Denys, CPO is a new role in Burny Games. What will the company look like with a CPO?
The same as without. The truth is, not every company requires a CPO, as not every company needs one. It's important to understand that many companies, including large ones, may not have a dedicated CPO position; instead, these responsibilities may be shared among different people. In our case, our CEO used to take on the CPO role, and he did an excellent job. The role of a CPO is not set in stone. It can vary significantly from one company to another. Some CPOs are heavily involved in product development, working closely with the development team. Others focus more on analytics and data. This diversity is a key aspect of the CPO position.
So, what is the main goal of Burny Games' CPO?
The primary goal of the CPO is still the company's product and product development. This means not only development but also answering questions like what type of games we will make, what level of quality we strive for, how these games will be better than competitors do, whether there will be any innovations, whether it will be high-quality visuals, whether there will be some spicy themes, or something else - the product strategy of the company. Of course, I am involved in development; it is an extremely important process, and without it, ideas are worthless.
This sounds like a visionary mission in the company. Can you say that you are a visionary?
Perhaps so, it really is. However, we are currently at an interesting stage in business development, when the team is growing very quickly, and products are scaling. Hence, we need to devote a lot of time to operational work.
What do you think allows you to be a visionary and make such global decisions?
Of course, it's my experience, first and foremost. I have traversed the path of a tester, support manager, marketer, analyst, game designer, and producer, so I know well how games are created and what parameters to pay attention to. At the same time, I built teams from scratch to hundreds of people.
Since childhood, I have been an avid fan of video games, interested in the stories of game companies and their successes and failures. Also, organizing flash mobs in school helped me a lot to develop my managerial skills.
Flash mobs? That sounds intriguing! Tell us about it.
In school, my friends and I organized pretty big street actions. For example, we would go to a store, and everyone would buy one banana. Can you imagine the reaction of the sellers and other customers? It was fun and unusual. Organizing flash mobs taught me to plan, consider risks, coordinate the actions of a large number of people, and react quickly to unforeseen situations. All of this is very important for effective team management.
When was your first gaming experience? What was your first conscious game?
It was Pac-Man on a computer at the blood transfusion center where my mother worked. I think they let me press a button, and Pac-Man went right or left. I pushed the button, and something happened! It was such magic! Then my father, a tech enthusiast, assembled a ZX Spectrum... and encouraged me in every way to develop as a programmer. And in programming courses, I played many of the games at the time.
Was there an event that divided your perception of the world into "before" and "after," after which you felt that there was a completely different world?
I had severe time restrictions, I wasn't allowed to play for a long time. So it immediately became something very cool because I couldn't sit there all the time. I think my older brother did more of the "wow, wow" thing. He was studying to be a police officer then and went to work in his field. But at the same time, our father also assembled a computer for him, and he wrote his own Snake in Basic. Like, fully fledged. He added some of his own game design decisions, and some unique features weren't in the standard Snake. And it also changed its color from time to time. It was just a revolution, probably, in the understanding that, wow, my older brother wrote a game himself, and I played it. It was pure magic...
You mentioned that the company is growing fast. How do you maintain a balance between creativity, freedom, and such creative chaos, as well as bureaucracy and systematization?
Firstly, our managers and leads have extensive experience working with both small startups and large companies. We are aware of the pitfalls that await on the path to scaling and how to bypass them.
Secondly, we have a matrix management structure that is atypical for the CIS, where more authority lies with the functional manager (head) rather than the producer. Of course, the producer bears the overall responsibility for the project, but decisions about, for example, art and animation are entrusted to the heads of those respective areas. In our company, this provides a competitive advantage in product development, allows us to be more efficient, and gives each team member the necessary responsibility and involvement in the project.
We will continue to grow, which will inevitably lead to an increase in the level of bureaucracy. This can slow us down - it's inevitable - otherwise, chaos will engulf us. First, our task is to restrain the bureaucratization process and give the team the feeling of a startup spirit (in a good sense) for as long as possible. Second, we must not lose a high level of efficiency and a significant contribution to the success of each team member.
What is your management style?
"I'm the boss, you're a fool" - that's definitely not about me. I'm more about finding like-minded people, sharing ideas, finding a compromise, and working together towards a common goal.
It's essential for me not to force a person to do what I see but to convey understanding and desire to do it qualitatively. Sometimes, in work discussions, the scales tip in favor of the producer, game designer, and artist - not me - and that's great. In this case, it will be more effective to do it the way the product specialist sees it than he will do it just because I said so, without putting his soul into it. This is ineffective, and I am against such directive management, it should be an exception for sporadic cases.
What qualities do you value in your colleagues?
The opinion, a person should not be afraid to speak up if they disagree with something or someone.
Critical thinking is the foundation, the base. Usually, people try to find arguments to support their ideas. I value it more when a specialist can look at an idea from a different angle: look for arguments why this idea won't work and check if the idea can withstand criticism. This is really valuable.
Can you give an example of when an innovation didn't meet expectations and you had to return to the old processes?
Of course. We tried to transform our morning online stand-up meetings to a Slack-messages format to save time. However, the team didn't like it and lost the opportunity for live communication and ideas exchange. So we turned back to classic stand-ups but added another meeting where producer shared results and plans with the team.
The funny thing about the situation is that this change was supposed to save the producer's time because he felt overwhelmed. As a result, we just added another meeting for the producer. However, the result on the team was so positive that the producer himself suggested keeping it permanently. This allowed us to maintain team spirit and increase employee engagement.
What would you do if a colleague annoyed you?
Situations where a company has to make concessions and work with a strong specialist with low social skills always have a rotten end. Sometimes, it's not immediately noticeable, but the result will be negative 99% of the time. Either this person will feel bad, or the team will feel discomfort. Or both at the same time.
Of course, sometimes there is a need to close an urgent task. The team works without much choice, so you need to give yourself a transparent report on the decisions, what consequences they will have, and how we can solve the situation in the most environmentally friendly way in the future. That is, to consciously say why we are currently working with a toxic person, what the purpose of cooperation is, how we will overcome it, and when. However, I would pay maximum attention to the stage of acquaintance and selection of the team so that such situations do not occur.
Denys, what advice would you give to those who dream of becoming a CPO?
Develop critical thinking, learn from the mistakes of others, actively build social connections, be open to new experiences, and constantly learn. And, of course, play games! This will help you better understand the needs of players and create products that will bring them satisfaction.
Blitz
What do you do in your free time?
I assemble FPV drones, and sometimes I do kitesurfing, more often - running.
How do you get inspired?
I draw inspiration from podcasts and YouTube channels and communicate with interesting people.
What do you regret?
I regret nothing. Mistakes are an important part of life.
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
I recommend spending more time learning English.
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