The Brains Behind Casumo’s Bold Bet on Growth

A sit down with Casumo's Growth Director, Ivan Vučković

Author

Carlo Palomino
May 30, 2025

Welcome back to The Friday Fortune! We’re barreling toward summer, which means your inbox is starting to fill with “OOO until further notice” replies and your team’s weekly syncs are starting to feel more like beach day planning committees. We get it. But before you mentally check out, we’ve a few more golden nugget to fuel your Q2 goals.

Each week, we bring you fresh insights from the world’s sharpest CMOs, marketing rebels, and growth minds who actually move the needle. This week is no different. 

Here’s what’s on deck this week:

  • A sit down with Casumo’s Growth Director,  Ivan Vučković

  • How American Express is capitalizing on Netflix’s new F1 Academy docuseries

  • E.l.f x TikToker Oliver Widger

📈 Marketer of the Week

If there’s anyone showing that performance marketing can still be human-centered, it’s Ivan Vučković. With 18+ years of experience across e-commerce, telecom, and startups, Ivan is now the Growth Director behind Casumo, one of Europe’s most inventive iGaming companies.

His approach? Relentlessly data-driven, unapologetically honest, and rooted in entrepreneurial grit.

His marketing career didn’t begin with a passion for branding or storytelling, it started out of necessity. Running his own startup, he had to learn paid media to survive. Google Ads became his crash course in performance marketing, and the rest followed.

Ivan’s journey includes two successful startup exits, but he’s quick to admit that the first was a lesson in burnout. He exited too early, seeing it as “an escape route” rather than a strategic win. The second time, he was intentional, scaling a web hosting business to a level he had pre-defined, then walking away on his own terms.

At Casumo, Ivan was brought in during a pivotal transformation. The company wasn’t just looking to scale, but was aiming to reset its operating mindset entirely. From hiring strategy to team structure to long-term revenue plays, Ivan set out to rebuild from the ground up. He describes the early months as tough but energizing, a window where cultural shift and commercial acceleration had to happen simultaneously.

Much of the strategy hinges on disciplined channel selection. Rather than casting a wide net with affiliates, Ivan prefers a focused, high-quality partner network. Google Ads continues to deliver, but he’s eyeing TikTok and Snapchat as the next big moves, especially as younger audiences shift behaviors and new platforms chip away at the traditional stack.

Ivan’s leadership approach is rooted in autonomy. “If I will hire you, I will hire you because I believe you and you should be smarter than me in general or have better ideas,” he said. His team is expected to take full responsibility for their domain, without being micromanaged. For him, trust is the operating system of effective teams.

The iGaming space isn’t getting easier. Regulation is tightening, and consumer expectations are shifting. But Ivan isn’t concerned. The challenge, he says, is the fun part and the industry's adaptability is its biggest asset.

Ivan’s Takeaway

Momentum is great, but longevity comes from knowing when to pause. Ivan believes burnout is avoidable if you learn to listen early and act intentionally. “Take a break when you need to take a break and always be curious,” he said.

To hear more about how Ivan is transforming Casumo from the inside out (and what he really thinks about socks in bed), listen to the full episode of CMO Weekly.

Crack open a handful of the week’s best marketing links—because good fortune favors the curious.

That’s a wrap for this week’s Friday fortune.

If you enjoyed the read, pass it along to your favorite marketer who could use a little extra inspo in their inbox.

Until next time, may your marketing be memorable and your cookies always be fortunate!

— The OpenFortune team