Bet It Drives Season 3 Finale with Valentina Diaco
Cyprus.- December 18, 2025 www.zonadeazar.com Valentina Diaco moved to Rome to dance, but she mastered discipline that she now applies in iGaming. From a ballet barre in Calabria to media agency war rooms in Rome and boardrooms in Malta, she’s built a career on one core idea: don’t chase attention, build structure.
In Episode 3 of Season 3 of the Bet It Drives podcast, powered by GR8 Tech, Valentina joins host and GR8 Tech CSO Yevhen Krazhan for a drive through Rome that connects branding, iGaming, and AI into one clear system for sustainable growth.
Now the founder of Profit Matches, a marketing consultancy built on the motto “align profit with purpose”, Valentina helps operators and affiliates move away from quick-win acquisition and into long-term retention and brand trust. On the ride, she breaks down what the industry is still getting wrong and how to fix it.
In this episode, Valentina shares:
- From ballet studio to brand strategy: How rigid discipline in classical dance protected her creativity and shaped the way she builds marketing systems today.
- Rome as the city of dreams and discipline: Why moving from a small town in Calabria to Rome at 17 was overwhelming, and how the city became the place where she grew up, studied, and built her early career.
- From global brands to iGaming: The journey from working with brands like Bulgari, PlayStation, Renault, and Vodafone to joining Casumo and discovering the gaps in iGaming marketing.
- The uncomfortable truth about iGaming: Why a sector built on affiliation and bonuses is still “a little bit behind” on branding, retention, and strategy, despite being incredibly lucrative.
- Retention is not a luxury: How operators can rethink loyalty from day one.
- Loyalty beyond bonuses: What iGaming can learn from luxury brands.
- The one metric every CMO is missing: Why Valentina believes incremental growth should be the North Star of modern marketing leaders.
- Profit Matches & AI Match: How her consultancy helps operators and affiliates build internal systems, and how her new AI Match directory connects iGaming and crypto companies with AI tools that match their business goals.
- “Confession Lane” – breaking the rule of silence: Her advice to women (and anyone feeling invisible) in a male-dominated industry.
- “Network or Not Work”: Christmas & AI edition
- Christmas campaigns done wrong: Why late November often beats Christmas Eve for performance.
“This episode is about structure with soul,” said Yevhen Krazhan, CSO at GR8 Tech and host of Bet It Drives. “Valentina threads together discipline, data, iGaming, and AI with a clarity this industry sometimes can’t see. She shows that if you don’t build systems for retention and trust, no amount of acquisition spend will save you.”
Season 3 of Bet It Drives opened in Rome with Eman Pulis on building an events empire, and continued with Karolina Pelc on turning a dealer job into a global founder journey. Episode 3 is for operators and affiliates who want to stop wasting marketing budgets and build loyal, long-term players.
Watch or listen to Season 3, Episode 3 with Valentina Diaco on:
If Eman showed what it means to bet on legacy, and Karolina showed what it means to bet on yourself, Valentina shows what happens when you bet on structure and align profit with purpose from day one.
About Bet It Drives
Bet It Drives Show, powered by GR8 Tech, is your Front Seat in the iGaming World. Take a ride with iGaming leaders discussing today’s industry challenges and future opportunities. This is not your average podcast: guests get pushed to answer bold questions and spill industry secrets.
It’s a rolling conversation, from quick laughs to hard truths, mixed with quickfire games and yes, even some singing. Driving the show is Yevhen Krazhan, Chief Sales Officer at GR8 Tech, joined by iGaming masterminds as they cruise past iconic landmarks worldwide.
Edited by @pererarte www.zonadeazar.com