Commercial Director
Structured, focused on facts and the big-picture context. A planner today and an executor on the very same day.
Structure,
context and data
for decisions and execution
Twenty years inside a top-tier strategy firm. That seniority now goes straight into your decisions, with no overhead.
Senior judgement,
delivered firsthand
20+
Years experience
60+
Projects delivered
Management supportTransformationEPR & DRSRecycling economicsGrowth strategyBusiness plansDue diligenceMarket studiesCost optimisation
Senior interventions
About
What you see is what you get, and the figures speak.
No deck theatre, no disclaimers, no empty content fillers, just content backed by data, to create real economic value for your business. You work directly with the person doing the thinking, on the same standard I held for multinational market leaders, European and global alliances, and Romania's leading entrepreneurs. The recommendation is judged on the figures, not the pitch, and I stay until it is implemented.
- One senior advisor on every engagement, start to finish
- Granular data and a fact-based, objective view
- Pragmatic, focused on execution
Mission
Vision
Values
I keep the big picture in view, take on a deliberate diversity of topics and clients, and put content before form. Every engagement is held to the same standard: dignity and fairness, passion for the topic and conviction behind the advice, with your interest first.
Dragos Popa
Co-founder and Senior Advisor
Dragos Popa
On stage in the rooms where the sector meets
Keynotes and executive panels in front of thought leaders, decision makers, investors and policy makers who set the agenda. The context I build on those stages is the same one I bring to your decisions.
Smithers Sustainable Packaging Forum
Barcelona, 2024
COP28, ISWA waste & resources pavilion
Dubai, 2023
Plastics Recycling Show Europe
Amsterdam, 2024
My services
Pragmatic, structured and impactful.
From an ongoing second opinion for the leadership team to defined, high-stakes consulting projects. Every engagement is built on cold figures, market context and pragmatic measures that can actually be implemented.
Management support
A senior sparring partner and second opinion for owners, CEOs and boards: monthly strategic support, board participation, and steering on the numbers that matter.
Transformation support
A defined growth or profit-improvement programme, steered from initial analysis through execution, with a structured plan and monthly progress tracking.
Waste collection and recycling economics
Material flows, operational models and economics for collection, sorting and recycling, with regulatory, market and competitive context for the various waste streams.
Growth strategy
Growth and expansion strategy with quantified levers and a business case ready to execute, grounded in primary data.
Business plan and pre-feasibility
A bankable business plan and pre-feasibility study in Excel, market-grounded and built for banks, investors and the board.
Commercial due diligence
An independent read on the market and the business plan before you underwrite a deal, with an adjusted plan, scenarios and a strategic path forward.
Market studies
Granular market, competitive and customer analysis, standalone or as the core of a commercial due diligence for an investor or bank.
Cost and profit optimisation
Cost optimisation, profit improvement and efficiency gains, benchmarked against peers and built into a plan you can implement.
EPR and DRS design and economics
The design and economics of extended producer responsibility and deposit return schemes: fees, return rates and the operator cost structures that decide whether a scheme holds up.
Strengths that drive your success
Seniority
Twenty years of expertise across multinationals and local champions alike.
Objectivity
A cold, third-party view built on figures, facts and data, not generic advice.
Structure and context
A methodical approach with market context and references from other key players.
Result-oriented
Measures that can work in practice, with a clear focus on how to implement them and maximise the benefit.
Tools and frameworks
Financial control tools, pragmatic AI automation tips, and a business case model you own and can refresh at low cost.
Best value
Senior-only pricing, agreed up front for a defined outcome. You pay for the advice, not the org chart behind it.
Why work with me
The senior on the work, not just on the proposal
I combine deep commercial judgement with primary data and a method that transfers across sectors, so the recommendation holds up under board scrutiny.
Seniority you can rely on
Principal-level judgement that has already seen your situation play out in other markets, so you get a clear read instead of a learning curve.
12 yrs
In Principal and Project Management roles
Stay through execution
I go beyond the deck: pragmatic measures, implementation support, and accountability to the outcome we agreed.
Granular data, not generic advice
Granularity of figures and data, market context and value drivers from a continuously built database, not recycled frameworks.
35+
Projects across Romania and the CEE region
25+
Projects across Western Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East
Industries served
Strategy grounded in how each sector behaves
Sectors where I have done the work, from FMCG shelves to recycling plants and infrastructure deals. The method transfers cleanly, so your situation is read against how each market actually behaves.
- Packaging & circularity
- Waste & recycling economics
- Construction & infrastructure
- Due diligence & private equity
- Public policy & regulation
- FMCG & retail
Resources
A data-lake built on primary sources
Built on a continuously maintained database of primary data from paid and public sources across key sectors. Most market studies estimate these numbers. This database holds them, geolocated and current.
Global
Packaging circularity and waste
Waste volumes, recycled material flows, polymer prices and recycling capacity, worldwide.
110,000+
Infrastructure in Romania
Geolocated residential, public administration, education, health and transport sites.
45,000+
Consumer goods and retail in Romania
Geolocated grocery, gastro, pharmacy, retail, warehousing and fuel locations.
It is why a market study, due diligence or growth plan starts from real numbers on day one, instead of weeks spent assembling them.
Case studies
Hard decisions, turned on the figures
A selection of engagements where structure, market context and primary data produced a measurable result, not just a recommendation.
RecyclingConfidential
Business plan for recycling
Built a full fledged business plan and operational model for a large plastics recycling plant.
InfrastructureConfidential
Profit improvement program for construction materials producer
Full fledged transformation program leading to new growth trend, higher profit margins and fresh start mindset.
Circular economyConfidential
Commercial due diligence for investment in circularity business
Granular approach to market outlook identified upside to make the investment case attractive.
Consulting process
Structured path to a confident decision
Structure, context and data, turned into decisions and execution, from the first question to implementation.
01.
Structure the question
I begin by framing the real decision behind the brief, so everything that follows stays anchored to what actually matters.
02.
Bring market context
Cross-sector experience and a proprietary data set place your situation against how the market really behaves.
03.
Ground it in data
Cold figures, primary data and value drivers replace opinion, so the recommendation holds up under scrutiny.
04.
Stay through execution
I stay through implementation and measure against the outcome we agreed, not a slide deck left on the shelf.
What clients say
Voices from the boardroom
In their own words, from leaders I have worked alongside on decisions that mattered.
An out-of-the-box thinker who searches for the true, differentiating value drivers. Entrepreneurial, never generic.
Senior Executive, Circular Plastic Solutions Consulting
Get in touch
Your first step toward strategic growth
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Address
Cluj-Napoca, N. Titulescu 14
Romania
Phone & email
Connect for sector updates and speaking.
Working hours
Mon – Fri: 8:00 – 19:00
Common questions
Clear answers to drive strategic decisions
What most clients want to know before a project starts. Explore how structured advice turns complex questions into decisions you can defend.
Owners, CEOs, boards and investors of multinationals and Romanian market leaders, regional and global alliances and associations, facing decisions that are too important to get wrong.