1997
Immigrates to Chicago with family from Romania.
CPA, CMA, Forbes Finance Council member, and founder of Centaur Digital Corp. This is the story of how he got here.
Vlad was born in Romania a few years before the fall of the communist regime. In 1997, his family immigrated to Chicago with $3,000 and the belief that hard work still meant something.
His parents did what new arrivals do, they worked. Janitors, housekeepers, massage therapists. Eventually, they built a mortgage brokerage. After the 2007 housing crash, his father pivoted into trucking and logistics. Vlad's grandparents had once run a black-market fur coat business in communist Romania. Entrepreneurship, in other words, wasn't a career choice. It was a family trait.
In 2006, at 18 years old, Vlad started his first business. It didn't last, cash flow failed it, as cash flow fails most young businesses. But the lesson stuck. After college, he went into traditional banking.
In 2014 he left banking for accounting and consulting. Over the next several years he won "numerous awards and accolades" across the small-business accounting world, including a 2015 Gwinnett Pinnacle "Rising Star" Award, a 2016 Gwinnett Pinnacle "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" Award, and the 2016 EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year Southeast Semi-finalist recognition. That same year, he was inducted into the Forbes Finance Council.
In 2018, Vlad took a deliberate break, traveling the world and putting in the deep study required to sit for his professional certifications. He passed the CPA exam in 2018 and earned both his CPA and CMA designations in 2019.
Also in 2019, he founded Centaur Digital Corp. The firm was designed from day one to be what Vlad himself would have wanted as a small business owner: virtual-first, strategy-led, flat-fee, and led by a real accountant who answers the phone.
Vlad continues to publish regularly in Forbes and Entrepreneur on accounting, tax strategy, and the realities of running a small business. He leads Centaur from offices in Jacksonville, FL and Gilbert, AZ, serving clients across the country.
Immigrates to Chicago with family from Romania.
Starts his first business at 18.
Leaves banking for accounting & consulting.
Multiple Gwinnett Pinnacle Awards; EY Young Entrepreneur semi-finalist.
Inducted into the Forbes Finance Council.
CPA & CMA certified. Founds Centaur Digital Corp in 2019.
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