From Founding to Letting Go: Karolina Pelc’s Insights on Building a Company

The Push to Build a Company

Karolina’s journey into founding her company was not planned from the start. As she explains, the idea emerged from a frustration with the lack of development in an area she was passionate about—land-based casino games. Despite sharing her idea at numerous conferences, no one was taking action, which led her to start her own company to solve the problem herself. This frustration was the catalyst for the creation of her company, driven by the desire to meet the needs of players in a way that no one else was.

Challenges of Raising Capital for the First Time

Raising capital for the first time is often a challenge for founders, and Karolina highlights two key obstacles: mindset and practical challenges. In the early stages, investors are not necessarily betting on the business or product but on the founder and their conviction. Karolina emphasizes that dealing with rejection and staying confident is essential. On the practical side, the niche nature of the industry and the complexities of regulated markets make it harder for startups to attract the right investors.

Defining Success Early On

One of the most important decisions founders can make is defining what success looks like for their company. For Karolina, this meant knowing where she was headed in terms of markets and customers, which significantly influenced investor selection and team-building decisions. She also stresses the importance of understanding your leadership style early on, as shifting leadership styles later in the process can be challenging, especially after making promises to your team.

Advice for Founders Building B2B Products in iGaming

Karolina believes that starting a B2B company in the iGaming space is incredibly challenging, especially without industry relationships or a proven track record. She stresses the need for founders to assess how much they are willing to start from scratch versus leveraging past experience. If she had entered the space as a complete outsider, she acknowledges it would have been significantly harder.

Deciding Which Risks Are Worth Taking

Karolina is a big risk-taker, but she distinguishes between calculated risks and those driven by intuition. For calculated risks, she advises assessing the best-case and worst-case scenarios and making an informed decision. Intuitive risks, on the other hand, are based on subconscious insights that may not always seem rational, but can lead to powerful breakthroughs. If a risk keeps her up at night, it’s often a sign that it’s the right move.

reparing for the Emotional Change After an Exit

Letting go of a company, especially a first startup, is something Karolina admits can never truly be prepared for. The emotional attachment is strong, and handing over the reins to someone else can feel like a loss of identity. Karolina experienced this gradual shift herself, highlighting the difficulties of slowing down after years of high-intensity work. However, she emphasizes that letting go is an important part of personal and professional growth, a skill that all founders must eventually learn.

Looking Back: What Would Karolina Do Differently as a Founder?

Reflecting on her journey, Karolina points out two key lessons. First, she wishes she had waited longer before defining her company’s values, as it wasn’t until the team was in place that those values truly took shape. Second, she learned that a bigger team or more customers doesn’t necessarily mean faster growth. The complexities that come with scaling too quickly—such as HR challenges and the dilution of focus—can hinder progress. Karolina advises new founders to adjust their expectations when it comes to scaling and to be prepared for the complexities that come with it.