10 out of 10: Product Owner from iGaming about product management and success
Online gambling is quite young industry, but the idea behind it is indeed not new. When entering a market with ambitious online casino startup, you have only one chance to catch the payer’s first impression. And many really struggle here. So, what makes the product interesting to players and profitable for owners at the same time? What are main difficulties and roadblocks in development of successful iGaming product in 2024? Talking now with experienced Product owner from the industry in our interview.
Monoup launches a new thread in our blog for iGaming and game brands where we will offer insides and secrets for successful projects from industry professionals. We will talk about optimizing processes and minimizing costs for operators by implementing a really working approach in practice. The series of interviews will cover different parts of product operation and every professional will answer 10 questions to help make your product “10 out of 10” level.
Today invitee is Product Owner in iGaming, let’s move on:
Q: Please tell us more about your yourself and your work responsibilities.
A: My name is Sergey and I am Product Owner in the international online casino. I work in product development since 2016 and have experience with iGaming and crypto setups.
Q: Do you gamble yourself?
A: Yes, I do sometimes. When I test the website or even for my own entertainment. I really love the industry and the overall logic behind it, so my work is tightly connected to my hobby. I can say, that my inspiration comes from my work and vice versa, because this is something I like to do.
Q: There’s a point of view that most iGaming brands are of the same type and therefore competing by product doesn’t work. For example, games are mostly the same on every website, similar design and overall logic as well. Do you agree that there’s no way to make something different and players do not really care about how your website looks?
A: This is a something that newcomers can express but this is not true for any of the product in the world. Basically, you can say this about anything. Every taxi service is of the same logic but we still like Uber more than others. Chinese shopping websites and local reseller are the same as well, but we all can catch the difference in quality and design. Of course, we can make something very much different and add some catching action, but do we really need that? I don’t think so.
It might sound silly for someone, but players do not look for something “completely different”, they have straight and simple attitude to this stuff. They need properly working website that offers as much bonuses and entertainment as possible. If your website built on poor infrastructure and is slower than a turtle, than it doesn’t’ matter if it’s pink or blue. About same games — this is not a problem at all and more of advantage. Because some players are actually looking for the known games, even old ones sometimes, that they like the most. You don’t have a task to be “not like others” when you do online casino on some basic level, you should differentiate yourself among others that are the same. And tryst me, this is much harder.
Q: Please tell us from your experience about the most successful product feature that eventually resulted in growth but from the first sight you didn’t think it was a good idea. And on the contrary the most promising feature you implemented, that didn't work that well.
A: It was not one case during my work experience. You know, sometimes you can think that you found how to crack the system and conversions should become better. But at the end what you get it just an experience and results are not always predictable.
A lot depends on the audience you work with. When you create a website for many countries — it’s harder to reach all the targets at once. If we consider something closer to you, guys, I was convinced a while ago that shape and measurements of payment methods icons in the cashier do not matter at all. As these are minor things and player will find the way to pay regardless of anything. How surprised I was when I realized it wasn’t true. Ha-ha! Shame on me.
Every slight change in the cashier block led to some respective changes in approval ratio and overall website conversions. In this case I recommend never skip A/B testing and use this to make sure you are right in your assumptions. Literally anything you do on the website will affect it in some way. Better for you if the way will be in your favor. The most interesting development was achievements for players. This really gave a boost to the retention and the product itself.
Q: How do you feel about top managers who actively monitor all product implementations and approve every new feature? Is this required in practice or does it slow down development of the project?
A: I think this is a total waste of time for top managers, such as CEO and COO. If you are equipped with an experienced Product Owner — you don’t need to control anything that much and only have to lead overall directions. Actually, exactly finding this type of Product Owner is the main task for top management that I wouldn’t name easy one.
As for me, totally agree that excessive control poses obstacles in the workflow. I have never experienced this within iGaming but in Crypto once. I could say that working in such environment is tough and complicated to create something really worthy. Discussion of new product features should be arranged within the right hierarchy. If we need basic improvements — on the product level, if major developments — on management level. This way we can only achieve a productive work environment and proper delegation.
The same with new functions — if they directly influence the product and monetization — I would discuss them with management and start upon agreement. If they are quite minor — I can implement them under my own responsibility.
Q: On your opinion, is today a lucky moment to launch a new iGaming product? If you were to create a new gambling website, how would you do that? Do you have any good examples to be inspired by?
A: The luckiest moment was ten years ago probably, therefore now no moment is “lucky”. Today gaming rules and habits are shaped in the other form than in 2010th and many active big products are on the map. Taking this into account, I wouldn’t’ be that concentrated on the right moment, better to do the research and find the place for your new product on the market. You always can be better than others in something and that is your main point to bet on.
To name exact brands — not ready, but I can say that now market is really full of good iGaming websites and startups are among them as well. I am particularly happy that many newcomers to the industry take it very seriously and develop their own software and branding. As I think that platforms and White Label solutions are of no use now. Most of them are outdated and do not present any quality for the owners. There are very few chances to succeed with third party software you can rent, because they are overused and lack adaptability. Additionally, many software solutions in iGaming have issues with bonus mechanics and technical improvements on the way. And this is their main drawback that makes you dependent on someone else’s team and resources. We need to rethink our bonuses and come up with new ones very fast and this is not possible with WLC. The queue for development tasks is huge in major software providers, and you cannot really benefit from working with them.
Q: Many newcomers to the industry often inspired by a goal to cover all the world within the first year of product launch. “We will work worldwide” is a very common motive. To what extent is that real to your opinion and how many markets is possible to open within the first year of online casino operation?
A: Sounds quite ambitious but if you have worked in at least one startup, you know — it’s not possible. If don’t think about legal and similar bureaucracy that takes time, let’s see. For the first year I would choose two-three countries and make them shine bright. If to target some region with similar language and overall audience patters, we can cover more countries. But quality is more important than quantity in this case. Especially at the very beginning when you still need to test a lot in the real-world conditions.
For me a few countries are a perfect plan for a start. This way I can devote my time, effectively manage it, and keep myself concentrated on every important detail. Afterwards, I will easily replicate the tested mechanism on other countries and shape them accordingly. Otherwise, if to take a lot of GEOs from the start, there’s potential change to keep a company in a startup mode for too long and never succeed.
Q: As a manager, do you personally take part in generation of new features ideas or you delegate this to your team? How does your department work?
A: I always take part personally. For me this is a way to keep my mind in shape and not to dive too deep into managerial job. Reports, metrics and KPIs take time in daily routine. I am more about creating new things than management. But I can productively balance in these two roles. Our team consists of great professionals that are working side by side, so I think in management I succeeded.
The most important is to be clear and concise about company goals and how they are going to be achieved. We know where we are going and all our tasks are prioritized just according this way. We are never lost in deadlines and our backlog is sorted. Actually, I think that this is relevant for any department, not just Product. You need a good team and management that can express mutual goal effectively. No other secret. If these two you have — you can move the mountain.
Q: How to consistently grow and strengthen the qualification in Product management? Do you think it’s worthy to watch out competitors or even some e-commerce to catch fresh ideas?
A: I didn’t study any courses, but learned in practice instead. Even right now we have quite a few good Product Management studies, I believe work process is much more effective. Working in the real company with dynamic product development will never allow you to lose the pace and you only will be enhancing your skills. If you consistently develop something new and improve your old products — you are up to date and know the market. And this is what actually makes the professional valuable.
Any website in the Internet can become a place for inspiration if you know where to look. I use to visit Amazon and competitors’ websites quite often, to be on the same page with new developments. However, even when I use a service in personal life, I can notice something interesting for my work too.
Q: What is your further career plan? We know that Product managers often grow into CEO or even business owners. Are you ambitious enough?
A: I have such ambitions and I think this will happen sooner or later. At this stage I am still in Product management as here’s a lot to do for me. Later we will see. I am interested to do something by myself, but not necessarily online casino. I consider other industries as well.
To conclude, we would like to thank Sergey for such a valuable discussion and precious thoughts about product management in gambling industry. Developing a new product is always a challenge and to accept it with grace, you need to study the audience and make own research. There’s no better moment than now, and we totally agree with our quest in this belief.
