About MAST Consult
We started MAST Consult because we saw the same two problems everywhere.
Romanian companies making important decisions without proper analysis. And businesses leaving millions in EU funding unclaimed because the system is broken. We exist to fix both.
- Founded by
- Paul Alexandru Stoia
- Based in
- Timișoara, Romania
- Disciplines
- Strategy · Funding · Technology
- Studio
- MAST Studio, design and engineering
01 — Our story
MAST Consult started with a frustration. Three of them.
- i.
Decisions without analysis.
Paul had spent years working in consulting methodology, learning how the best firms in the world analyse problems, structure decisions and build strategies that work. What he kept seeing in Romania was a gap: companies with real potential making critical decisions on instinct, incomplete data, or advice from people who had never built anything.
- ii.
Funding left unclaimed.
At the same time, he watched billions of euros in EU funding go unclaimed. Not because Romanian businesses didn't qualify, but because the process was designed by bureaucrats, not businesspeople. The forms were impenetrable, the scoring criteria opaque, and the consultants who claimed to help often delivered generic templates that didn't score well.
- iii.
Advice without execution.
A company would hire a strategy consultant who delivered a beautiful document, then a separate dev shop to build the technology. The strategy firm didn't understand technology; the dev shop didn't understand the strategy. The result was expensive, slow and often wrong.
MAST Consult was built to solve all three at once.
We combined rigorous strategic methodology with deep EU funding expertise and real software development capability. Not three departments sharing an office, but one team where the strategist, the funding specialist and the developer work on the same problem.
We're based in Timișoara, home to Politehnica University, a growing tech ecosystem and a business culture that values substance over flash. We're small by choice, not by limitation.
We've worked with biotech research institutes preparing €5–8M funding rounds, managed EU grant applications that scored 82–88 out of 100, and built SaaS platforms from concept to launch. And we've said no to projects where we didn't believe we could deliver, because honest advice sometimes means telling a client what they don't want to hear.
02 — The founder
Paul Alexandru Stoia.
Paul is a consultant trained in McKinsey methodology who has spent his career at the intersection of strategy, capital and technology. He founded MAST Consult believing that Romania's mid-market companies deserve the same quality of strategic thinking the largest corporations get from the Big Four, adapted to their scale, budget and reality.
His consulting work spans biotech (investor strategy for the OncoGen/Decode Health ecosystem), healthcare (EU funding for medical facilities), technology (due diligence for blockchain platforms, SaaS product development) and consumer businesses (startup advisory for beauty and wellness brands).
Paul is also the author of 'Your Own Lane', a book about finding clarity and authenticity in a world obsessed with comparison. Its message reflects the philosophy he brings to consulting: meet the client where they are, not where you think they should be.
He is based in Timișoara and works with clients across Romania and Europe.
Connect on LinkedIn ↗“You are not behind. You are becoming.”
03 — What we believe
Four principles behind everything we do.
Clarity over complexity.
Business is already complicated enough. Our job is to make it simpler, not to add layers of jargon that make consultants sound smart but don't help you decide. Every recommendation should be explainable in plain language.
Execution over theory.
A beautiful strategy that doesn't get implemented is a beautiful waste of time and money. If we can't help you execute it, we won't recommend it.
Honesty over comfort.
We'll tell you what you need to hear, even when it's not what you want to hear. If your business plan has a fatal flaw, we'll say so. If an EU application isn't competitive, we'll tell you before you waste the filing fee.
Quality over volume.
We are intentionally small. We don't scale by adding junior analysts and billing their hours; we go deeper with fewer clients. If we take on your project, it's because we believe we can deliver something exceptional.
04 — Our edge
The intersection most firms leave empty.
Strategy firms rarely build software. Dev shops rarely write grant applications. EU funding consultants rarely design growth architecture. We do all three, in one team, on the same problem.
| Strategy | EU funding | Technology | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy firm | ●yes | ○no | ○no |
| EU funding consultant | ○no | ●yes | ○no |
| Software house | ○no | ○no | ●yes |
| MAST Consult | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes |
05 — Our network
Part of a broader ecosystem.
MAST Consult is part of a broader ecosystem spanning biotech research, healthcare innovation and defence technology. Our work with the OncoGen research institute, Decode Health and AIDA (Advanced Innovation & Defence Alliance) gives us perspective and connections a typical consulting firm doesn't have.
Want to work with us?
Let's start with a conversation. Book a free 30-minute call: we'll listen to where you are, share our honest perspective, and figure out whether there's a fit.