Building businesses in Moldova with Alafina Capital. US entrepreneur and investor. Sharing the wins, mistakes and weird parts.
Las Vegas & Chisinau
Joined April 2013
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American entrepreneur. Increasingly building my life and businesses around Moldova. Manufacturing, real estate, distribution, investing ... and plenty of mistakes along the way. Follow me to watch me build companies in Moldova.
Invested in Skya, a dermacosmetics brand in Moldova. Our company will present at BEAUTY PROF 2026 at Moldexpo tomorrow. Excited!
Long-term equipment finance is exactly what factories and farms here need. Good to see EXIM open for Moldova.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank is officially open for business in Moldova!
What does this mean for local businesses and communities?
It unlocks long-term U.S. financing for Moldovan enterprises, farmers, and local governments to purchase world-class American equipment and modern technology.
The United States remains committed to deepening our economic ties in Moldova and investing in a prosperous future for both our nations.
🔗 exim.gov/resources/country-l…
Azi în Chisinau: teste ca să ne asigurăm că echipamentele sunt calibrate și apa este potrivită pentru Ileana Foods. Nu arată spectaculos, dar așa începe mâncarea bună.
After living in the desert for many years, seeing rain in Chisinau on my way to work feels very refreshing.
Went to Istanbul for a few days. Working in an interesting project about possibly bringing some cool stuff to Moldova. This infrastructure is great. Let's see how the meetings go. More info soon, maybe.
Next week SKYA will be at Beauty Prof in Chișinău. I’m curious about something very basic: what do people actually pick up, ask about and buy when the products are sitting in front of them?
Four days of real customer conversations should teach us more than a lot of meetings.
I will post more about this in the coming days.
Cuvântul nou pe care l-am învățat ieri în Moldova: "acuș", adică imediat sau în curând. Sună ca "acușer ginecolog". Baby coming soon.
One lesson from fitting out the Ileana Foods space: every zone gets its own sink, its own tools and its own colors, so nothing crosses from raw to finished.
Mături și mopuri pe culori, câte un set pentru fiecare zonă. Fabrica Ileana Foods este pregătită pentru inspecția ANSA și așteptăm autorizația ca să începem producția.
The weather in Chisinau is amazing today. Walking home from work on a quiet Sunday. Look how much empty parking there is :)
Sunday in the Moldova office, and nobody else is here. Working out of this office is probably my favorite place to work in the world. I also met Ben Padelek (@PadelekBen) today. A nice, serious, interesting guy, and a pleasure to meet him.
Podeaua de producție de la Ileana Foods e gata, echipamentul e la locul lui. Partea cea mai bună de la testarea utilajelor: am luat acasă câteva pungi din lotul de probă. Cina de aseară a venit direct de pe linia de test.
I miss the good times we had working on real estate in Moldova. We once bought an apartment in very bad condition and literally had to bring a tractor in to take out the debris. I still remember my first impression when I first saw it after our team finished the construction :)
I used to be able to go to Moldova with just 1 suitcase. Now that I have a few businesses and lots of friends, 5 is not enough...and I was just there...lol, I barely fit in my socks, almost overweight. See you in Chisinau.
Opening a food factory is not just about making something people like. A retailer also needs consistent quality, practical packaging, reliable deliveries and prices that work for both sides. We're building Ileana Foods in Chișinău, and I would rather hear those requirements early than find out after we've scaled. Moldova Trade Forum is hosting producer and retailer B2B meetings on October 29. That's a useful conversation to have.