Andrei Popa is a disruptive business strategist who sees data analytics as being essential in unlocking growth. His career path in Superbet started with leading the Business Intelligence division, while this year has seen him becoming VP of Online.
Having 15 years of experience in the global gaming industry, out of which 8 years spent with Superbet, he now focuses his knowledge to identify patterns and opportunities to scale the digital business in Romania.
Andrei is an architect of high-performing teams, building a data culture, empowering people and using the lessons learned from the world of sports to create a thriving work environment within Superbet.
A discussion with Andrei is a passionate journey into data analytics, sports and leadership insights.
Andrei, you have been with Superbet for almost 8 years now, taking an active part in our thrilling journey of growth, from a local market leader to a global challenger of the sports betting industry. Your career has also seen an upwards path, going from Head of Business Intelligence to Business Intelligence Director and now to VP of Online. How do you feel we have built this success?
It is essential to talk about the importance of culture, as this is what fuels our success. I always thought that the key is in the type of people we have in our teams, the core behaviors of Superbetters and their incredible drive to win.
One of the most famous NFL coaches, Vincent Lombardi, who has the Superbowl trophy named after him, had a famous quote along the lines of “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is”.
The group of people that we have, the trust we have in each other and our desire to win is a strong recipe for success. Adding a pinch of Super, a dash of fun and you get an unstoppable Superbet.
One of your trademark initiatives is the creation of Data Talks Community, together with our colleague Anna Rossudowska. What motivated you to start this community and what does the future hold for Data Talks?
Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a data guy by normal standards. I did not grow with a data culture, and my academic background was not in the field of data analytics.
Walking down memory lane, I recall that all my high-school graduation grades were good, except Informatics, where I almost flunked. The truth is that I couldn’t learn C++ from a 400 pages book, with an overload of theory and limited acces to practical applications.
Fast forward more than a decade later, I became in charge of the Sports Data Analysis department at one of the biggest gambling companies in the world. I managed this by learning SQL by myself, practically self-taught, copy-pasting pieces of code from what the developers were sending me.
This is one of the intrinsic goals of Data Talks. It’s intended for people that have a passion for data but they’re not technical enough to attend high-caliber technology conferences. The main goal is to harmonize business decisions with data intelligence, making it so that commercial focused roles start using data for the growth and future of their businesses.
We all have different roles in different organizations, but our challenges are very similar. The more efficient way to overcome these setbacks is to work together, share best practices and learn from each other.
With regards to the future of Data Talks, we’re glad that the Sports & Entertainment niche is becoming increasingly popular, and we are looking at opportunities to transform the event into a regional series, across our markets in CEE.
In the last 8 years you have had the opportunity to attend many conferences, including as a keynote speaker, while also participating in workshops, work visits and coaching sessions. What is the most memorable learning experience that you had at Superbet?
It would be unfair to single out a specific moment from all the amazing learning opportunities I had in Superbet and from all the events where I have the privilege to participate.
Nevertheless, perhaps the most important aspect is the wealth of knowledge gained from the people that I interacted with. The core strength of Superbet is in its multiculturalism and how each person has their own views on various matters. Adding to this our desire to win and we become capable of doing wonders, breaking records and growing at a fast pace.
Your career path in Superbet includes several senior positions. Can you share with us what is your perspective on leadership and how do you unlock the potential of people in your teams?
We all know that there is a significant difference between a manager and a leader. Nowadays, I think that high-growth organizations don’t have managers anymore, only leaders.
You have leaders focused on the strategy and vision, and leaders focused on operational excellence. We live in a period where roles become intertwined and professionals have interdisciplinary abilities, where people have multiple responsibilities and become specialized in several fields. With the help of technology, you can change your career in a month with all the educational content you can find online.
I’m a big fan of empowering people. You need to give them the right tools, like access to training and technology, but ultimately the potential of people is almost unlimited and will exceed your expectations.
Superbetters are known for their passion for sports. We happen to know that you are a life-long fan of the club Ipswich Town. What made you become a “tractor boy” and what other sports do you follow?
I am so glad that Ipswich Town now has an international membership program. I’ve been a “tractor boy” for almost 22 years and the story behind it is very simple. I fell in love with the “blue army” due to a football manager game I used to play back then. I started reading their history, started following the team across every season. I have been to Portman Road a couple of times, and I can’t wait to see a Premier League game there, soon.
Regarding other sports, this could be the subject of an entire book not only an interview. Practically, there is no sport that I do not enjoy watching or playing. All relate to a certain period in my life, from football, basketball and handball, which I was playing as a kid in Romania, to tennis, ice hockey, volleyball and rugby, which I started to follow as a teenager.
Going further, I started being interested by all types of sports when I became a trader, going from a winter sport like bandy to sports that are specific to US culture, like baseball or American football. Cricket and golf were added to my favorite list when I had the opportunity to work in Gibraltar.
Even more, I also discovered a passion for eSports, when I started playing StarCraft and the FIFA series.
You can clearly see that I enjoy sports, in general. That’s why there’s no wonder I work at Superbet.
