The relationship that led to AROBS Transilvania Software’s acquisition of a 70% stake in the U.S.-based technology consultancy Codingscape in June 2025 began only eight months earlier.
Eight months is not a long courtship, but the deal between companies on opposite sides of the ocean was expedited because of the trust created within YPO, the global leadership community, and the shared language, values and expectations of authenticity members enjoy.
Voicu Oprean, the Founder and President of the entrepreneurial technological company AROBS, joined YPO in 2008 and regularly attends YPO member-exclusive learning events, including the Presidents’ Programs at Harvard and the London Business School. The lifelong learner attended YPO’s inaugural Global Business Summit, held in Dubai in November 2025, looking to absorb as much as he could. For the first time in its 75-year history, YPO offered its 36,000 members in 150 countries an opportunity to conduct business with one another by lifting its nonsolicitation clause.
Eager to grow his company in the United States, Oprean tried out GBS’s proprietary AI-powered matchmaking tool, attended targeted keynotes, met old friends and made new connections. Porter Haney, CEO and Founder of Codingscape and a YPO member since 2023, was not at GBS, but STS Capital Partners was. Months earlier, Haney had hired the YPO member-owned investment firm when Codingscape was attracting “financially interesting” offers, thanks to its rapid rise on the Inc. 500 list.
Haney credits STS for bringing AROBS to Codingscape, “On paper, we’re very different. But Voicu and I share YPO values around learning, openness and people-first leadership.”
— Porter Haney, Founder & CEO, Codingscape share
When Oprean learned Haney was a YPO member, he says, “It boosted my confidence in doing the deal. Usually, lawyers want to build fences around negotiations, but we already had trust. We could be open earlier, share more and move faster.”
It was AROBS’s first U.S. acquisition. “It is not easy for a European company to do business in the States — the lawyers, bankers and the process are more difficult than in Europe,” he adds. “Knowing Porter was a YPO member gave me the trust to continue.”
Leading with heart accelerates trust
Haney and his fellow Codingscape founders came from Zappos, where they saw firsthand how sustainably profitable leading with core values could be.
“Our first value is ‘people first,’ which sounds backwards for a tech company, but people create and use technology,” explains Haney. “If it doesn’t help those groups, it isn’t worth much. It was critical that our partner shared that philosophy. And the team at AROBS did.”
Haney and Oprean met in person for the first time at a YPO-sponsored event during the January 2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The desert oasis is also where Codingscape is headquartered, although Haney resides in Vermont and proudly runs his firm as a ‘remote-first workplace.’
“CES is huge, with 200,000 people, but the YPO event was only 150-200 people, making the introduction possible,” says Haney.
A key component of YPO for members is their forum – groups of approximately 20 leaders from diverse industries who serve as each other’s personal board of directors. The founders credit their forum experience at YPO for expediting this partnership.
— Voicu Oprean, Founder & President, AROBS share
The ideas put into practice in forum, when applied to business partnerships, accelerate the connection needed for a successful deal.
“Forum teaches experience sharing instead of advice, and leading with emotion instead of facts,” Haney explains. “If teams are combative or ego-driven, little progress is made. But if they’re vulnerable and authentic, they can accomplish a lot together.”
A relationship built to last
With this transaction, AROBS enhances its footprint in North America, strengthening its market presence in the U.S. and its capacity to participate in the region’s dynamic technology ecosystem. Codingscape gains access to European markets through AROBS’ network, client base and operational infrastructure to support its continued growth.
In 2024, Codingscape recorded revenues of approximately USD15 million, with a strong portfolio of enterprise clients across technology, healthcare, financial services and retail. Haney and his partners grew Codingscape, launched in 2018, to 100 employees in 2023 and, now in partnership with AROBS, to more than 1,000 in 2025. And his sights are set on growing to 10,000 in five years.
“In a world where everyone is trying to shrink headcount with AI, we’re building a services company focused on people and customer service. Success depends entirely on living these values,” he says.
The pair will celebrate their newly minted relationship and encourage other members to pursue collaborations in November in Los Angeles at YPO’s second GBS. “I’m excited to take this story to GBS this year, to inspire other YPO members to pursue similar collaborations,” Haney says.
Oprean calls YPO a “very exclusive group when it comes to trust.”
“Lean into that trust,” Oprean says to other entrepreneurs. “Build the kind of partnerships that can change not just business, but lives.”
If you are a member of YPO and would like to learn more about GBS 2025, visit https://www.ypo.org/gbs/.
