Our Philosophy
More than a business.
An engineering partnership. Where success equals satisfied engineers, and people are at the core of everything.
The Origin
Built by engineers, for builders.
In 2019, Paul Doman and Marius Banici saw an opportunity that most companies miss. Romanian engineers are world-class. US growth-stage companies are hungry. The gap between them just needed someone willing to close it the right way. Victory Square Partners was not built around a methodology or a sales pitch. It was built around a belief: that the best engineering partner thinks about your business first, then builds. That instinct is still in everything we do. Today, we are 200+ engineers deep, twice on the Inc. 5000, and fully committed to a new chapter: AI-native engineering delivery. We are not talking about what AI can do. We are building with it, shipping with it, and advising clients on it right now.
The industry problem
The traditional OPD model is broken.
Most outsourced product development firms track metrics that engineers don't care about: growth rates, satisfaction scores, and margins. They measure outputs, not people. They optimize for the business, not the team.
- What traditional firms optimize for: Growth rates, utilization metrics, client satisfaction scores, and margin expansion. Engineers are a cost to be managed.
- What that produces: High turnover, mediocre output, client relationships built on account management instead of real engineering trust.
- What VSP does differently: We define success as satisfied engineers. When the team is right, the work is right. When the work is right, the client relationship takes care of itself.
Our Story
Seven years. One direction.
From a two-person vision to 200+ engineers and two Inc. 5000 rankings. The arc has been consistent since day one.
Step 1: 2019: Founded in Timisoara and College Park
Paul Doman and Marius Banici launch Victory Square Partners, connecting US growth-stage companies with Romanian engineering talent. First client engagement delivered in two weeks. The blueprint was set from day one: get in the room, think about the business, ship the thing.
Step 2: 2021–2023: The Coalition Takes Shape
VSP builds six internal professional communities: DevOps, UX, QA, Leadership, Security, and AI. The Victory Principles are developed. A fully flexible remote work model launches across Romania. Mud Dogs and Transformers leadership model takes form.
Step 3: 2024: All-In on AI-Native Delivery
December all-hands marks the commitment: no new client deals outside the AI-native model. Every engagement going forward uses spec-driven development, AI tooling, and advisory services. AI Square newsletter launches. The All-Stack Hangout monthly meetup series begins.
Step 4: 2025: 200% Growth. 200 Engineers.
VSP ranks #2149 on the 2025 Inc. 5000 with 200% three-year revenue growth. Headcount grows 33% in a single year, approaching 200 engineers. The coalition model proves that people-first engineering is not just good culture. It is a competitive advantage.
Step 5: March 2026: Burning the Ships
Matt Walnock joins as Head of AI and Advisory Services. VSP hosts a client event in the DC corridor where a live AI-native case study, the Dr. Stock app, ships to South by Southwest in real time. Paul's message to the room: disrupt or be disrupted. VSP chooses to disrupt.
Core values
What we operate on.
These aren't aspirations posted on a wall. They're the practical operating principles that determine how we hire, how we work, and what we ask of each other every day.
Empathy
Understanding what someone is trying to build and why they're building it is the foundation of useful engineering. We start from that, not from requirements documents.
Transparency
No managed expectations. No spinning project status. We tell clients and team members what's true, including when things aren't working the way they should.
Communication
Good software gets built through conversation. Between engineers, between engineers and clients, between the people shipping code and the people making decisions.
Respect
Every engineer on the team made a decision to do this work professionally. That decision deserves to be taken seriously, in how we structure projects, how we pay, and how we treat time.
Who we are
A coalition, not a vendor list.
We're moving beyond what most engineering partnerships look like. Not a roster of contractors. Not a portfolio company playbook. A network of professionals who bring real expertise and put it to serious use.
People
At the core of how we run the business. We build the team around the work, and we do it carefully.
Teams
All energy and resources go toward making great ones. Hyper-focus on teams and culture is intentional.
Craft
Engineering done with intention and discipline. Based in Timisoara, Romania. Working on products that matter.
Trust
Earned through work, not through proposals. We don't hire for headcount and figure out what to do with people later.
- Coalition Size200+Engineers across 6 internal practice communities
- Glassdoor93%Employee recommendation rate
- Growth33%Headcount growth in the past 12 months
- Inc. 50002×Rankings in 2023 and 2025
Track Record
When companies call us.
There is a pattern to how VSP gets hired. It is rarely a clean RFP. More often, a company is in a difficult position and needs a partner with the judgment to step into it. We have done it across three distinct scenarios, and we have delivered every time.
After the prior vendor failed.
A significant portion of VSP's client roster came to us after a prior vendor failed to deliver. Not underperformed. Failed. We have walked into these engagements, picked up the work, and shipped what the previous team could not. The companies in this category are not looking for assurances. They are looking for proof. We give them working software.
We shipped. Every time.
The work no one else would take.
Some engagements are difficult, technically or organizationally. Legacy codebases. Tight timelines. Unusual constraints. Other firms pass. We have a different posture: if the problem is real and the client is serious, we figure out how to do it with them. That willingness has built some of our longest-running client relationships.
We said yes when others said no.
The 911 call. Live system, on fire.
The most acute version: a production system breaking, a deadline passing, a team that cannot get to the other side. We have fielded these calls and deployed into them. These are not our favorite engagements to start. But they are some of the relationships we are most proud of, because they are where trust gets built the fastest. You either show up or you do not.
We showed up.
Leadership
The people who make it happen.
VSP is led by practitioners, not managers. The people at the top are the same people in the room with clients, writing specs, and making calls. That is not an accident. That is the model.
Co-Founder & CEO
Paul Doman
Washington, D.C. Area
Paul Doman is a Washington D.C. area entrepreneur, Army veteran, and technology services executive. After eight years as a US National Guard Army Captain, he built a career spanning finance, tech sales, and software product development before co-founding Victory Square Partners in 2019 alongside Marius Banici. The firm has since grown to roughly 200 team members and earned back-to-back Inc. 5000 rankings. He is a member of Mindshare (class of 2024), a curated peer network for DC-area CEOs and founders.
Co-Founder & COO
Marius Banici
Timisoara, Romania
Marius built the engineering side of Victory Square Partners from the ground up. Based in Timisoara, he is the architect of VSP's technical culture: the hiring bar, the two-line leadership model, the communities of practice, and the engineering principles that have kept VSP's teams high-performing through six years of rapid growth. What he built is not a department, it is a system designed to scale without losing standards, and to grow without losing the people who built it.
Head of AI & Advisory Services
Matt Walnock
Washington, D.C. Region
Matt has been in the seat. He started as a software engineer, rose to architect, and served as CTO of Parature through its acquisition by Microsoft. That lived experience, building, leading, and navigating transformation at the highest level, is what VSP's advisory clients need. Before joining full-time, he coached VSP's own leadership on technical strategy. He now leads advisory engagements directly, helping growth-stage companies build AI roadmaps, structure their engineering organizations, and ship faster without sacrificing judgment.
Head of Delivery
Vlad Damian
Timisoara, Romania
Vlad has been building and leading engineering teams in Romania for over twenty years: automotive navigation systems, enterprise software, product development under real client pressure. He knows how to filter through competing demands and find the critical path. He knows how to communicate technical realities to clients in a way that builds trust instead of confusion. Those things develop over two decades of doing the work, not in a sprint. At VSP, Vlad runs engineering delivery with the same instinct: technically precise, direct with clients and teams, focused on what ships.
How We're Built
The people make the difference.
VSP hires on culture, character, and competence, in that order. It is not a slogan. It is the actual sequence we use when we decide who joins and who leads. The engineers here are invested in the work and in each other, not just collecting a paycheck on a contract. Two leadership tracks run through every engagement: technical excellence and human leadership. You do not get one without the other.
Judgment Over Process
VSP engineers think about the business first. They know when to build, what to build, and when to push back. That instinct is not scripted.
Engineers Who Stay
Ten percent of profit is shared with the team. Engineers here are invested members, not contractors rotating through. That stability shows up in the work.
Two-Track Leadership
Mud Dogs own technical excellence. Transformers own human and organizational leadership. Both run on every engagement. Neither is optional.
In the Trenches
We do not deliver a plan and disappear. We are in the room, on the ticket, accountable to what ships. Success is measured the same way you measure it.
Revenue model
The team shares in what gets built.
All team members share in profits. The goal is that work invested and results enjoyed are equitable. That's not a perk; it's the model. When the business does well, the people who built it see that in their compensation.
- Engineers. Shared in the outcome.
- Leadership. Shared in the outcome.
- Operations. Shared in the outcome.
- Every role that contributes participates in results.
Where We Work
Two cities. One team.
European timezone, top-tier technical universities, and a culture of craft. That is the Romanian advantage. Paired with a client-facing presence in the Mid-Atlantic corridor, VSP sits at the intersection of where talent lives and where growth-stage companies build.
Engineering HQ
ROTimisoara, Romania
Home base for the coalition's engineering engine.
Two offices in the city, with engineers working remotely across Romania. European timezone overlap means seamless collaboration with US clients throughout the workday. Timisoara is a university city with deep technical talent, and VSP has been building here since day one.
Client-Facing Presence
USCollege Park, Maryland
VSP's US anchor in the DC metro area.
Within reach of the Philadelphia and New York markets. This is where client relationships are built and advisory engagements begin. The Mid-Atlantic technology corridor is VSP's primary market, serving Series A to Scale companies moving fast and looking for an engineering partner who thinks like they do.
Let's build more than a business.
Together. Tell us what you're working on.