‘You can’t get emotional with regards to your products’

When you’re at the helm of a business you’re passionate about, it’s easy to get attached to the products you’ve invested time and energy to create, even when they’re not performing as they should. However, despite the difficulty, viewing things from a non-emotional lens is often necessary for success.

Tomas Bäckman, CEO at Hero Gaming, touches on the importance of this in a recent interview with EGaming Review.

Since taking the reins in 2018, the CEO has steered the company, which has offices in Malta and Sweden, through the trials of COVID-19. At the outset of the pandemic, Mr Bäckman says that its online casino focus, led by flagship brand Boom Casino, helped cushion some of the financial impact felt by its sportsbook-first rivals.

Still, despite the fact that Boom Casino’s growth was actually helped by COVID-19 lockdowns, the CEO tells EGaming Review that its success was mainly down to the core strength of the product itself, emphasising, “I’ve been in the gaming industry for 10 years now and I don’t think I can recall such a strong development for any brand that I’ve seen, so that’s obviously impressive.”

As for products that don’t deliver as well, the CEO reveals “a growing cutthroat attitude” which includes not shying away from axing what doesn’t work. “If a product doesn’t perform over time, we close it down. You can’t get emotional with regards to your products and must be ready to kill your darlings,” he maintains.

And with the Nordic operator’s growing success, it certainly appears to make business sense.

Written by

Sarah Muscat Azzopardi

Sarah is a writer and editor at Content House Group, the publishers of MaltaCEOs.mt. With a strong background in business publications, she is passionate about connecting the dots to produce superb content that creates value. When she’s not picking the brains of Malta’s business leaders, Sarah enjoys discovering new eateries, spoiling her senior dog and working on her embroidery business.

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