Nice to Meet: Daniel Radu and Alex Montalenti

Let us introduce you to Daniel Radu (l) and Alex Montalenti (r), part of the Minicards network for more then ten years now. Alex runs the business in Florida and Daniel in New York . Alex: “We’re business partners for such a long time. It sometimes feels like a marriage.”

What should your Minicards colleagues know about you?
Dan: “I’m with Alex in business for nineteen years now. We both have a marketing background and we run a website development and marketing firm for realtors.”
Alex: “Actually, our mothers introduced us.”

So, it feels like a marriage?
Alex, laughing: “It’s beyond marriage.”   

You started the business in 2007. What inspired you?
Alex: “Well, it’s a pretty cool story actually. We both happend to be in Romania for business. I was on a date and saw a Minicards carousel in a restaurant. I grabbed a couple of cards, thinking: ‘That’s an interesting idea.’ On the same day Dan went out for lunch with an associate. He also saw the Minicards. We both came back to our office, I put a Minicard on the table and said: ‘You have to check out his idea.’ And Dan was like: ‘I just wanted to tell you about it!’
Dan: “I was curious to know more about this product. So that’s when we decided to reach out to Rick and Arnold in Amsterdam. That was the beginning of us chasing the opportunity and starting the business in New York.”
Alex: “It was meant to be, that’s for sure.”

What attracted you to Minicards so much?
Dan: “The design is simple, clean and fresh. And then there’s the simplicity, elegance and standardization of the product. I knew immediately: this works.
Alex: “We both started in New York and when it was working in New York, we expanded to Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”

‘Breaking into New York City and building a solid team, was a big milestone.’

Alex Montalenti (r), Minicards New York and Florida

What was your first milestone?  
Dan: ‘At first we we’re full hands on, building the business and putting the cards on the displays in hotels ourselves. But finding the first employee who understood the market and helped us to get into hotels and attract advertisers, was a big milestone. The next important milestone was when we realized that we need at least 150 till 300 hotels to have enough power to keep the advertisers happy.”
Alex: “As they say: if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. So breaking into New York City and building a solid team, was a big milestone. We had a launch party in the Hard Rock Cafe in Time Square.”

And what’s your biggest challenge right now?     
Dan: “Minicards is a strong product. But we also see that hotels are getting more and more minimalistic, so we have to move around to other outlets for our displays. We also explore how we can give Minicards a digital dimension. It’s always interesting to explore how to get the full attention of the guests and keep evolving the business.”

Do you want to get in touch with Minicards New York or Miami? Please feel free to contact Alex and Daniel.