Marina Ilina: “The speed of PIN-UP’s development and entry into new markets reflects our ambitions”

Marina Ilina, CEO of PIN-UP Global, sat down with Focus Gaming News for an exclusive interview discussing 2023’s achievements, overcoming challenges, and the importance of diversity in the industry.

Exclusive interview.- Marina Ilina, CEO at PIN-UP Global, reflects on the outstanding performance of the PIN-UP Global ecosystem in 2023, emphasizing significant growth, systemic changes, and the successful launch of their own products. 

Ilina also discusses the challenges of managing a rapidly expanding company, highlighting the need for experienced managers and a dynamic approach to problem-solving. 

How do you evaluate the performance of PIN-UP Global ecosystem in 2023?

There are results of growth and systemic changes. This year was dedicated to systemic changes in processes, distribution and expansion of teams and technologies. 

We have grown both in the number of players, in companies participating in the ecosystem, and in the number of experts – and this is very cool. But our greatest achievement is the strengthening of the foundation and a huge leap in terms of consistency and structure – now we can afford growth and development on a much larger scale without loss of quality. 

In addition, in 2023 we released several of our own products, which only highlight the uniqueness and capabilities of the ecosystem.

What was the biggest challenge of the year?

Every fast-growing company experiences advancement pains approximately every 2 years – when either technology or management is faced with the difficulty of processing new volumes of tasks and information. We have encountered this three times, and each time this period proves to be more complex and interesting. 

The larger the ecosystem becomes, the more experienced managers are needed for top positions, and more structure has to be added to seemingly ordinary processes. 

We have never strived to become like a corporation – and even at our scale, we build processes so that we can solve problems of any level and scale as quickly as possible. We are in a very dynamic market, where we need to set the pace and seize the moment of decision-making that will allow us to achieve maximum results.

What would you say were PIN-UP’s achievements in 2023?

In fact, there are a lot of achievements. Starting with a number of awards that we received in 2023, expanding the geography of our presence and releasing our own products, ending, as I said earlier, with building a systematic approach. 

To put it in order, we entered a new market for us – India and opened our ninth office there. 

We have formed a separate Analytics direction, which includes the Anti-fraud, BDA, BI&analytics teams. The team’s work was intense, and we were able to introduce machine learning into traffic ROI forecasting models, increasing the accuracy of our forecasts. 

Special attention should be paid to the release of the Anti Fraud Tools product into full production, which allowed us to replace purchased solutions for assessing transaction risk. Also – the introduction of artificial intelligence, the transition to working with big data and prediction of user behaviour, which allows us to customize the user flow. And, of course, the launch of a new segment in the field of investment – PIN-UP.INVESTMENTS.

I can talk a lot more about our achievements, but I think that our products and their scale speak for themselves. Because the contribution of all ecosystem participants and the professionalism of our teams help make the impossible to be nothing.

In 2023, PIN-UP Global and you personally were awarded many significant awards in the industry, one of which was “Leader of the Year”. How important is it to have inspiring women in the gaming industry?

We have a really cool and professional team, whose expertise is confirmed by victories in various specialized conferences. The year 2023 was full of victories – the PIN-UP ecosystem received 16 awards. 

But if we talk about women in the gaming industry, I would not separate the igaming industry from the technology industry or any other, just as I would not divide leadership by gender. I believe that professionalism and the desire for development are most important, but not belonging to one of the genders.

Unfortunately, there is still a trend in the technology industry towards salary and career advantages for men, but we at PIN-UP do not keep such traditions. We evaluate the suitability of the expertise for the position, as well as the soft skills of each expert. 

“I believe that professionalism and the desire for development are most important, but not belonging to one of the genders.”

Marina Ilina, CEO at PIN-UP Global.

To influence the numbers globally and address the current imbalance in the labour market, it is important to dispel women’s fear of working in this field. It is no less important to make them understand that equality, as well as real prospects, exist here, and to support appropriate educational and charitable initiatives as well.

I hope that very soon our society will come to a balance in this matter and we will be able to observe a new stage in the development of technology, where all stereotypes are defeated and professionals work in synergy.

In the context of the rapid development of PIN-UP Global, how do you manage to form strong teams of professionals? 

When managing a large business, one of the most difficult things, in my opinion, is the ability to effectively coordinate and control the activities of various departments. That is why two years ago we decided to completely rebuild the structure to a matrix management model and become an ecosystem. This helped us scale without losing quality.

When forming teams, we always look at the professionalism of the candidate. Determination, initiative, and the ability to work in a team and take responsibility for the result are important to us. We also value developed communication skills, an innovative approach to problem-solving, result orientation, the ability to think in numbers and make money, and proactivity. 

In 2023, you changed the values of the ecosystem; can you tell us what is special about them and what distinguishes them from the values of competitors?

Conducting strategic planning at the beginning of 2023 allowed us to analyze the existing results and determine the vector of further development, taking into account the scale of our plans. New focuses and guidelines in work prompted a review of old values. Thanks to our team, we have developed unique values that demonstrate each of us. They were covered in all HR processes, formed the basis of the portrait of our expert and formed role models of behaviour in work flow. 

Today, PIN-UP Global companies are united by common values, which are important components of the culture of our ecosystem and the driver of PIN-UP’s success: be the first in leadership, be an expert in your field, be a partner in teamwork, be results-focused, be open and honest in communication. These values were not imposed, they were formed by the PIN-UP employees themselves. 

In addition, the ecosystem has approved the Code of Ethics, which I mentioned earlier. It defined the rules of ethics and business conduct, as well as the general principles of interaction between ecosystem participants and external stakeholders.

“PIN-UP Global companies are united by common values, which are important components of the culture of our ecosystem and the driver of PIN-UP’s success.”

Marina Ilina, CEO at PIN-UP Global.

Lately, your ecosystem has eight segments so far. Can you tell us more about PIN-UP.INVESTMENTS, which was presented at the end of the year? 

The best professionals in the market with deep knowledge and experience in the field of gambling are concentrated inside PIN-UP Global. Guided by the desire to share this valuable expertise and continue to develop, PIN-UP decided to create a new business segment where our experts will be able to actively interact with promising projects and develop them.

We want to support and be active participants in the development of technologies and products in the gambling market and related areas. We look at promising teams that have their own written product and don’t know what to do with it, or teams that have launched a product but lack funding or large clients. These could also be ready-made technologies that we can further develop. 

Now we have already received a large number of applications, then there will be a process of selection and work with them, and only after that we will see the first results of our investment segment.

In Ukraine, you are actively involved in charity work through the PIN-UP Foundation you established. What can you tell us about the Foundation’s new initiatives and why is this important to you?

Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, I founded the PIN-UP Foundation. Over the years, we have implemented a lot of humanitarian and charitable projects – we delivered 200 tons of food and medicine to settlements and cities in different regions of Ukraine, carried out a humanitarian mission to Kherson immediately after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric station, launched the LINE-UP humanitarian project for the prompt delivery of humanitarian aid to frontline cities. 

The foundation helped evacuate Ukrainians abroad. It also regularly provides various assistance to the city of Kharkov, repairs and equips children’s centres, and installs permanent shelters in cities.

In total, the PIN-UP Foundation provided assistance to 15 thousand of Ukrainians from more than 100 settlements in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkov, Nikolaev and Zaporozhye regions. We will continue our mission and soon you will see new large-scale projects, which, I am sure, are necessary and useful.

PIN-UP Global has no borders; the ecosystem is currently present in six countries. Are you planning to expand this list with new locations?

That’s right, PIN-UP Global has no limits in scaling its ecosystem. At the end of last year, we established an office in a new country – India. Now we are represented in seven locations and we understand that this is far from the limit. 

The speed of PIN-UP’s development and entry into new markets reflects our ambitions. But speaking of expansion, it is also important for us not just to increase the number of offices, but also to diversify the line of our own products – our team is also doing an excellent job and this year you will see everything for yourself.

PIN-UP Global has no limits in scaling its ecosystem.”

Marina Ilina, CEO at PIN-UP Global.

What are your plans for 2024 and tell us about the new developments or PIN-UP product that we will see in the near future? 

PIN-UP never is at a stop. The plan includes an even greater increase in teams, growth of an existing product and the launch of a new one, automation of business processes using AI, customization, support, expansion of VIP service and entry into new markets.

Our distinctive feature remains the rapid growth of products and services without loss of quality; maintaining these dynamics remains a priority for me personally for 2024.

And of course, this year we will pay great attention to our new direction in the field of investment. It requires a lot of effort and time, because the process of collecting applications, studying proposals and selection is quite long and complex, but the most interesting thing will begin later – practically. 

All segments of the ecosystem are ready for the big scaling that awaits us this year. I am confident that with our knowledge and tools, we will be able to achieve all our goals.