Decebal is the firm. Scaleworks is what we do best.
Built for operators who care about results more than reports.
THE FIRM
AI accountability for owner-operated businesses
Decebal exists to do one thing: make sure your AI and growth investments produce measurable results.
Decebal was founded on a simple premise. Most owner-operated businesses have spent thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on AI tools, automation platforms, and growth agencies. Almost none of them can defend that spend. They don't know what's producing yield. They don't know what's wasted. They don't have a system that holds anyone accountable for results.
We built Decebal to fix that. Our entire firm is organized around one principle: every dollar invested in growth should be traceable, measurable, and accountable. We don't sell tactics. We don't ship slide decks. We don't run engagements designed to look busy. We run a methodology that produces written, defensible results every single month.
Scaleworks is where most of our work happens. It's the growth engine inside Decebal · the product line that runs outbound, paid ads, content, and demand generation for owner-operated businesses ready to scale beyond founder bandwidth. The rest of the Decebal stack exists to support it. xBrief diagnoses what's broken. xPlan documents what to fix. GAMA rebuilds the foundation. xLive holds everything accountable.
Products in the Stack
xBrief, xPlan, GAMA, Scaleworks, xLive · each with a specific job.
Years Operating Experience
Founded by an operator who built and ran a multi-million dollar business.
Owner-Operated Focus
We work exclusively with founder-led businesses, not enterprise or venture-backed startups.
Minimum Engagement
We sign long because real partnership compounds over time.
THE FOUNDER
Built by John Bikis
Two decades of enterprise sales, international account management, owner-operated business, and now an agency built for operators.
John Bikis, Founder of Decebal
Bilingual: English and Romanian. Based in Northeast Ohio and Sarasota, Florida.
John Bikis started his career as an international export specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Columbus, Ohio. He spent the next 20 years in enterprise B2B sales across healthcare, medical technology, and clinical information systems. He managed renewals exceeding 1M across the Canadian hospital territory and ultimately led an 11-country international sales territory across Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Germany, and Switzerland based out of London. He learned how complex sales work at scale, how to navigate multi-stakeholder buying committees, and how to build relationships that compound over decades.
In 2015 he founded Royal Docks Brewing Company in Canton, Ohio. Over 10 years he built it from concept into a multi-million dollar production craft brewery with three taproom locations, regional distribution, and a recognized regional brand. The business operated at scale across hospitality, production, and events before closing in 2025. Among the lessons: values matter, the right people matter, and trust has to be structured, not assumed. Those lessons inform every aspect of how Decebal operates today.
Decebal was founded in 2025 to be the agency John wished he'd had during the Royal Docks years. An agency that runs a methodology, measures dollars produced not deliverables shipped, and earns the relationship every month. The firm is named after Decebalus, the last king of Dacia, reflecting John's Romanian heritage and the operator-grade discipline the firm tries to embody. Stand your ground. Build well. Never sell what you wouldn't buy.
The Career Arc
Enterprise sales to owner-operator to agency. Each chapter informs how Decebal works today.
U.S. Department of Commerce
International Export Specialist
Columbus, Ohio
Worked under the U.S. Export Assistance Center conducting market research for U.S. companies expanding into international markets. The foundation for everything that came next.
Medline Industries / Diamed USA
Regional Sales Representative
Northeast Ohio
Capital equipment and medical supplies sales across the Northeast Ohio territory. Cut teeth on healthcare B2B sales, working closely with the University Hospitals health network. Learned how complex healthcare buying actually works.
Lexicomp / Wolters Kluwer Health
Academic Sales → Hospital Sales Manager (Canada) → International Sales Manager (Europe)
Hudson, Ohio → London, United Kingdom
Eight years inside one of the world's largest healthcare information companies. Started as Academic Sales Manager covering a 12-state South Central territory, working with pharmacy, medical, and nursing schools. Promoted to Hospital Sales Manager for the entire Canadian territory, managing renewals exceeding 1M while integrating products across hospitals, health authorities, and provincial health systems. Promoted again to International Sales Manager based in London, covering 11 countries across Northern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, and Germany. Sales Representative of the Year 2012. Multiple Quota Club years. Customer Awareness Excellence Award. Hospital Salesperson of the Year. Top Prospector recognition.
Phreesia
National Account Sales Manager
United States
Brief national accounts role at one of healthcare's fastest-growing point-of-service SaaS companies. Sold across an integrated stack including Allscripts, athenahealth, GE Healthcare, NextGen, and other major EHR platforms. Bridging chapter between the corporate sales career and what came next.
Royal Docks Brewing Company
Founder
Canton, Ohio
Built and operated a multi-million dollar production craft brewery with three taproom and restaurant locations, regional distribution, and a recognized regional brand across 10 years. Hired and managed teams across production, hospitality, distribution, and operations. Fused craft beer with British pub culture in a contemporary American style. Named Twenty Under 40 by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2019. President of the Ohio State University Stark County Alumni Club from 2016 to 2021 during the same chapter. Closed in 2025. The lessons from that chapter inform how Decebal operates today.
Decebal
Founder
Northeast Ohio · Sarasota, Florida
Founded Decebal to be the firm John wished he'd had as an operator. Built on the principle that every dollar invested in growth should be traceable, measurable, and accountable. Five products. One methodology. Operator-grade discipline.
GLG Advisory Council
Member since 2013. Gerson Lehrman Group, the world's leading expert network platform, backed by Silver Lake Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Bilingual
Native or bilingual proficiency in English and Romanian. Native fluency informs Decebal's heritage and international perspective.
Twenty Under 40
Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, 2019. Recognized for career achievement, community service, and professional impact across Stark County.
Built on Strategy Podcast
Host. Interviews with founders, operators, and industry leaders on the strategies, tools, and automation workflows they're using to grow faster and operate smarter.
The thread through all of it: international enterprise sales, multi-country B2B account management across two continents, a multi-million dollar owner-operated business, and now an agency built for owner-operators. Each chapter taught a different lesson about what real partnerships look like, what bad ones cost, and what owners actually need from the people they hire to grow their businesses. Decebal exists because the agency John wanted didn't.
PHILOSOPHY
Three principles
Every decision at Decebal traces back to one of these.
Accountability Over Activity
We measure dollars produced, not deliverables shipped. Most agencies invoice you for hours, campaigns, posts, and reports. We invoice you for outcomes. Every month, our written summary shows you what we did, what it produced, and what it cost. If we can't trace the dollars, we can't defend the engagement.
Partnership Over Transactions
We sign 12-month minimums because trust takes time and real growth compounds. Short engagements produce short results. Most of our best work shows up in months four through nine, not month one. We won't do tactical engagements, one-off campaigns, or anything that's designed to feel like progress without producing it. We're not the right firm if you want a vendor. We're the right firm if you want a partner.
Discipline Over Hype
We run proven methods, not the latest tactic. The fundamentals work when you actually do them. We're not interested in AI-powered anything that doesn't produce measurable results. We're not running TikTok strategies for B2B operators because they're trendy. We pick what works for your business, do it relentlessly, and measure it honestly. The discipline is the differentiator.
PRODUCT STACK
The full Decebal stack
Five products, one methodology, one firm.
- 01
xBrief
Free Lead Magnet
A 30–60 minute discovery call plus a one-page written summary of your AI stack and top findings. The entry point to every Decebal engagement.
- 02
xPlan
The written roadmap. Credits toward your engagement.
A detailed written roadmap covering what to kill, what to fix, what to build, and in what order. Fully credited toward GAMA if you proceed with the rebuild.
- 03
GAMA
Scoped per engagement.
The rebuild platform. Website, CRM, foundational systems, and integrations. Built on a white-labeled stack you own.
- 04
Scaleworks
YOU ARE HEREPartnership scoped to your growth plan.
The growth engine. Outbound, paid ads, content, and demand generation, run end to end by Decebal. This is where most of our recurring revenue lives.
- 05
xLive
Included with Active Engagements
The reporting layer. Live dashboard, monthly written summary, monthly review call.
GET STARTED
Ready to start?
Pick whichever path matches where you are.
Free xBrief
30 minutes on the phone. You walk away with a one-page read on your AI stack. No obligation.
Get Your Free xBriefDiscovery Call
30-minute conversation about your growth challenges. We'll be honest about whether we're a fit.
Book a Discovery CallCustom Proposal
You know what you need. Tell us, and we'll write you a specific scope and price within 48 hours.
Request a Proposal