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The iGaming Leader Podcast with Leo Judkins uncovers the human side of the iGaming industry's most successful leaders. Join us as we explore the untold stories, challenges, and triumphs of the executives shaping one of the world's most dynamic sectors.
Each week, we dive deep into conversations with C-suite leaders, founders, and directors from global betting firms and innovative startups. Our guests share their authentic journey to the top, revealing pivotal career moments, leadership philosophies, and personal strategies for sustainable success in this high-pressure industry.
More than just another business podcast, we focus on the crucial intersection of wellbeing and high performance. Discover how industry leaders maintain peak performance while managing stress, work-life integration, and team dynamics in an industry that never sleeps.
Whether you're an aspiring leader, current executive, or passionate about the iGaming sector, each 30-minute episode delivers actionable insights to help you thrive in this fast-paced environment.
Subscribe now to join a community of high-achieving iGaming professionals committed to making this industry not just successful, but sustainable for its leaders.
[00:00:00]
[00:00:00] Dmitry Belianin: to really empower people, educate and mentor them Like their best friend not like a big mad boss, if you can find someone who does the thing at least 80 percent as good as you you should give it away. I'm here to stay in this industry. I'm here to build a legacy.
[00:00:14] I want to understand how the business dynamics and the world dynamics will look in three to five years
[00:00:19] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: One of the biggest routines I came up with was, waking up with the sunlight, staring at the sun, and the first time I tried it, I was like, whoa, my mind changed.
[00:00:28] I think so clearly now
[00:00:29] Welcome to the I gaming leader, where we interview some of the most well-respected leaders inside the industry to uncover what has led them to their success today.
[00:00:41] Today I'm joined by a true industry powerhouse, Dimitry Belianin. He's been in the industry for over 17 years and has actually had the most successful year of his life this year. He's launched multiple companies and is truly this re-upping the industry with its products and services.
[00:01:00] So I want you to join me today to hear his story about what led him to his success today and what some of the advices that I can give all of us to be more successful in our careers as well. Let's dive in.
[00:01:12] Leo: Welcome to the iGaming Leader. Super excited to have you here. I've been wanting to, interview you for a long time. You're such an interesting character with such an interesting business and background. first of all, welcome to the show.
[00:01:24] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Thanks a lot for having me. I'm very excited and I'm a big fan as well.Thank you, Dima. let's just start off with, where you started in the industry. I was listening to one of your podcasts where you're talking about having been in the industry for over half your life. So tell me a little bit about how you started and maybe what some of the challenges were when you first kicked off in your iGaming career.
[00:01:45] Dmitry Belianin: I was a very competitive kid throughout my life. I played video games on a high level. even attended World Cyber Games was a very Curious and competitive kid, I would say. And the moment when everyone started playing online poker, I was the first to try. So I was 17 years old and I used my grandma's passport to be able to get my first time deposit Poker Stars back then.
[00:02:07] But idea was very interesting about the poker itself. You're playing. Pretty much the same game but for real money and, against real people I started playing and discovered affiliation with one of the websites, which I came across was poker strategy dot com.
[00:02:23] So I started studying their business model. I try to understand how these guys are making money. I've combined my college degree with software development and web development with affiliation, and this is how I've created my very first website. AndI'm in gaming since then, and it's been a beautiful and very rewarding journey for me, and, I absolutely love it.
[00:02:43] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: did you know that I actually started my iGaming career at PokerStrategy? Yeah,
[00:02:48] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: okay, so probably we were on the same forum at the same time.
[00:02:52] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: you were probably with Rustem, right? So Rustem was one of the guys I was managing.
[00:02:56] I came over to Gibraltar 15, 16 years ago together with PokerStrategy from Germany. I was one of the first six guys here in Gibraltar and then headed up all of the different country managers. So yeah, really cool.
[00:03:10] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Wow yeah, yeah.
[00:03:11] Dmitry Belianin: So, I was very active forum member. I was actually recording some videos and I think I had almost the highest status, like they had gold and then platinum or something.
[00:03:21] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Yeah,
[00:03:21] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Platinum, then diamond, then black mamba, tell me a little bit more about that. So you transitioned into affiliation. What was your pivotal moments for you realizing this industry has hooked me.
[00:03:31] This is what I'm going to keep on doing.
[00:03:33] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: To be honest, the very first website, was just pure HTML With some text I wrote myself, which was very simple text. I created a review of a website I played at myself. coming from a player view and perspective. What are the pros?
[00:03:49] What are the cons? How the players play here? What is the game looking like? Et cetera. So I've created a review of the website, myself. It was so easy to rank it. If you look at the websites nowadays, you need like back links. You need some old domain. Back then, it was so easy.
[00:04:04] Like, You just created a website, uploaded the text. There you go, right? And the pivotal moment for me was, it was very hard to get a proper affiliate deal because Some kid from Belarus reaching out to you via Skype asking for like affiliate link and people are like, okay, this is a pure scam. Usually this is a Nigerian prince, but this is a kid from Belarus. So it was very hard to get a link, but then I think, the moment I received the link, Very few first time depositors. I was like, okay, this thing actually works. I started doubling down.
[00:04:34] So I got a few of my buddies, from college. They helped me to create like a better design will build a better site. I was still writing all these texts myself. And I think we got to almost 35 to 50 websites in just a few months. It was challenging and fun for us.
[00:04:49] We were just, writing 24 7 and I think in just like a few months, we started making like a lot of money. we were even questioning whether we should, keep going with college. at the same time, I was still playing on my poker on the very competitive level. I think it was like an L. 50 than 100. So it was, 50, 50. And at some point when affiliation started making some ridiculous amount of money, we all stopped playing online poker.
[00:05:15] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: how did that decision go for you, Dima? There's some point where you have to make that decision. What was the thing that kind of, the one thing that make you decide, all right, this is the direction that I'm going to go,
[00:05:25] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: I think the competition
[00:05:27] because,
[00:05:27] was always thinking, okay, what it takes to get onto the next level? What is the next level, right? And when you set up this milestone for you, you can immediately get it down into pieces to understand what is this consists of? What kind of website we need to build?
[00:05:43] What kind of traffic we need to acquire? What kind of territories we need to enter, right? Competitiveness of this industry. And, the challenge was always my main driver, right? Build, something better, become like a better professional, build a better brand, et cetera. for me, that was the main driver.
[00:05:59] And a lot of people, they still asking me what is your inspiration to really grind these bodies as I'm doing this right now? It's still the same challenge. It's still the same, motivation to build great products. I still see a lot of gaps and points of improvement in this industry. And this is what drives me further.
[00:06:18] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: You've got such a unique product and such a unique view on how we should grow the market. your entire vision on how we should diversify the market more, how we should get outside interest into it is something I'd love to touch on in a bit
[00:06:30] But let's dive back into that history. you've grown really fast then, right? starting with affiliation business growing. A lot of revenue very quickly. That must've had a lot of challenges with it as well.
[00:06:41] You must've had some really difficult moments in that growth I'm just thinking about if it's just poker, for example, black Wednesday there must've been some really difficult times. What was some of the hardest times in, in that 17 year career that you've had?
[00:06:54] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Yeah, so I think, understanding the business itself when this is the first time you're building a business is probably the hardest. Combining the basic business, structure, hygiene, finance, legal, all that stuff. And going through this the very first time is probably the most challenging thing you can ever find, right? But at the same time you come up with something, which our industry brings in on the table, which is completely undiscovered. And back then it was impossible to find any piece of information, so you go to the forums like GPWA, what was one of these forums. Two plus two was one of these forums, so you go to the forum and start collecting information bit by bit. There is no book. There is no course. There is no anyone who can help you with that, and still, I think the education in our industry is something which no one still, did manage to uncover fully, right?
[00:07:45] So education exists, but very well hidden. if you know how to dig properly, you will be able to find it. So probably, understanding the business and its basic hygiene. And at the same time, combining it with the eye gaming principles, the affiliation principles, understanding the user journey, understanding the. The basic behavioral patterns of the eye gaming user and how to combine it with the business model of affiliation was something I needed to go through and seeing, me and as the professional and the industry, how it will since I think we are now in the forefront of what we The biggest transformation in the history of the internet since the internet was invented, right? With all this like new AI search and everything, for people like myself, this like long journey could be erased this like biggest behavioral shift in the history of the internet, which is happening right now. And, the only thing you can do is, adjust all of your findings and all the information you've accumulated previously and to try to give it like a new spin to be able to adjust to the new business realities.
[00:08:51] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: One of the things I would say though, is that. Those challenges that you've gone through and that searching and that finding and that feeling uncomfortable, maybe even an imposter, that's helped shaped who you are today, right? And I sometimes worry about that shortcuts, perhaps through AI search or whatever that is.
[00:09:09] You don't get the same depth of knowledge and level of understanding to really provide solutions that are a perfect market fit, right? And I don't know, is that, how do you see that?
[00:09:22] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: To be honest, think to become a serious leader and understand. What it takes, to build this like a business and infrastructure. There is no shortcuts as you mentioned. And I keep saying this for a very long time is that. If you are an entrepreneur, you take a risk,
[00:09:41] you not only take a risk for us as the person and your family, you take a risk of all these people you hired. You've take the risk of all these people. You need to pay
[00:09:50] them salaries tomorrow,
[00:09:51] right? There is no day offs. There is no shortcuts. There is no easy way out. So you really need to embrace the grind and evolve every single day.
[00:09:59] If you're not doing it, then going to be gone tomorrow. And sometimes I look at companies and people who feel like, they found their comfort zone, but it's not like that in business. One very smart person told me You know, In the business, there is only two way outs.
[00:10:12] Either you go on the IPO and cash out through it or become a part of private capital. So you feel like you can find that comfort zone and stay there, it's not the right path. You either evolve or you just stagnate.
[00:10:24] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: that's where I sometimes worry, right? It's, in the grind and the not so comfortable moments where the biggest lessons are and they drive real performance, long term growth. So working with different businesses and you've got a lot of people around you now as well.
[00:10:37] What has been some of the biggest lessons that you've learned from grinding through that hitting your head against the wall and all those kinds of things.
[00:10:43] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: I think
[00:10:43] Dmitry Belianin: one of the biggest learnings was something which. Allowed me to transform my leadership style empower and mentor against control and direct, right? So this is something which changed my persona probably like seven to eight years back where I found a way to really empower people, educate and mentor them Like their best friend not like a big mad boss,
[00:11:08] which is just always screaming, And, this has been my biggest learning. And then the thing which you can actually extract of it is the power of delegation, right? If you understand and find a way how to, build this like a next generation of leaders inside of your organizations, You can always give them more responsibilities.
[00:11:27] You can find a way to, allow
[00:11:29] them to come up with, new responsibilities, new functions, new organizational twists. empowering as the leadership style and delegation are probably two biggest things I
[00:11:40] uncovered throughout the year. some of the portfolio companies I got. This is something I keep telling to the CEOs and the founders that delegate as much as possible. Try to find a way how you empower your leaders. Try to find a way how you build frameworks and, empower people against just, doing everything by yourself.
[00:11:58] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Yeah, love that. We've got to delegate decisions, not just tasks, right? Andmany of the people listening will actually be struggling with that, Because delegating like that can feel like losing control. And therefore the quality of the work is going to go down.
[00:12:13] So tell me a little bit about how seven, eight years ago, when you first decided that's the route you were going to take in your leadership style, how do you get to that decision? And what was some of the fears or things that were going through your head as you were going through changing that leadership style of yours?
[00:12:28] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: this is a really good question. a lot of senior or middle management are going through in their career where they feel like, okay, if I start delegating, I'm losing power and becoming more replaceable, and I'm coming to the point where I gave everything myself.
[00:12:44] So what to do now, this is something going through my head as well, especially, you know, they always keep saying, and I think, the Alibaba founder, has said We hire people not to tell them what to do.
[00:12:55] They should tell us what to do, so to follow that path, you need to hire stronger people than yourself. you are becoming, fragile at some point because this person you hired might replace yourself tomorrow, right? But at the same time, which actually allows you to do it, that stage is you can go to the next level yourself.
[00:13:12] You can come up with, new decisions. new frameworks. You can start seeing things clearly and you're not this much, digging into the operations. You're not this much digging into day to day routine. This allows you to start thinking about business more clearly and understand and seeing connections which previously you haven't seen before.
[00:13:32] Going all the way back seven years ago, I had the same fear of delegation, but the moment I said to myself if I'm the same competitive kid, if I'm the same guy who was before all my life, I will find a way through, I will find a way to become better. I remember when I hired the first marketing guy in my team. It was a brilliant guy, right? And it's actually now the CEO of Tesla, right? So
[00:13:58] he was a brilliant guy. Like I saw, this is one of the smartest guys in my life ever saw. And it gave me extra motivation to become smarter myself, to do more, become better, et cetera.
[00:14:08] So that's the power you can bring in your organization and you should not be afraid of delegation. And I think the golden rule of delegation,
[00:14:16] Dmitry Belianin: if you can find someone who does the thing at least 80 percent as good as you you should give it away.
[00:14:21] You should not be afraid of, giving this to someone else because this gives you a new way of leverage and this gives you a new way of, empowering yourself and the organization
[00:14:31] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Feeling the fear and doing it anyway, right? Even if it's at 80 percent of the quality, because you will still be responsible for those. Decisions and the output of that work. I think that's maybe the fear that some people are stuck with. So just sticking with that delegation, topic here, Dima, what was some of the mistakes that you made early on and how did you recover from that?
[00:14:50] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Oh, probably number one mistake is just delegated blindly, right?
[00:14:53] Number one, is the person ready for it? Is the person got an out of context for it, and, making sure that the path, you opening in front of him is ready for him to be walked through, right?
[00:15:05] This is probably the number one mistake, because if you work in the organization for a while, all this like little neaties, greedy, sometimes even politics within the organization. And if someone just steps in blindly, he will do a lot of mistakes. So probably the number one rule for me is to prepare a proper guidelineroutine for this person to take over. the golden rule for me here is that the way delegate things. Should always come in with the challenge. So if you have a senior person and you know that he will absolutely smash, that task is probably not the right thing. You need to make sure that the task should be challenging enough for him.
[00:15:42] So he has this motivation to grow, to challenge himself, et cetera. So this always been my practice and one of the frameworks. I discovered many years back was objectives and key results, OKR, the way OKRs are designed is about setting up tasks in a very ambitious manner,
[00:16:01] OKR found the perfect way in my, playbook where I would set the OKR for a person which is challenging, very aspirational, so then he has a target to reach down. So if he needs to drive me 100 customers. I will set it at 125. So at least, he has this challenging 25 percent okay, where do I find them?
[00:16:19] It's impossible, and you should find a way.
[00:16:21] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: you've got to create tension. So. like over the last year, you've launched, multiple ventures simultaneously, and I want to touch on that. What have been some of the biggest drivers and challenges for you in launching those over the last year, because it is a lot at the same time.
[00:16:37] Right.
[00:16:38] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Yeah, I think, I call it the most expensive MBA in the world. So, um, I've always been a fan of something. the best education you can get is by doing something right. So this year has been probably the most significant and the most foundational year. Throughout my whole career as you mentioned, I embarked on the completely new journey.
[00:16:59] I've never done in my life previously on the same scale. I've invested previously, I built companies previously, but on the scale I've reached these days, it's unimaginable to go there without proper preparation. So the number one challenge was to find right people to hire these people, to empower these people, to find them a right. Function or the right area of responsibilities within the organization because the way it's been built I had no idea about it myself. I was experimenting a lot, and this is where finding the right people was a big challenge. Sometimes, and realizing, okay, this is not the right person for this job whether I can find him a better meaning or. get him into, some other place in the organization to, not waste his time, not waste his talent, et cetera. It's been very tough journey, very draining, very, I'd say, stressful, with a lot of emotional rollercoaster. But I think this is like the only way how you can become better, become stronger, and looking at what we've achieved throughout this year is insane,
[00:18:02] I kept saying we're not moving fast enough. We're not strong enough. We're not good enough, but looking at what we've achieved. this year is just insane, thinking about it five years ago, 10 years ago, what we've achieved right now would have been a dream for me, and I think this is something which a big problem for me, and a lot of people you really need to find, How you ground yourself, There will always be a new challenge tomorrow. There will always be a new milestone But you really need to find a way to satisfy yourself in the moment. Understand achievements, properly evaluate them and satisfy yourself and your inner beast because sometimes this inner beast in me, is never enough for him,
[00:18:41] And I still fighting against myself to find like a good place to, switch off after, some time, but it's still hard. I'm still learning. As I mentioned, it's been probably the most foundational year of my career and the amount of learnings, amount of people, amount of amazing conversations I had is probably the biggest MBA I could have gotten, better than going to any of the colleges because that was work and the real effort, me and all my colleagues and partners put all together.
[00:19:09] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Why do you think this year was so much more successful than any other year? If you would have to put it down to one thing, what would that be?
[00:19:15] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: I think the amount of people I've met and insights I got from these people. has been the reason number one and I kept saying the gaming is a very close to industry people. They don't share their learnings. their victories. They try to keep, everything to themselves and be very protective I'm very open minded. I openly brag about my victories, about my losses. This is something which I think started gathering the same like minded people around myself, and this is where it gives you a completely different perspective on things
[00:19:47] And I remember I want to highlight one person Nico Chamizo. I remember at a game in next this year, 25 minutes conversation I had with him was probably like years of education So I think people meeting people talking with people, understanding the journey, understanding their victories and their failures.
[00:20:05] What was probably the biggest thing I've done this year.
[00:20:08] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: That really touches on the next subject I wanted to talk about, which is your vision about creating more openness and not just by hiring from outside of the industry and creating, what Petra was calling cross politic pronation, but also about what I loved about you launching those businesses, how much you've built in public,
[00:20:25] Like this building in public and openly with the launch of your podcast, with Blast, with everything you. Really openly talking about and creating excitement around your products and around what you're building. So tell me a little bit more about that. Dima, why do you find it so important to hire from the outside?
[00:20:44] What's driven this big vision of yours that you keep talking about?
[00:20:47] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: the fearless approach towards, possible failures is something I embrace daily. If We fail. if something goes wrong, this is where we learn. this has been my motto since day one, I'm not afraid of making mistakes. I'm not afraid off, actually learning and building on top of this mistake. So this led me to something which started using a lot in my previous organization, hiring people from the outside, Getting people With the relevant skill set from relevant industries has been one of my biggest superpowers, getting these people and injecting and empowering all this monstrous I gaming experience, either I had or organization, I used to work before was probably one of the biggest things I've done because, I remember the first day I said, okay, I want to get. There was a very smart lady from the FMCG sector. I said this is going to be the biggest CMO of all times if we give her a chance and people, they started criticizing me like, no, we cannot effort, get in not ready person. We need the person right now is give me two months. this fearless mindset allowed me to think about it and, get this person to risk, a possible business uplift to risk a possible failure because I wasn't afraid of that, and she became indeed one of the, one of the best CMOs I've ever seen in my life. And I think getting people with the right mindset, with the right attitude education, people who are open minded, because, sometimes, from the outside, iGaming, look like, like an angry menacing industry, right? And, it's, when people, they see it, from a different angle, as technological, as, very competitive, very innovative industry, this is where people they embrace this, opportunity, and, they join, because fintech, FMCG, automotive, mobile, all these industries, they're very similar.
[00:22:35] if you find a way to apply the skill set from these industries towards gaming, you will be unstoppable.
[00:22:40] Dima is so right because after coaching over 200, I gaming leaders.
[00:22:45] I've discovered one simple truth. Success in your career, really? Isn't about talent. It's about your skills and skills you can develop. So if you're a Head of, VP, director or executive. And you want to accelerate your career in a way that you can achieve sustainable high-performance then the I gaming leader mastermind might be a great fit for you. Inside.
[00:23:11] We help people just like you live lead and perform better in less than 20 minutes a day. So, if you would like to join, please apply@gamingleader.com.
[00:23:22] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: One of the things I hear you talking about a lot is how much of a short term vision there often is in gaming, right? And you talk about it a lot when you talk about acquisition marketing, specifically performance marketing, how, if that dries up, then many businesses, they haven't got a business anymore.
[00:23:39] brand is obviously a little bit more long term. how do you balance in your case with your ventures that balance between short term results and long term opportunities? How do you stay sane in those competing kind of forces?
[00:23:53] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: that's a really good question. And we had a great example one of our ventures earlier. one of the guys, he came in onto a very senior role, and he was like looking at, immediate returns. He was looking at, okay, the uplifts of the revenue here and there. I was like, dude, don't do it like we're here, to stay and everything you do right now, all this like little losses, all this little investments are here to build like the monstrous synergy within the organization and explode one day, If you start looking at everything from that perspective. You understand? Okay. All this like little pieces of the puzzle, all this like little seeds you're planting right now are aimed to bring revenue in three to five years,
[00:24:33] Dmitry Belianin: one of the smartest people in our industry, mentioned that we switched from five years planning to three years planning, then to one year planning, right? So for them, they need to be accomplishing within one year and planning within one year. I'm not looking like that, and I'm not thinking like that, I'm here to stay in this industry. I'm here to build a legacy.
[00:24:51] I'm here to build a next generation of projects I want to understand how the business dynamics and the world dynamics will look in three to five years this allows me to start building the foundation to be able to exploit in the next 3 to 5 years.
[00:25:05] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: So I think this long term thinking is applying onto hiring people. As I mentioned, education is very big part of my routine. Having people from the outside is also that because you cannot start, extracting the value of the person right now in the day one, right building the new projects, which I've taken years to build, thinking about products, thinking about brands, thinking about communities because it's very hard to build and it's taken, years to unfold because this is where I think the internet goes right now and this is where, businesses are going to as well because with all this AI and generated content. Only the genuine businesses, only the businesses which has values, which has something which will stay deeply inside of the heart and soul of the consumer. Only this kind of businesses will survive, and this takes time to build. So this is my mindset.
[00:25:55] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: So true. It's all about, people to people, not business to business. I wanted to touch a little bit on your well being. I know you've mentioned it to me a few times that you've been on a big journey in how you've changed your approach to your personal health
[00:26:07] As a foundational area to drive your own performance with everything that's going on in your professional life and personal life I think it's been a game changer for you. So tell us a little more about that what's started that mindset of focusing on your wellbeing.
[00:26:20] what are some of the most important things that help you through these daily pressures?
[00:26:25] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Yeah, absolutely. Enjoy that conversation, by the way, the last time, and I think You are one of a few experts in this industry who really understand the matter, on this, highest level, I actually learned a few things from you last time we spoke, and I started using them journaling was one of these things, I'm still a beginner and the way I'm doing everything when it comes to business or myself is by, experimenting. sleep, habits, routines and everything.
[00:26:49] And, this is how I find the way. To something which really means a lot to me and has an influence on my body and mindset. So one of the biggest routines I came up with was, waking up with the sunlight, staring at the sun, and briefing is something which the first time I tried it, I was like, whoa, my mind changed.
[00:27:09] I think so clearly now I was so pumped up. I started just, testing new routines, applying them, so sunlight briefing. I was, I was a fan of intermediate fasting for a very long time.
[00:27:20] So I started applying this. Now I took a pose to check how my body reacts if I'm not doing this. I'm going everywhere with a very experimental and proven approach. Also, think one of the things is,
[00:27:33] Dmitry Belianin: Sleep, probably the number one doctor for you, making sure that your sleep routine is well balanced. You're going to sleep at the same time you're waking up at the same time.
[00:27:41] I'm not using the alarm clock. I'm just waking up, myself, staring at the first light. trying to, get as much water as possible throughout the day. All this like little basic steps are actually turning myself into a relentless superhuman being
[00:27:55] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: I had a chat about it with a friend.
[00:27:57] He's ah, I'm not going to give up drinking alcohol I'm like, dude, I'm fine with that. Then I will always have a handicap against you.
[00:28:03] So I stopped drinking alcohol and it was probably one of the biggest discoveries I ever found because I don't think I ever in my life stopped drinking alcohol.
[00:28:11] Drinking alcohol for more than 30 days and when I've done this 90 days experiment, I was like, wow, I'm not going back, right? And sometimes people they become a slight offense. It's no you're not gonna drink I was like no dude that's my new mindset. It's not because of you It's not because of the achievements the business like got nothing.
[00:28:29] It has nothing to do with you. It's just about myself and my future mindset, I like the way, my mind works when I'm not drinking. I like waking up fresh, energized. And, this sets me onto this like relentless menacing mood where there is no like barriers in front of me.
[00:28:44] It's just me and the challenge in front of me.
[00:28:46] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: I want to make a comparison here, Dima. If you would have had the same habits and behaviors as you had a few years ago, and you would have had the same year as this year, what would have happened?
[00:28:57] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: I would have been so productive. I would have been so relentless in everything I do, and I regret that some of the routines I started only recently, I wasn't applying them earlier. you know, I read a lot. I consume a lot of content and, some of these things I knew for years, people, were talking about it for years, and I felt ah, no, this is scum. Thinking, health is a scum thing, right? I was
[00:29:20] stupid not listening, andI regret I haven't done it, earlier, but still, I keep asking this question to myself, I'm still young, I'm still I'm turning 36 in a few weeks, but I'm still young. I still have such a long journey in front of me.
[00:29:32] So this is where I'm blessed that I found these routines and I'm blessed that I started applying them and seeing such a crazy difference, in my mental health and my body. I would have been unstoppable if I started earlier. So I gave everyone a little bit of a handicap.
[00:29:47] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Love that. And my last question I'd like to leave listeners with something actionable. So ifif you kind of teleport yourself back a few years, maybe when you were starting out, Like you were saying, what would be some of the advice that you would give yourself or some of the steps that you would recommend you take?
[00:30:01] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Probably the health and being routine. This is something I would have prioritized against everything else. Building a well balanced, work life balance, a routine as well. Walking more, going to gym, more, going, into some sports. I love sports.
[00:30:18] I play football, but not enough. I play tennis, not enough, et cetera. So prioritizing health, wellbeing, prioritizing sports and routines. And, probably number three is being, Less fearful when it comes to, opening up to people, talking with people, reaching out asking questions, the moment many years back, I understood that I need a mentor and I send this like signal to the universe that I need to mentor that this has been one of the biggest light changing moments of my life.
[00:30:45] So doing this earlier, right? finding a mentor. opening up to people, asking questions, admitting that you don't know, just being very honest, being very transparent. I don't know that thing. not only in front of everyone, but in front of yourself, because this gives you a leverage and this opening up a path towards a new education.
[00:31:03] And so the education probably, will be the next piece because reading a lot. I took a few mini MBAs in my life and, some of them, they were very good and opening my eyes on to something. So probably this will be the number four, four thing, which, I probably not did in out, in the last seven to eight years.
[00:31:21] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Thank you very much, Dima. Hey, I just want to say great job and fantastic work on your business, I really love what you're doing, love your vision for what you want to achieve within the industry and how you want to help transform the industry. So thank you very much for opening up and sharing your story with us.
[00:31:35] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: It was absolute my absolute pleasure. And to be honest, I feel everything I said with a little bit sarcastic matter. So please don't take some of these things super seriously. I just really want to empower more people. help to build the next generation of leaders.
[00:31:50] And whatever I find is working for me, whatever I find working for the business, I'm here to share and help this industry to become a better place. So I'm on the mission. And, the moment I will probably, become like bloody rich. I will. I will just, spend 24 7 just helping people.
[00:32:08] leo_2_11-21-2024_120516: Love it, man. Thank you very much.
[00:32:10] dmitry-belianin_2_11-21-2024_110517: Thanks.
[00:32:10] Well, what a great interview with Dima really enjoyed talking to him. And I loved. What he shared about what it takes to be a high performance gaming leader. There are three takeaways that I think you could take from this episode. The first one is that it's so important to delegate in a way that we create the next generation of leaders inside of our business, because that will accelerate the growth that we all want to achieve. The second thing was all about embracing long-term vision over short-term gains, and almost thinking about the legacy that you leave behind with your business. And the third thing. I was all about how important it is to prioritize your own health and wellbeing, because that is the foundation. To sustainable high-performance as an I gaming leader. So those were the three key takeaways. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure you leave a rating and review super important for helping other gaming leaders find this show as well.
[00:33:08] It'll take you less than 10 seconds and I'll be forever grateful. So please leave a rating review. And then next week we're interviewing Maria Hammond. Who's a marketing director at relaxed gaming, super inspirational woman. I've seen her speak a few times live. She's doing amazing with how she is developing her own personal brand Very inspirational woman. So I can't wait for you. To listen to that episode as well. I hope to see you there. Take care.