From a startup with an uncertain future to a builder of the global B2B gambling technology ecosystem, SOFTSWISS has come a long way. Founder Ivan Montik recently retraced this evolutionary journey in a rare internal dialogue, noting that the biggest change is not the size, but maintaining the flexibility of a startup while continuously expanding. He summarized this philosophy as a simple but difficult principle: growth must outpace the market, with a target annual profit growth rate of at least 20%, ideally 30%. From this conversation, PASA's official website gleaned that this low-profile founder values not a particular product or market, but whether an organization can still move as fast after becoming heavier.
Grown bigger, but muscle memory remains
Montik candidly compared the early days of the startup to today. "When you start a company, there is always uncertainty. You have a vision, a plan, know where you want to go, but you can't really predict what will happen next." Today's SOFTSWISS, however, is no longer a startup—it's a B2B company with a complete product ecosystem, a mature leadership team, and global operational capabilities.
But he quickly shifted focus, placing real pride on another dimension: "What I am most proud of is that we have not lost the flexibility that helped us grow. We continuously seek new management methods, rethink operational modes, and adapt to market changes. We have become bigger and more stable, yet we have retained the flexibility of a startup—I believe this is one of our greatest strengths." This isn't just hollow self-praise. He immediately provided a recent time anchor: the team captured a market prediction opportunity and completed the product launch within two months—"This is the practical form of flexibility."
"Online gambling is still a niche industry"—this assumption should retire
In terms of industry perception, Montik made a judgment worth keeping for the entire industry: viewing online gambling as a "trendy, young, mainly tech-savvy niche track" is rapidly becoming outdated. "Years ago, people did talk about online gambling like this, thinking it was much smaller than traditional offline gambling. But today's reality is completely different."
His argument isn't new, but coming from a founder of a technology platform serving hundreds of operators worldwide, it carries weight. iGaming has established mature regulatory frameworks in many jurisdictions, follows clear rules, and continues to grow year after year. "We are no longer discussing the challenger of offline gambling, but a mature global industry that in many cases matches or even exceeds traditional gambling in scale and growth rate. More importantly, it has become an indispensable part of the global economy."
However, he added a more intriguing observation at the end of his statement: even as the industry matures, new categories, new business models, and new consumer behaviors continue to emerge. The rise of predictive markets is just the latest example—"A few years ago, this was not in the mainstream discussion, but today it is opening up new opportunities, bringing new audiences into the iGaming ecosystem." PASA's official website noted that this precisely explains why he insists on maintaining flexibility as the organization grows—not for fear of being eaten by competitors, but for fear of being abandoned by new categories and audiences.
Companies still at the table five years later have done one thing right
When asked about the commonality of the most successful companies in the iGaming industry five years from now, Montik used just one word—flexibility. He then used the automotive industry as a mirror: "For years, German manufacturers have been the benchmark in the industry, but today you can see how difficult it is for large organizations to adapt quickly to market changes. This is the risk every successful company faces: you've grown bigger, more stable, but you must ensure you haven't lost the ability to respond quickly."
For Montik, this is not just a management slogan, but a benchmark for defining core leadership responsibilities. Another pillar supporting flexibility is reliability—as the industry matures and regulation becomes more precise, companies must find a balance between flexibility and stability, compliance and long-term trust. "I believe the most successful businesses will be those that can do both."
In terms of specific growth metrics, Montik provided a very clear target range. "The iGaming market itself is growing at about 10% per year. If you grow in sync with the market, that's certainly not bad—but it also means you're just rising with the market. To outpace the market, you need to offer something new, need innovation, need to enter new regions, create opportunities that didn't exist before." His vision for SOFTSWISS is that its growth rate must exceed the market—with annual profit growth of at least 20%, ideally around 30%. "This is the difference between participating in the market and shaping the market."
At the end of the interview, when Montik was asked what he hoped people would see when they look closely at SOFTSWISS, his answer did not return to technology, products, or market share, but to a more personal scale: "I hope people see a company building strong technology and infrastructure for the iGaming industry. But beyond technology, I hope they see the people behind it. The most important principle is simple—do things in a way that you will be proud of later. This applies to our products, our services, and our cooperation with customers and partners." In an industry that is becoming increasingly precise and digital, a tech company founder's answer focusing on "people" and "pride" is itself a signal worth pondering.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original deep gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
