Karolina Pelc on the strategy behind a high-value exit
From casino floors to boardrooms, Karolina Pelc's journey to founding and exiting her startup BeyondPlay is anything but conventional. Now stepping into a new chapter as an investor, she is set to be in Malta in June, marking the start of her European roadshow. In an interview with Lea Hogg, Pelc reflects on the realities of building under pressure and navigating acquisition strategy.
How did your early experience shape building a company attractive to global players?
When I was not yet 20, working on the casino floor was simply a way to pay for university. But this shaped how I operate under pressure. It was a high-stakes, male-dominated environment where performance was expected.
You learn quickly to read people, stay composed, and make decisions. I didn't have the option to walk away when things were uncomfortable, and that builds resilience. Over time, resilience becomes confidence, built through repeated exposure to difficult situations. Startups are no different. They're uncertain and messy. Most people step back when things become difficult. Founders don't.
What made your company an attractive acquisition target for a top gaming giant?
From the outside, it can look like timing, or even luck. In reality, it was a combination of positioning, product strategy and talent that made the difference.
We intentionally made ourselves highly visible for a company of our size. We also invested early in brand and presence. We also built a dual-product portfolio. One was highly innovative and had long-term potential. The other addressed a clear and immediate market gap. We therefore revived a proven model that had effectively disappeared after a previous acquisition, despite continued demand from the market. This decision stretched the team and pushed the business to the brink. But it left no doubt that we could generate value today, not just promise it tomorrow.
We built a team that combined deep domain expertise with the ability to execute at speed. That's rare, and it's one of the first things an acquirer looks for, because it's the hardest thing to rebuild post-acquisition. So yes, timing mattered. But timing only rewards companies that have already done the hard work and are ready when the moment arrives.
When did you know it was time to sell BeyondPlay?
I wasn't trying to time the market. But I built with an exit in mind from day one. I identified potential acquirers, and I made decisions that kept my path open.
When the opportunity for an acquisition came, it wasn't about perfect timing. It was about recognising alignment. The offer was strong financially, but more importantly, it allowed the product to scale within one of the largest gaming groups in the world, something that would have taken us significantly longer independently. It created security for the team, and it was a brand I respected. And that's the shift most founders struggle with. You need to avoid asking, "How far can we take this alone?" and start asking, "What's the most powerful way this can grow?" They are not always the same answer.
What's the best lesson from negotiating your exit?
The outcome is determined by how you position the business and how many options you've created beforehand. Most founders lose their leverage before they even enter negotiations. It was a planned strategy. We continued to operate at full speed throughout, strengthening our sales and customer relationships, pitching fundraising discussions, and maintaining dialogue with alternative buyers. If you are dependent on a single outcome, the negotiation is no longer balanced. And at that point, you're not negotiating but reacting.
What drives a startup's value?
It depends entirely on the startup's stage. At an early stage, value is assessed, and at later stages, value is measured on revenue, growth and efficiency. In our case, the acquisition was not based on financial performance. One of our products wasn't even live. We were valued on potential value and strategic fit. What mattered was whether what we had built could scale and if it could accelerate a larger organisation's roadmap. And ultimately, if the team could deliver on that promise. At that stage, it's not just about buying a business but about acquiring its potential.
How did you balance risk and strategy in building the company?
I don't see risk and strategy as opposing forces.
Risk is the decision to move; strategy is how you execute once you've made that decision.
What people often call luck is usually the result of a series of decisions made without guarantees. You move, you test, you adapt and over time, that builds momentum.
That principle sits at the core of my book Her Play. Not as a theory, but as a pattern I've seen consistently across my own journey and in the founders I now work with. You don't wait for clarity. You create it.
What separates companies that exit from those that don't?
At an early stage, it comes down to the founder's vision, how strongly they believe in the idea, and how quickly they can adapt when reality doesn't match strategy. The ones that succeed combine clarity, conviction, and adaptability. A lot of people have ideas. Fewer can maintain direction when things get difficult. Even fewer can adjust without losing momentum.
Execution is expected, and what differentiates outcomes is how long that execution can be sustained under pressure. This is something I see consistently in both the companies I back and the founders and leadership teams I work with.
How is Her Play relevant for founders and investors?
It's essentially an answer to a question I kept getting after the exit: how did that happen so quickly? From the outside, it looks like a three-year story. In reality, it was a 20-year strategy.
The book connects those years and the decisions, the risks, the reinventions and frames them through a mindset lens rather than a traditional playbook.
It's less about what to do and more about how people operate when there are no guarantees. What's been interesting is how consistently that resonates. Whether I'm speaking to early-stage founders or experienced investors, the patterns are recognised almost immediately.
Because ultimately, you're not just building or backing businesses. You're backing decisions.
What are you focusing on now?
I've moved from building one company to backing many. Today, I invest in early-stage founders, pairing capital with hands-on operating experience. I also actively mentor, including through work with NGOs, with a focus on advancing female entrepreneurship. My main focus, however, is my work as an author and speaker. I treat it as a startup in its own right - building, testing, and scaling a very different kind of product.
The book launches across Europe on 9 June, with preorders available through Agenda Bookshop in Malta and leading retailers across Europe and the US. Around it, I'm building a roadshow of keynotes, book signings, and corporate workshops. And then there's the personal shift: learning to slow down.
Order 'Her Play' here 👉🏻
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