Mihai Cepoi, Jobful, on growing a startup: “Glory is not consistent enough to keep you going” 

The documentary "Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe", made by the start-up.ro team, spans across 33 years of history, from the first entrepreneurs in the transitional years to the initial technology company transactions that brought Romania into the international spotlight.

Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe - The Extended Series will present the people who built the Romanian ecosystem and who discussed with the VideoCorp and start-up.ro team for this documentary. In this series you will find the extensive interviews and find out the stories of those who built entrepreneurship in Romania.

Jobful’s journey from a gamification agency to an international SaaS company with social impact ambitions illustrates how startups must evolve to survive and thrive. It also highlights the importance of adaptability, intrinsic motivation, and cultural change within both the startup and investor communities.

“I know I was never ready for anything that I’ve done… but the mindset was always: I’ll figure it out, one way or another. You never know enough or everything for what’s coming next. It’s your own growth that drives the growth of your business”, is Mihai's take on readiness and the mindset of an entrepreneur when it comes to building a startup.

As Mihai Cepoi told us for the Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe interview, some of the key challenges he faced while building Jobful include the complexity of working with people, whether they are employees, partners, investors, and the difficulty of navigating the Romanian startup funding ecosystem, which is still burdened by an outdated mindset where investors seek control rather than partnership.

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Jobful’s strategy has evolved with market needs, pivoting from a marketplace to a SaaS model during the pandemic, and expanding internationally with a focus on impact rather than just rapid growth or capital accumulation. At the time of the interview, in 2023, the startup had just secured its first Fortune 500 client and Mihai was emphasizing social impact projects and strong organizational culture as core elements for him.

Building genuine relationships, transparency, and embracing vulnerability are seen by Mihai Cepoi as the secret ingredients for success.

“If you want to create a company, you should find better motivation within yourself because sooner or later being glorified is just not enough. Glory is not consistent enough to keep you going. It should be more important than glory to create a successful company”, Mihai told us.

Highlights for our conversation:

• Jobful was born from a client's insight into the saturated recruitment market, evolving from an HR gamification agency to a product-focused startup.
• The founder’s entrepreneurial drive is deeply rooted in the value of freedom and self-determination, motivated by a desire to create a new work culture.
• The hardest challenge in building Jobful has been managing relationships—with employees, investors, partners—not processes or markets.
• Romanian startup funding often suffers from a “misplaced trust” mindset, where investors seek control, underscoring the need for better financial education.
• Jobful’s pivot to a SaaS model and international expansion reflects adaptability and a focus on impact over rapid scaling or capital chasing.
• The Romanian startup ecosystem is maturing but still struggles with societal skepticism, glorification of investment, and lack of supportive infrastructure.
• Mihai emphasizes building genuine, transparent relationships as the secret ingredient for success in the Romanian startup scene.

Key insights from Mihai Cepoi, Jobful founder

• Market opportunity: Jobful’s inception was strategically aligned with market needs in talent acquisition, especially in Romania’s competitive shared services sector. This alignment demonstrates the importance of listening to customer feedback and market signals when pivoting or validating a startup idea. The shift from an agency model to a product-oriented SaaS reflects a broader trend in startup scalability and sustainability.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and the feeling of freedom: Mihai’s motivation stems from a personal value of freedom and desire to control their own destiny. This mindset is critical for founders navigating uncertainty, as the journey is unpredictable and often requires learning on the go. His experience balancing corporate sales roles with building a startup highlights the gradual transition many entrepreneurs face before fully committing.
• The people challenge: Managing relationships—employees, investors, partners—is identified as the greatest challenge, surpassing technical or market difficulties. This insight underscores that startups are deeply human endeavors and that emotional intelligence, communication, and trust-building are foundational to long-term success. Mihai’s focus on hiring people passionate about collaboration and innovation reflects best practices in startup culture.

• Investor-founder dynamics in Romania: The “misplaced trust” challenge points to a prevalent investor mindset where capital is used as leverage for control rather than partnership. This dynamic can stifle founder autonomy and hurt startup growth, especially during crises. Mihai Cepoi advocates for convertible notes as a way to build trust and validate relationships before equity dilution, illustrating a nuanced approach to funding that balances risk and collaboration.

“When you’re looking for funding, the qualification process should go both ways. It’s not just about access to capital, but about working with people you resonate with, who understand the needs of a startup. Convertible notes are like getting engaged; equity is marriage.”

• The secret Ingredient - genuine relationships: Mihai credits strong, transparent relationships with investors, team members, and partners as a core success factor. This relational approach creates resilience during crises and fosters a collaborative culture. The ability to be vulnerable and accept feedback is a rare but powerful leadership trait that is especially important in emerging ecosystems like Romania’s, where trust-building is still evolving.

Roaring Tigers of Europe is a production by start-up.ro and Videocorp, part of the Romanian publishing company InternetCorp, active for almost 20 years on the market. The documentary was made with the support of partners BCR, Orange, and 2Performant. Community partners included Guran Consulting Global, How to Web, Launch, Impact Hub Bucharest, Flaviu Simihaian, Rubik Hub, SoftServe, and the Romanian-American University.

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Watch the full documentary in the video below: