Hiring Talent from Different Industries: Why and How?

At Pepper Partners, a leading iGaming CPA network, the team consists of professionals from various industries. For instance, our Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) joined us from the pharmaceutical sector, and our Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) previously worked at Philip Morris. Recently, we brought on a new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Mike, who formerly served as the Marketing Director at YanGo (Yandex Taxi) in Israel, with over 15 years of experience in PR.

In this interview series, we explore why Pepper Partners recruits talent from different fields, the advantages and challenges of this approach, and how employees from other industries can add value. We’ll also touch on whether joining the iGaming industry represents a step forward in a career.

Interview Guests:

• Lev Polonuer, Owner of Pepper Partners
• Mike Waizman, CMO of Pepper Partners

Lev, could you tell us a bit more about the team at Pepper Partners?

Right now, we have about 150 employees, and almost none of them come from the iGaming industry—only a couple have that background. We’ve followed this principle from day one of running our CPA network.

Why did you decide to hire people from different niches?

There are several reasons for this, so let me explain.

1. The iGaming talent pool is limited. This leads to companies essentially recycling the same professionals. I constantly see the same faces at different products and roles.
2. We need fresh perspectives. The iGaming market, while young and growing, is already facing a stagnation in viewpoints. Many concepts already common in the IT sector are still absent in iGaming. For example, CRM systems have only recently entered the iGaming market, despite being standard in industries like retail for over a decade. Most companies here still run on Excel spreadsheets. By bringing in people from larger corporations, we introduce new approaches and ideas, especially in customer focus and business intelligence.
3. No poaching agreements. We’ve made it a point not to poach from our peers in the industry, and they respect this. This allows us to maintain good relationships with other companies without causing tension over talent.

Why do you think poaching is unethical?

Companies put a lot of time and money into training their employees, and when you poach, you’re effectively pushing up salaries across the board. That leads to an unsustainable bidding war. Ultimately, the bigger companies will always be able to outbid everyone, creating a divide between cost and value.

Mike, Lev mentioned earlier that certain practices from other industries are standard but not yet common in iGaming. Can you share some examples of what you’ve brought into Pepper Partners from YanGo?

Sure. When I first joined, I introduced several business intelligence tools that saved our sales managers months of work. For instance, finding the right email contacts, which previously took significant time, was reduced to just half an hour with the right tools.

I also noticed that the marketing team was still managing all their stats in Excel. Google already provides much more efficient, real-time analytical tools that work across all channels. Implementing these solutions: helped me show early results and saved the company money.

How about marketing in iGaming CPA networks—do you think there’s a lack of fresh thinking there?

Definitely. It’s hard to find out-of-the-box approaches. The industry could benefit from some fresh ideas.