passion for sports facilitated our collaboration, for which I am grateful.

The beginning of our collaboration was based on my need to better understand the direction I was heading in. Not necessarily for me as a person, although this aspect can also be discussed, but rather the direction I needed to take my business towards, correctly assessing resources in relation to the current market and, more importantly, future resources in relation to market dynamics.

The first meeting lasted about an hour, during which we discussed and understood that the path we have traveled so far, authentic in its deepest form, still has a pattern and, no matter how much we try to bring our personality into it, business works according to the rules of business.

Change means progress, and if we feel the need for change, let’s choose the right moment, model, and strategy! Of course, we can do this on our own, but now I know that with effective assistance and guidance, we reduce the risks.

I couldn’t find the “stars” on my keyboard, because I would have started this recommendation with 10.

Not five, like a Google review: 10, because our work together for over a year brings challenges, solutions, and clear decisions.

Some time ago, I considered the fact that a company that revolves around its founder and is completely subject to his actions cannot function and, above all, grow indefinitely.

So, after an assessment that explored many areas, such as growth potential, financial performance, and a few others that I didn’t know existed or could be assessed, I decided to enroll in the Exit by Choice program.

Thank you, Dan Berteanu, for all your support throughout this project and for crystallizing the direction that River Company SRL is taking.

“Do as the priest says, not as the priest does”: except that this time, it really is about “practicing what you preach.” After two years of him stressing me out every month to ask for testimonials from WATT UNIT partners, the inevitable moment arrived: Dan asked me for a testimonial. I thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. I tried to buy some time. I succeeded, temporarily. Then the deadline came.

I’ve known Dan for two years, but I feel like we’ve known each other forever. We met seemingly by chance, in an entrepreneurial mentoring context. I say “seemingly” because I don’t really believe in coincidences. Especially when people come along and turn your plans upside down… in a good way.

At first, I admit, I was suspicious. I didn’t really trust “people with concepts, ideas, training, and other stuff.” And Dan seemed like exactly the kind of person who would fuel my theories. Spoiler alert: he proved me wrong. Completely. But in a good way. A key moment was the discussion about the target. My answer? Obviously: “Dan, I’m the owner!” His reaction, calm and extremely annoyingly logical: “Okay. I know that. What I don’t know is what your target is this year.”

That’s when I realized I had a long road ahead of me. A long and serious one. From there, things started to fall into place: 1) structure, 2) departments, 3) the right people in the right places, 4) vision, mission, values. It took six months just to get to a point where I was satisfied. In the meantime, words like “scalability,” “recurring revenue,” and “growth potential” appeared in my vocabulary, which I asked to be translated into Romanian. Another memorable moment: someone asked me about “exit,” and I replied very seriously that we don’t have electric signage, but we do have signs marking the exits from the company. Dan didn’t laugh. He took note. And I realized that was exactly where the problem lay.

Working with Dan wasn’t about quick fixes or spectacular promises. It was about clarity. About moving from reaction to construction. About thinking of the business as a system, not as a succession of daily emergencies.

Today, after two years of collaboration, the progress is clear: more structure, more predictability, more confident decisions, and a clear direction for WATT UNIT. But perhaps most importantly, we have moved from “I am the owner” to “I know where we are going.”

Beyond business, a relationship of trust has also been built. Dan has become not only the mentor who asks the uncomfortable questions, but also the person with whom I can talk openly, without masks and without bullshit.

Happy birthday, Dan! Thank you for being patient and letting me come to the right conclusions on my own — even when I was convinced I already knew everything.

After a few challenging experiences in the M&A transactions area, meeting Dan provided the spark that seems to light up the string of lights on the path we have chosen with the company.

After a necessary period of trial and error to see where we are headed, he sets the boat in the right direction with the wind at our backs, senses the crew, that is, what each person is good at and what they can bring to the table, so you row with pleasure, and you perceive the beads of sweat on your forehead not as a sign of fatigue, but as a coolness that energizes you.

It’s nice how he swims in the market among sharks and, when necessary, knows their language, and you can touch them too, hand in hand with him. Honestly, I couldn’t help myself and asked around in the market about his character, and the answer was what I was looking for and hoping for: honest and discreet.

I have been working with Dan for almost two years, and I can say that the experience with him has fundamentally changed the way I view and run my business. I don’t even remember exactly how I came across his first online presentation, but I know that it captivated me from the very first minutes with its clarity, structure, and impeccable logic.

Throughout this period, I have accumulated a tremendous amount of valuable information. The program he runs is, in my opinion, exceptional, and I strongly believe that every entrepreneur should go through it before starting a business. If you build your company on Dan’s principles, success becomes a natural consequence.

Dan is the kind of professional who sets you on the right path after you identify it together. He has a fascinating way of leading you to your own conclusions, so that you can see for yourself where you need to apply yourself and what you need to do. He doesn’t offer superficial recipes, but helps you understand the essence and apply it in reality. He is concise, direct, and very grounded in reality. He gives you exactly the information you need to make good decisions and grow your business in a healthy way.

One of the most valuable things I have learned from our collaboration is that running a business that is ready to be sold gives you almost the same freedom as bringing in an investor. The structure, discipline, and clarity you build in the process free up your time, increase your options, and completely transform the way you work.

The impact of the program has been so great that I brought part of my team into the process to develop the company coherently in several directions. We are about to enter our third year of collaboration, and the enthusiasm is the same as on the first day. It was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I have made for myself and for the company.

As founder of Deja VU International, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Dan and the Exit by Choice team.

Over the past two years of collaboration, they have provided us not only with clarity in decision-making, but also with a well-defined roadmap for the growth of our company. With their help, we have undergone significant maturation and achieved quantifiable results. At times when the transition seemed impossible, their professional support was essential.

I warmly recommend Exit by Choice to any entrepreneur who wants secure and sustainable growth.