Vlad Niță – From Corporate to Entrepreneurship: The Journey of a Digital Marketing Expert

Discover the story of Vlad Niță, entrepreneur and digital marketing expert, about how he transformed his corporate experience into a successful agency and what authentic leadership truly means.

Vlad Niță is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketing expert with over 12 years of industry experience.

He began his career in international corporations, culminating in a role as Operations Manager at Facebook, where he managed large teams and had direct access to the most advanced digital advertising practices worldwide.

After this stage, he decided to return to Romania and transform the accumulated know-how into his own entrepreneurial project. This is how DoAds was born, a digital marketing agency that has grown steadily and become a benchmark in performance marketing nationally, working with hundreds of brands both in Romania and abroad.

Today, Vlad is the founder and CEO of DoAds, leading a team of over 20 people and actively involved in the development of DoAds Plus, a complete digital marketing management system.

Beyond business—and in his own words, the most important title—Vlad is a husband and father of two boys, a role in which he finds balance, motivation, and the deeper meaning behind every step he takes.

C&B: If we were to trace the narrative of your career, what were the key moments that defined you?

Vlad Niță: I think in my case, we need to talk about two different careers that succeeded each other: one in the corporate world and the other in entrepreneurship.
The first part of my career was in the corporate environment, where I advanced steadily, with the clear objective of developing professionally and personally. I always had a healthy ambition to understand how leadership works, how I could become a better manager, and how to coordinate larger and more efficient teams. This path led me to a position as Operations Manager at Facebook, where I managed a team of over 120 people. It was a period of enormous growth, but also a stage that prepared me, without me knowing it at the time, for what was to come.

The most important turning point was undoubtedly the moment I transitioned to entrepreneurship. It was a leap into the unknown, a leap accompanied by fears, uncertainties, questions, but one I took with the conviction that I could build something on my own. That was the start of my second career, perhaps the most challenging and transformative one.

In entrepreneurship, I had several key moments: founding DoAds, the agency I lead today, starting with an online store selling physical products, testing various local business ideas, and later being very active in the educational sphere by creating online courses about Digital Marketing. Another defining moment was when we decided not to limit ourselves to Facebook Ads and pivoted to multichannel marketing, integrating Google Ads, TikTok, email marketing, visual content creation, all within a coherent system.

A recent and very important point for me is that after 8 years of activity, we opened our first physical office in Sibiu.

And more than that, I can say with deep satisfaction that over all these years, we have managed to build a solid team of 20 valuable people who are now part of DoAds, and with whom I feel we can continue to build sustainably and long-term.

So, my career is not a linear path but rather a succession of leaps, pivots, and courageous decisions. If I were to draw a conclusion, I believe that the moment I chose to take the risk of going solo was what truly defined me.

C&B: What were the biggest challenges in developing the agency, and how did you overcome them?

Vlad Niță: Digital marketing is one of the most dynamic fields possible. It is an ecosystem that is constantly evolving, never waits for you, and if you do not adapt in time, you quickly fall behind. It’s a living, fluid world that requires not just reaction, but also anticipation.

This reality profoundly influenced the way we grew the agency. We started DoAds with a clear focus: to be the best at Facebook Ads in Romania. We weren’t interested in doing everything. I even told clients and colleagues: “I prefer to do one thing excellently than to spread ourselves thin in all directions.”

However, the market evolved, and client needs diversified. I understood that to remain relevant and effective, we had to expand our expertise. So we brought specialists in Google Ads, email marketing, visual content, and all aspects of digital marketing into the team. We transitioned to a multichannel marketing model, where each channel is professionally managed and aligned with a clear strategy.

One of the biggest challenges was during the pandemic. Before the lockdown, about 40% of our clients were local businesses. Practically, within a single month, a large part of the agency faced a harsh reality: a sudden portfolio collapse and total uncertainty.

I asked myself what to do: lay off people? Reduce salaries? Or move forward, taking the risk? I chose to continue without laying anyone off and without cutting salaries, because I felt that in tough times, it’s the direction that’s tested, not just the structure.

We invested more in advertising, reorganized, focused on excellence, and paradoxically, during that period, we managed to reinvent ourselves. We made a rapid transition to e-commerce, which exploded during the pandemic. Today, over 80% of our clients are e-commerce businesses, and that crisis became, in retrospect, a turning point in the agency’s evolution.

It was a real challenge, but also a profound lesson: when a crisis comes, you don’t change your values; you apply them more decisively.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?

Vlad Niță: I know it may sound cliché, but the reality is that my dream has always been to become an entrepreneur.
Even during university, and especially during my corporate years, I felt a constant desire to have the freedom to decide my own direction. It wasn’t just about having a business, but about building my own path, according to my pace and values.

Even when working in large companies and learning a lot, there was always in the background the feeling that at some point, I would take the step to go solo. I imagined how it would feel when there was no longer a superior to “listen to,” only my own decisions, good or bad, fully assumed.

Looking back, I can say with certainty that dream became a reality. After years of work, testing, courage, and sometimes sleepless nights, I managed to build a solid business, a team that shares the same values, and perhaps most importantly, a professional life where I feel I write my own script. It is a reality I longed for and now live with pride and gratitude.

C&B: What were you like at the beginning of the journey, and how do you feel you have transformed until now?

Vlad Niță: At the start, I was simply driven by blind motivation. I had dreams, goals, big ambitions, but no clarity, strategy, or concrete action plan. I knew what I wanted, but not how to get there.
Looking back, I realize I was living off a combination of enthusiasm, adrenaline, and instinct. Sometimes that helps, but it’s not enough.

Today, after nearly 10 years in entrepreneurship, things have changed radically. I am still motivated, perhaps even more so than before, but the major difference is that now I know exactly what I truly want to achieve and, more importantly, how to get there. I have a clarity that only experience, failures, lessons, and thousands of hours of work can provide.

If before I was just a man with big dreams, today I am a man with vision and direction. I no longer chase all opportunities chaotically; I know how to select the ones that bring me closer to what I want to build.

C&B: If we were to meet with your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?

Vlad Niță: I know they wouldn’t say I’m a demanding boss in the classic sense. I have never been the kind of leader who keeps score or leads through pressure.
What I would like them to say about me is that I am there, that they can rely on me, and that I support them in any situation.

I believe the team feels that I have always cared about their growth, not just about tasks or results. I try to pay attention to how I can help them become better at what they do, through honest feedback, direct conversations, and challenges that push them out of their comfort zone, but without leaving them alone there.

I have invested years in team culture, not just in numbers. For me, the relationship between us matters more than a specific client issue or a campaign that doesn’t perform perfectly. Over time, we have formed a team that feels more like a professional family than a traditional structure.

I like to believe that I manage to motivate them to want more from themselves. Not because I demand it, but because they understand they can and want to grow. And if I manage to create this context, then I feel I have done my job well as a leader.

C&B: What is the most important decision you have made that changed your trajectory?

Vlad Niță: Without a doubt, the most important decision was choosing to leave behind a solid, stable, and rapidly rising corporate career to embark on the path of entrepreneurship.

I was in an environment where I was growing professionally, achieving results, leading a large team, and holding a leadership position in a global company. From the outside, everything seemed ideal, but inside me, there had been a clear voice for years telling me that at some point I would need the courage to build my own path.

When I made the decision, I was sure it was what I wanted, but, of course, there were moments of uncertainty in the first months. You wake up without a safety net, without guarantees, only with your ideas, your laptop, and a lot of determination. It’s a form of total freedom, but also total responsibility.

Looking back, I know it was the decision that completely changed my trajectory, not just professionally but also personally. I have learned much more in these years than I would have in a predictable system, I have grown as a person, as a leader, and as a professional. And, perhaps most importantly, I have come to build a reality that truly belongs to me.

C&B: Tell us about a campaign you are particularly proud of – what made it special and what results did it generate?

Vlad Niță: It’s very difficult to choose a single campaign because over all these years we have had over 700 successful collaborations in various industries, from e-commerce, services, to local or international businesses.

But more important than a particular campaign is what motivates us most as an agency.
Our greatest satisfaction comes not when we run large budgets (even though we have managed over €40 million in ad spend), but when a client comes to us at a difficult moment, without results, without direction, sometimes even close to closing their business, and we manage together to turn everything 180 degrees.

We dedicate ourselves completely to those clients who want real change, and when we see that in a few months they go from “I don’t know if I can continue” to “I can’t keep up with orders,” that’s where our pride and satisfaction lie. The fact that our ideas, strategy, ads, messages, and content transform a business path radically is what gives meaning to what we do.

For us, the best campaign is the one that changes a business’s destiny. And when the client’s success becomes our success, we know we’ve done our job.

C&B: What sets DoAds apart from other digital advertising agencies in Romania? What is your philosophy when working with brands and entrepreneurs?

Vlad Niță: I think one of the most visible differences is the way we approach digital marketing and client relationships.
Yes, we provide individual services, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, email marketing, but we always look at the bigger picture. We don’t just execute; we try to understand how everything fits into a coherent strategy.

Often, when a client requests a specific service, we start with questions: “What is the goal of this campaign? What happens after the click? How does the website look? What communication do you have after conversion?” Because no matter how well a campaign is executed, if there isn’t a system behind it, results are limited.

The difference isn’t in the platforms we work with but in how we integrate them and make decisions. We’ve built a clear system with tested procedures, where all channels work together: PPC, email, visual, analysis, optimization. We work with precise objectives and make daily decisions based on data, not assumptions.

Our philosophy with entrepreneurs is simple: we are partners, not just executors. We take responsibility for what works and what doesn’t. We tell it straight if an idea doesn’t make sense or if a direction is worth testing. We are involved, not just present.

We believe a business grows sustainably when marketing is treated seriously but also flexibly. And we are there to organize, ask the right questions, and build something that lasts, not just deliver “good campaigns” in the short term.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and what moments bring you the greatest satisfaction?

Vlad Niță: Although I would like to be 100% involved in direct client relations, I have realized that my real role is to be close to the team and help them understand how I think, how I make decisions, and how I approach performance. Because if I manage to transfer this mindset and way of working to the team, we can help far more clients than I could alone, no matter how involved I am.

A day in my life never looks the same because I structure my schedule around weekly objectives.
Monday is dedicated to management: we make decisions with the coordinator team, reviewing what works and what needs adjustment.
Tuesday is financial strategy day: I analyze numbers, margins, forecasts, and resources.
Wednesday is team day: 1:1 meetings, feedback, training, internal processes.
Other days I focus on content, visibility, partnerships, personal branding, or product development.

My main responsibilities are essentially divided into two clear directions:
Helping the team grow, both professionally and personally (through feedback, structure, and clear processes)
Developing the business: attracting new clients, promoting our services, and opening new opportunities for DoAds.

The greatest satisfaction comes when I see real progress, whether in people or business. When someone on the team takes a step forward, when we improve a process, or when a new client tells us it’s exactly what they were looking for, I know the day was worth it.

C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do, and how do you apply them daily?

Vlad Niță: One of the fundamental values I follow is respect for the responsibility we have when someone entrusts us with promoting their business.
For an entrepreneur, a business is not just a P&L or a set of objectives. It is often their dream, their family’s security, the hope that they can build something meaningful. We never treat this as “just another client.” In every project, we honestly ask: “What can we do to help this person achieve more stability, growth, and prosperity?”

We are happy when someone chooses to work with us, but above all, we are aware of the immense trust that comes with that choice. It is a trust we try to honor through genuine involvement, transparency, and professionalism.

The second important value is care for the team.
For me, the people I work with are not just colleagues or employees. They are part of a professional family I have built over time, with patience and intention. I believe any healthy business is built from the ground up: if the team is well, the business is well. So I invest heavily in being close to them, creating a growth context, and fostering a culture based on trust, not control.

And perhaps the most important principle I operate by is that my business’s purpose is not just to make money. Profit matters, of course, but it is not the main driver.
The real purpose is to help others have a better life. Whether it’s clients achieving more success or colleagues growing into better versions of themselves, true achievement for me is when what we do produces good, not just numbers.

C&B: How did the idea for DoAds come about, and what inspired you to build a performance marketing agency in such a competitive market?

Vlad Niță: The idea for DoAds came in 2017, while I was working at Facebook in their Lisbon office.
From my position as Operations Manager, I had access and administrative visibility to absolutely all ad accounts worldwide. I could analyze campaigns, strategies, and funnels, both from Romania and more advanced markets.
Looking at what was happening in Romania, it became clear to me that there was a major lack of know-how and real implementation of digital marketing strategies. Funnels were almost non-existent, approaches were often reactive, and the potential was much higher than what was happening in the ad accounts.

That triggered not only the marketing professional in me but also the long-standing desire I had: to become an entrepreneur. I felt it was the right moment to bring real value to the market with the knowledge and experience I had directly from one of the largest tech companies in the world. This is why I created dozens of courses teaching Romanian entrepreneurs how to implement effective marketing.

This is how DoAds was born—from a combination of clear observation, timing, and confidence that I could build something different, more applied, more professional, that truly helps entrepreneurs achieve better results.

C&B: What are your plans for the near future of DoAds – expansion, new services, international partnerships?

Vlad Niță: Currently, our priority is the development of the in-house content creation department, which we launched last year.
Until now, DoAds was mainly known for performance marketing, PPC campaigns, strategy, and optimization. But we felt that to deliver complete and sustainable results, we needed control over content as well.

So we started closing the loop. Today, we not only handle the technical implementation of campaigns but can build a full funnel from idea, strategy, creative concepts, to actual content delivery—whether video, photo, copy, or website. We brought experienced people in visual production and creative direction into the team, and our focus is to strengthen this direction.

Digital marketing is changing. Platforms are becoming increasingly automated, algorithms harder to control, and we as marketers have fewer “buttons” to push. In this context, what differentiates a successful campaign from one that is ignored is the content. That’s why we invest in this area, because this is where the battle for attention and conversions really takes place.

In addition, we have a clear plan for international expansion. Starting in 2025, we are targeting the DACH region: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, where we believe we can replicate our marketing management model and create content adapted to the local culture but with the know-how we’ve accumulated in Romania. It is a natural step in DoAds’ development, after internally validating the DoAds Plus model and building a mature team capable of managing projects on a larger scale.

Vlad Niță demonstrates how passion, courage, and perseverance can turn a solid career into a successful entrepreneurial journey.