Leveraging B2C experience for B2B success: An interview with Ashley Lang
What interested you about this industry and what has made you stay in it?
“I originally entered the online gambling industry in the 1990s, when I was working in advertising sales for a national radio network in Canada. I was looking for advertisers who would be interested in leveraging market ranking with men 25-54 years old by advertising on our network. As a young sales rep, all the obvious sponsors were already on the air (beer companies, automotive, golf courses, etc), so I had to look for sponsors in new categories.
“At the time, internet radio was a new thing and allowed you to listen to stations in other markets. I checked out a comparable radio station in the Los Angeles market and heard an ad for an online sportsbook promoting betting opportunities on the upcoming weekend football.
“I was blown away – I thought to myself, ‘what a perfect product for the internet! No product to warehouse or ship, and everyone knows the outcome of the event – perfect product for radio advertising and genius business model.’
“What happened next is a longer story than we have time for, but it led to me leaving the broadcast network to start a digital marketing agency with a friend and focusing on providing development and marketing services to the online gambling industry.
“In my career in this industry spanning over 20 years now, I have had many successes, some failures (which are also extremely valuable experiences) and the good fortune of having been invited to many business opportunities and amassed a network of people that I greatly respect and value. I believe there are few industries that are as challenging, as dynamic, or are flush with entrepreneurial opportunities as igaming.”
What changes have you seen from when you started in the industry to now?
“Over the last 20+ years there have been many significant milestones of change in the industry, each of which, in hindsight, seems like a logical maturation of the industry and has resulted in a welcomed global recognition of igaming as a leading form of entertainment for the consumer and tax revenue for the jurisdictions that provide a viable regulatory model. I am as excited to be a part of it all today as I was when I heard that first radio ad for the weekend’s football props.”
You’ve had C-level roles such as a director at Bet365, founder of igaming content marketplace Odobo and chief executive of Lottomart, amongst others. What are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned about the igaming industry in these positions?
“Good question. I’ve been very fortunate to have had as diverse a career within the igaming industry – to have had 360 degrees of exposure to the business from the B2B and B2C sides, and from the modest start-up scale all the way up to involvement with market leaders.
“One valuable lesson I have learned and witnessed many times in my career is the importance of timing. Timing is such an important factor in what separates many winners and losers in this business. That is not to say success is at the mercy of timing, but rather to say that beyond the many considerations that an entrepreneur can be 100% in control of, you must also gauge the timing correctly and strike fast when the opportunity arises because timing is critical and there is a strong first-mover advantage.
“Secondly, and it may be a bit cliché, but people make businesses successful so hire carefully, choose business partners wisely, and empower (and reward) people to deliver their best. Behind every success story is a great team that is aligned and motivated towards the same goals.
“Finally, embrace the value of data. Few other industries are entirely digital end-to-end like igaming, resulting in every aspect of the business to be interrogated in the data generated. I have come to believe in the value of low-cost, simple and fast initial execution of an idea to enable early data analysis for validation before making big investments of time or capital. Many big ideas can be proven first at a small scale and evidenced by the data before committing to a full-scale execution.”
Something that makes Lang’s experience so valuable in igaming is his experience as a C-level for both B2C and B2B companies. Pairing invaluable operator knowledge with supplier experience helps to deliver on exactly what the industry needs.
How does your B2C experience help to shape your role at Pragmatic Solutions? What key learnings and pain points can you bring over from the B2C side to B2B?
“If in the provision of a B2B product or service to the igaming industry you have not previously been on the B2C side, you will lack the understanding and sensitivity to the urgency and importance of the requests of your B2B clients. It should almost be a prerequisite. Our B2C clients are risking millions of dollars each month in marketing and promotional campaigns to acquire, retain and engage customers – as a result, they know what they require to make their business more successful.
“Our success (as a B2B supplier) will be decided by our ability to listen to, respond and adapt to the demands of the market generally and our clients specifically. There is nothing more frustrating than a vendor who speaks only of the product they have developed rather than to the solution that they can offer to your business challenge.
“B2C operators need business partners that are tuned in to their business objectives and challenges and aligned to benefit by helping them move faster with valuable solutions. I see many companies in the market that lose sight of this and fail in the long term.”
Known as one of the most trusted and reliable platform providers in the industry, Pragmatic Solutions has been offering its services to the igaming community since 2014. As the sister company to Pragmatic Play, the renowned casino software and slots provider, Pragmatic Solutions prides itself on delivering high-quality solutions that actively solves operators’ pain points.
What attracted you to Pragmatic Solutions in particular?
“I had known the founders for several years and have colleagues who work with Pragmatic Play (our sister company). They mentioned to me that they were looking to ramp up the scale and awareness of the platform business, Pragmatic Solutions, and asked if I would be interested to join and lead it.
“Like everyone else in the igaming industry, I had observed the tremendous success of Pragmatic Play and I had a lot of respect for the tenacity and clear decision-making of the founders and team to succeed where so many have failed in the content business. I was unaware of the platform business but trusted a) that the product developed was good and b) that I would learn from the opportunity to work within this organisation.
“When I asked for a demo of the technology, I was very pleasantly surprised. Too often the reality doesn’t match the hype. At Pragmatic Solutions at the time, the opposite was true – the product exceeded expectations and the challenge for the business was to communicate this message to the market and mature the processes within the business to scale to match to opportunity.
“This task was right in my wheelhouse, and I felt that there was a lot of value to be unlocked in the business. Furthermore, I welcomed the move back to B2B, as I really enjoy the client relationship with operators and the challenge of delivering solutions to accelerate the achievement of their business objectives through technology.”
What values do you want Pragmatic Solutions to stand for and why?
“The clue is in the name really. We aim to provide our clients with ‘Pragmatic Solutions’ to the technical requirements of succeeding in today’s igaming market. In delivering this objective, we aim to establish honest, collaborative, intelligent and practical relationships with our clients and be viewed as strategically aligned partners to their businesses.
“In a world where so much is transient, we are focused on long-term, consistent, and mutually valuable client relationships. We respect and appreciate the trust that our clients have in us and in turn are committed to delivering on our promises. Through our consistency with this focus, Pragmatic Solutions will be established as a trusted premiere supplier of platform technology for smart igaming operators.”
With over a decade of success, Pragmatic Solutions has established itself on a global scale but Lang has even greater aspirations for the supplier.
2024 is the tenth anniversary of Pragmatic Solutions. What has been the focus this year for the company and for you personally?
“The first decade established the business and represents a track record of success for our customers. We have a flawless history of managing platform migrations, for some very large live businesses, and these migrations have only been in transitioning clients from their legacy platforms to Pragmatic Solutions – we have never lost a client to another platform. This we see as evidence of our commitment to consistently act in the best interests of our customers and in earning their loyalty.
“10 years in, we have hit a good stride now and seek to selectively grow our licensee network. We will not rest on any past successes and must always continue to respond to market demands and seek continuous excellence. Our closest opportunities for growth come from the support we can provide our existing clients to grow their businesses, expand to new markets, expand their product offering or optimise their operations. In parallel, we seek to add new operator partners where we can bring clear value to their businesses.”
What have been the achievements you’re most proud of so far at Pragmatic Solutions and what does the future hold for the company?
“We have an excellent team at Pragmatic Solutions, and I am proud to lead and collaborate with such a strong group of professionals. As stated above, we are a technology service business and integrity, professionalism and responsiveness are critical aspects of our relationships with our clients and that standard is upheld by the people in our business.
“Secondly, we have evolved a modern approach to the provision of platform technology to the igaming operator that we call the “CPU model”, which metaphorically positions our PAM platform as the CPU within the motherboard of the igaming technology stack.
“In this novel context, we provide operators the capability to leverage our proven technology as the foundation of their operations tooling, while retaining the flexibility to extend the platform through bespoke development (in-house or contracted from Pragmatic Solutions) and third-party integrations. In this way, our clients de-risk the core tooling of their business while retaining the capability to differentiate from the competition.
“We have set out this strategy in our white paper entitled ‘A Pragmatic Approach to Platform Selection’, which is available for free download from our website. I am proud that we are packaging and servicing technology in this way and that we are innovating in response to the feedback and demands of the market.
“The future for Pragmatic Solutions looks very bright and we see an opportunity to claim our position as the platform technology provider of choice for smart igaming operators of scale.”
With a strong strategy and innovative platform technology, Lang is set to guide Pragmatic Solutions through further growth, based on a reputation of reliability and trust.