The pros and cons of a co-CEO model

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As for the co-CEO model, someone remembers the Netflix experience and mentions Oracle. And some people mention Salesforce – a company that implemented the two-CEO model, rolled it back, and came back to it again. Proponents of the dual approach say that two heads are better than one. Opponents believe the co-CEO model is self-defeating and a temporary fix only suitable for startups.

During the year, with the dual model, we achieved 155% growth in GGR. In this retrospective, I will share my experience as co-CEO and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this managerial approach.

Why did we move to the co-CEO model? In 2020, we expected growth and planned to scale the business. In 2021, the number of employees has increased by 30%, and the complexity and capabilities of the technological solutions used in the product have also increased. For example, we have completed development of the Parimatch platform, which can process over 20,000 transactions per second, four times more than our old platform.

Related: These Co-Founders Insisted on Being Co-CEOs Despite Costing Them Funding

Global plans required focusing on strategic issues while maintaining the pace of growth without compromising the quality of operational work. So, the idea came to set up the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board was intended to balance shareholder objectives, allow the C-level to focus on business development strategies, and free up management resources for day-to-day operations. This was mainly because the competence of the employees and the built-in processes allowed problems to be solved without the involvement of the CEO.

Once our former CEO, and now supervisory board member, Sergey Portnov, said, "Every project needs a push. Pushing an idea is like rolling a rock down a mountain - it requires constant effort. As soon as you get distracted by operational work, the stone rolls back. The whole project turns into the work of Sisyphus - which it shouldn't be."

When Portnov left the position of CEO and became Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Roman Syrotian and I shared his duties. At that time, we had been with the company for more than five years and knew our areas well. By becoming co-CEO, we kept our domains: I became responsible for the financial, legal, communication and administrative operational activities, and Syrotian focused on the operational activities of IT products and marketing.

Here are the benefits of multiple CEOs:

Syrotian and I have different life paths, experiences, education, strengths and weaknesses. But we complemented each other, kept our axes of work and did not pulverize all the cogs of the business mechanism.

While I was negotiating with partners in Limassol for investments in the Cyprus IT sector, Syrotian in Kyiv led the expansion of the Parimatch brand product line and the development of a new platform.

When making difficult decisions, we began to analyze in depth before deciding or submitting a matter for consideration by the Supervisory Board. It was easier for us to organize a brainstorming, where you can always ask someone's opinion. We have encouraged ourselves in demanding decisions or discouraged dubious undertakings. It is possible that somewhere we lost speed but got more reasonable solutions in return. And that's important, because the risks increase with the company.

Related: I'm based in the US, but my co-CEO is in Europe. Here's how we make it work.

We all know the feeling of not having enough hours in the day. Indeed, on one of those evenings of late night work, you thought it would be great to clone yourself and do twice as much.

The co-CEO model does not offer such an opportunity, but the number of man-hours for decision-making increases. Also, unlike a clone, with a good distribution of areas of responsibility, you will get a better result, because everyone is responsible for their areas of competence.

We even have a joke: "Now we can have side meetings in different parts of the world, and each of them with the CEO of Parimatch Tech." And it's true, because we make twice as many d...