I connect Brands, Software Houses & Ecommerce Vendors | Community Builder & International Expansion Specialist within E-commerce| Content Specialist| Podcast Host | LinkedIn Creator| Go To Market| Check My Bio 4+

I work at the intersection of international commerce, governance, and ecosystem strategy.

For more than 15 years, I have operated across Europe, Latin America, The Middle East working with companies expanding across markets, building go-to-market strategies, structuring partnerships, and navigating growth in complex, multi-country environments. 

My work has consistently focused on one question: how organisations scale internationally without losing clarity, credibility, or trust.

I am based in Denmark and work globally with founders, executives, board members, and investors involved in growth, transformation, and market entry.

I am the Founder of EVOLVE, a private platform connecting board members, senior advisors, and fractional leaders to growth companies in commerce. EVOLVE operates across 48+ markets and is designed for senior professionals who increasingly work through advisory roles, board positions, fractional leadership, and selective operating mandates.

EVOLVE is built for depth.It prioritises trust, continuity, and long-term relationships at the governance and decision-making level.

I work best with senior leaders, PE-backed and growth-stage companies, family offices, and investors focused on international expansion, partnerships, ecosystem strategy, and long-term positioning.

If that is your context, we should talk.


Keywords

Board members

Senior advisors

Fractional leadership

Growth companies

Private platform

International expansion

Governance

PE-backed

Family offices

Ecosystem strategy

Carlos Monteiro

Media, Trust & Monetization with Alessandro De Zanche and David Alves 

What a great session

Founder, EVOLVE | Connecting boards, senior advisors, and fractional leaders to growth companies in commerce

This week at EVOLVE we had a sharp conversation with Alessandro De Zanche and Davi Alves about media, commerce, and why so many transformation efforts fail.


Content is not the problem.
Technology is not the problem.

Incentives are.

media businesses, creators, platforms, even retailers acting like media companies are structurally misaligned. Leadership often understands what needs to change, but organisations still reward short-term optimisation over long-term coherence.

AI only accelerates that reality. It doesn’t fix it.

If you’re a CEO navigating transformation, or a senior leader stepping into board or advisory work, this is the kind of discussion we have in our club.

check our newsletter this week.

the link is in my linkedin bio

EVOLVE is a trusted circle built on connection.

Here’s what Bradley Lane shared about his experience.

Our partners and members don’t come for visibility.
They come for the people behind the work.

Yes, they represent strong brands.
What matters more is who they are in the room.

When you partner with EVOLVE or join the private club,
this is the circle you associate with.

#evolve

"For me EVOLVE is all about connection"
Bradley Lane 

Bradley is one of our founding members

We have over 500 senior members 
Spanning 48 markets

Check what Bradley Lane has to say about it

#evolve

I believe the companies of the future are building their media capabilities today.

To build a media capability, you don’t need much.

One phone.
A point of view.
And the courage to share it without hiding behind vanilla content.

Honestly, there’s nothing particularly special about what I post here.

What is special about EVOLVE are the people who say yYES to joining our weekly conversations.

That comes with responsibility.

If someone agrees to join an expert session, it’s on me to do my best to  amplify their thinking properly. That part is hard.

I have to think carefully about the topics we explore and the questions I ask.
Most of the time, I don’t even feel capable enough to have a deep dialogue alone.That’s also in part why I invite other experts to the room.

People with complementary perspectives who can elevate the conversation beyond what I could do on my own. That’s how EVOLVE is built.

And this connects directly to what we discussed in today’s expert session.
The conversation wasn’t really about media.
It was about responsibility.

If you accept that media, commerce, and marketplaces now overlap, then building a media capability is no longer optional. 

It’s how ideas travel. 
It’s how trust is built. 
It’s how context is created before a transaction exists.

That’s why non-media companies are being forced to think like media companies.
Not to chase attention, but to earn it.

The same applies to EVOLVE.

If I’m asking senior leaders to show up, share their thinking, and expose 

their experience, then I owe them a space that’s thoughtful, prepared, and worth their time.

Media, in this sense, is not content.
It’s intent, curation, and respect for the people involved.

Romania is no longer an underdog.

Great conversation at the Netopia Summit on how competition, talent, and global attention are reshaping the market.

Many thanks to NETOPIA Payments, Marius Costin, Horia Grozea, Mihaela Constantinescu and team for creating the space, and to Ionut Grossuț for the sharp, grounded perspective.

This is what market maturity looks like.

These are the kinds of conversations we host at EVOLVE.
Daily.
Straight from operators.

Across 48 markets.
#evolve

Romania is no longer an underdog market.

Eight years ago, it had strong technical talent but limited external pressure. 

Today, that has shifted. Chinese players are active and highly competitive. Regional players, particularly from Poland, are paying attention. 

The entry of platforms like Trendyol didn’t just add scale, it altered market dynamics.

This is what happens when a market crosses a threshold.

Digital is becoming harder and more expensive. 
Choice has expanded. 
Brands now have alternatives. 

Consultants are no longer scarce. 
Senior and fractional expertise is available, visible, and comparable. 

As a result, everyone is forced to improve.

That was the underlying message we took from a conversation with Ionut Grossuț EVOLVE Chapter Leader in Romania, during the Netopia Summit.

Competition is no longer a future risk. It is the present condition. 
And that is healthy. It signals relevance. It also removes excuses.

In this context, communities matter differently. 
Not as networking clubs, but as places where experienced operators compare notes, shorten learning curves, and build context across markets.

That is the role EVOLVE plays. 
Connecting senior talent, companies, and markets at the moment when execution matters more than potential.

Many thanks to the NETOPIA Payments team for creating the space for these conversations, and to Marius Costin, Horia Grozea, Mihaela Constantinescu, and the wider team for the partnership and trust.

Attention has arrived. 
What happens next depends on how seriously we learn from each other.

If you are a senior operator, advisor, or company navigating this phase, EVOLVE is always open for the conversation

What is the most common illusion founders maintain about their readiness for scale or exit?

In today's expert session we bring someone very experienced with a sucessful exit, Andre Abi Awad, my co-host, Jean Mies, Board Member, senior advisor, EVOLVE club member and former president of Adyen in LATAM will be joining me to discuss:

what actually determines optionality for founders once ambition meets reality. 

We will explore how businesses quietly lose leverage long before exits are discussed, why preparation for growth often creates fragility instead of resilience, and how identity, decision-making, and governance shape outcomes far more than headline metrics. The focus is not on success stories, but on the structural and human dynamics that tend to surface only when pressure arrives.

Interested in joining us?

Sign up on Luma

https://luma.com/e694008w

You can join the EVOLVE crew, and understand more about the calibre of our club by joining us on Airmeet, our incredible partner in this journey and the best platform out there enabling global, vitual and hybrid events 

#evolve

Open article: EVOLVE Expert Session #94 - Andre Abi Awad · Luma by luma.com

EVOLVE Expert Session #94 - Andre Abi Awad · Luma

What is the most common illusion founders maintain about their readiness for scale or exit?

In today's expert session we bring someone very experienced with a sucessful exit, Andre Abi Awad, my co-host, Jean Christian Mies, Board Member, and  senior advisor, EVOLVE club member and former president of Adyen in LATAM will be joining and Hendrik Laubscher me to discuss:

what actually determines optionality for founders once ambition meets reality.

We will explore how businesses quietly lose leverage long before exits are discussed, why preparation for growth often creates fragility instead of resilience, and how identity, decision-making, and governance shape outcomes far more than headline metrics. The focus is not on success stories, but on the structural and human dynamics that tend to surface only when pressure arrives.

Hi there,

I’m Mihai Arsene, Talent Partner and Founder at Valuable Recruitment.

I help ambitious and growing companies hire top talent across Digital Marketing, Software Development, Engineering, and more recently AI Automation and AI Agents.

I specialize in C-level and middle management recruitment for startups and scaling companies, especially those building the future with AI, automation, and digital innovation.

Whether you’re building an AI agent development team or scaling your commercial operations, I help you land the right talent faster and with better decision quality.

Over the years, I kept seeing the same hiring problem repeat itself
Great people making decisions with poor structure.

That’s why I also built Hire Like a Pro, a lightweight hiring platform designed to bring structure into the hiring process.
It helps founders and hiring managers:
Define roles clearly
Create objective scorecards
Assess candidates based on evidence, not gut feel
It’s the same methodology I’ve used for years, now available as a product.

What makes working with me different

Topgrading methodology
I streamline hiring decisions by up to 70% using Topgrading principles. Experience, competency, potential, and culture fit are assessed in a structured way. My shortlists perform.

Global reach, boutique care
Over 70 countries. Built almost entirely on referrals. Valuable Recruitment runs on long-term relationships, not volume or cold outreach.

Deep understanding of AI and tech talent needs
I spend real time understanding AI automation, LLMs, and agent development so conversations go beyond CVs and buzzwords. I stay close to the tools, roles, and trends shaping the next wave of tech.

Diverse industry roots
From pharma to BPOs to eCommerce, I’ve worked across industries and functions. That background helps me match people based on mindset, values, vision, and mission, not just experience.

Diversity and inclusion is a must-have
Great teams are built intentionally. I help companies design inclusive hiring approaches that attract strong talent across backgrounds.

If you want to recruit with more clarity, less bias, and better outcomes, we should talk.

DM me if you want to hire smarter in the AI era and beyond.

Mihai Arsene

Short rant incoming

I’ll never understand this one

A job post is written in English
The company is remote
The working language is clearly English

Yet some candidates still send CVs in their native language…
while listing “English: fluent” in a language I can’t even read.

I’m not questioning skills or experience
I’m questioning judgment!

If communication is core to the role, the application is the first signal!

Am I missing something here, or is this just poor attention to detail?

Executive Recruiter for SaaS, AI, Digital Marketing, & eComm | C-Level & Tech Talent | Topgrading Specialist | Global Reach, Boutique Service

Hiring on gut feel is expensive

I’ve seen too many founders say:
 “Something felt off… but we hired anyway”

So I built a small tool that brings structure into hiring:
- Clear role definition
- Objective scorecards
- Evidence-based interviews

The job description generator is free

 I’m opening it up to founders who are hiring and willing to give feedback.
If that’s you, drop a comment or DM me.

Before you interview anyone, you should be able to answer one thing clearly:

What does success in this role look like in 3 - 6 -  12 months from now?

Not only responsibilities

Not only traits

Actual outcomes that you can track, measure and evaluate against.

If you can’t answer that, great interviews won’t save you.

taplio

The Battle

Carlos Monteiro

Mihai Arsene

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taplio

The Battle

Carlos Monteiro

Mihai Arsene

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Carlos Monteiro's LinkedIn Performance

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