Leo Judkins is the founder of iGamingLeader.com, a vetted mastermind for senior iGaming executives. After 15-years in the industry, Leo resigned as a director at BetVictor and rebuilt his career around helping iGaming leaders achieve sustainable high performance. He now helps VPs, Directors and C-suite leaders solve complex problems they can't use ChatGPT for, through peer advisory, honest feedback, and a network of vetted operators who've been there before. In a forthright analysis Leo previews his appearance at iGB Affiliate where he will be moderating the keynote 'What They Don't Tell You About Scaling and Exiting Affiliate Businesses' a session focussing on the personal cost and challenges of growth not least the isolation of senior leadership.

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Can you provide a 'fly by' of your career?

I spent over a decade in iGaming, most notably at BetVictor where I was promoted to Director at age 33. That's when I experienced first-hand the isolation that comes with senior leadership in this industry. The pressure to appear confident on the outside while dealing with significant uncertainty inside. I'd burned out twice in previous roles and found myself in a dark place again. Unable to switch off. Drinking too much. Gaining weight. Not present at home with my new born kids. It broke me. I got a coach, lost 35kg and sorted my life out. Afterwards, I saw people facing similar challenges all around me. That experience helped me understand there was a problem nobody was talking about: senior iGaming executives are incredibly isolated.

You're expected to have all the answers, but you can't discuss strategic challenges with your team, your board, your competitors, or anyone else. So you carry all the weight alone. I often say: the higher you go, the thinner the air gets. That experience led me to found The iGaming Leader Mastermind, which now serves dozens of senior executives VPs, Directors, C-suite) across operators, suppliers, affiliates, and service providers. We're actually running one'in collaboration with our partners iGB Executive (Rosie) in the iGB Exec area in Barca.

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What services do you provide?'

The iGaming Leader Mastermind is a vetted peer advisory programme for senior iGaming executives. We solve problems that can't be solved with ChatGPT. Problems that require human judgement, industry experience, and feedback from peers with no other agenda. At the level my members operate, no one holds them accountable. They have no one to talk to. They can't tell their employees. Their friends don't understand. Their wife or husband doesn't want to hear it. So, we give them an environment'to talk in. Members meet weekly in facilitated sessions, participate in small 'Inner Circle' peer groups for 6-week cycles, and connect at quarterly in-person meetups. We vet applicants because we're obsessive about peer-level quality, personality fit and industry relevance.

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What are the core themes of the session at iGB Affiliate Barcelona?

I'm facilitating a panel with three affiliate founders who've all scaled past the 'bedroom affiliate' stage: Fintan Costello (scaled and exited Bonus Finder to Gambling.com), Alex Windsor (CMO of Game Time Digital, previously sold affiliate businesses), and Tom Galanis (runs three businesses with 33 people). The session focuses on what actually happens to founders when they scale. Not the LinkedIn version or typical conference stage version, but the real personal cost of growth. We'll cover the personal challenges, how to decide between pivoting and giving up, what building for exit really looks like, and the isolation of senior leadership when you're the one everyone looks to for answers. It's deliberately honest. These aren't 'I figured it all out' success stories. These are ongoing leadership challenges from people still battling it every day.

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From your perspective what is the key issue impacting the industry?

The biggest thing I'm seeing is strategic decision-making paralysis in senior leaders. Regulatory changes, AI hype, and fierce competition mean executives are overwhelmed and isolated. There's also a change in leadership expectations. Executives realise it's no longer about the hours you put in - though these matter - but about what you get out of those hours. That's where sustainable performance comes in.

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How does iGB Affiliate contribute to'the health and well-being of the sector?

Events like iGB Affiliate break isolation. For senior execs who spend most of their time firefighting, managing two levels down and dealing with keeping the business alive, face-to-face industry contact is a valuable change of pace. But traditional networking often stays surface-level. Quick meetings. No depth. The real value comes when people actually have honest, peer-level conversations, not just transactional introductions. That's what we're trying to create in our session.

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The keynote panel: What They Don't Tell You About Scaling and Exiting Affiliate Businesses' takes place 20 January 14:00 ' 14:45, Hall 8.0, 80-A-100, Pulse @iGB Affiliate