Valentina Diaco originally moved to Rome to pursue dance, but the rigorous discipline she mastered at the barre eventually became her greatest asset in the business world. Her career path has taken her from Calabria to media war rooms in Rome and finally to executive boardrooms in Malta. Throughout this journey, she has held onto one core idea: building structure is more valuable than simply chasing attention.
In Season 3, Episode 3 of the Bet It Drives podcast, powered by GR8 Tech, Diaco joins host Yevhen Krazhan for a drive through the streets of Rome. Their conversation connects branding, iGaming, and AI to form a clear system for sustainable growth.
Now the founder of Profit Matches, Diaco runs her consultancy on the motto “align profit with purpose.” She helps operators and affiliates pivot away from quick-win acquisition tactics and focus instead on long-term retention and genuine brand trust. On this ride, she breaks down exactly what the industry is getting wrong and offers a path 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 Diaco shows what happens when you bet on structure and align profit with purpose from day one.
