Iulian Stanciu: The progress of an organization is given by the capacity to learn from its failures

Some conversations clarify what matters. Especially when you’re just starting as a founder, or you have reached a pivotal point in the development of your business and you feel the need for a second opinion, to get inspired or just to have a sparring partner alongside you.

That’s what Endeavor is trying to bring to the table with the Business Breakfast series.

Our first Business Breakfast of the year brought Iulian Stanciu, Executive Chairman of eMAG, and Endeavor Romania Board Member in the middle of a group of 14 entrepreneurs.

His examples from eMAG’s journey were particularly insightful for our guests who engaged in the discussion with challenging questions and personal examples.

On business, strategies and company culture with Iulian Stanciu

Throughout the event, topics such as how to build a long term strategy took center stage, including the significance of aligning with customer perception, building a culture inside the company, continuous learning, building an effective board and offering the team room to grow and ways to take responsibility for their work.

Here are some conclusions that stuck with us from the conversation between Iulian Stanciu and the founders present at our first breakfast of 2026:

First, culture as an operating system: decisions grounded in data, decentralized authority paired with real accountability, and continuous measurement embedded in day-to-day interactions. Organizations progress but because of their capacity to learn systematically from both success and failure.

Iulian shared insights into the strategy he and his team use at eMAG, where they try to do a continuous debrief on the projects they employ that both work and don’t have the expected outcome. The goal is to transform challenges into learning opportunities.

“Black Friday was an open window into the future, in the first edition we wanted to make a projection on how this project would work in 5 years time. It was, and still is, a fantastic learning opportunity with every edition that we organize”.

Second, focus: early-stage entrepreneurs are overwhelmed by opportunity. The hard part is choosing what deserves attention now. Ambitious long-term objectives, clear ownership, weekly execution rhythms, and consistent strategic reviews create momentum that lasts.

“As an entrepreneur you need to say “no” to 95% of things and “yes” to just 5% of the opportunities around you”, Iulian told the founders at the first event in 2026 of your Business Breakfast series.

Third, context: without deeper pools of capital and stronger economic infrastructure, entrepreneurship cannot scale at a national level. Infrastructure, access to funding, and the ability to generate demand are structural factors that shape what companies can realistically achieve.

If we want stronger companies, we need sharper operators, stronger support systems and the patience to build over time.

The Endeavor Breakfast Series

These are monthly sessions focused on a specific area where founders consistently encounter blind spots once their companies begin to expand: how culture evolves during rapid growth, how product and engineering functions must adapt to new levels of complexity, what disciplined growth execution looks like, how diaspora experience informs market entry, and what legal and governance requirements become unavoidable as companies mature.

The format is simple. We invite operators, investors and legal experts with direct experience in these matters, and we facilitate conversations that allow founders to test their assumptions, compare approaches and understand the consequences of decisions made early.

The discussions are practical and often highly technical, covering issues such as the minimum conditions for market-readiness, the distinction between early growth tactics and scalable models, or the documentation required before entering a fundraising process.

What has become increasingly clear to us is the value of curating spaces where founders can speak openly about the challenges that rarely surface in public forums – creating a network of trust. The Breakfasts offered a setting where they could compare experiences and understand that many of the difficulties they face are shared rather than isolated. That sense of openness creates a sense of unity and camaraderie so necessary in entrepreneurship, especially coming from emerging markets.

We are grateful to UniCredit Bank Romania for supporting the Endeavor Breakfast series.