Faces of CashYard: an interview with CEO and COO about the way to affiliate and creating an affiliate program
Behind every strong brand there are people - their decisions, character, and way of thinking, which ultimately shape the trajectory of the company. CashYard received the title of «Best Affiliate» just six months after its launch. But this time, we propose to move away from the numbers and talk about the people behind this result.
The conversation focuses on the management tandem of Olga, CEO of CashYard, and Artem, COO of the company. We asked them not only about the strategy, processes, and decisions that determine the development of the affiliate, but also about what usually remains outside the scope of business interviews: intuition, responsibility for the team, resetting at the testing ground, and sports discipline that helps keep the pace.
How to combine a clear operating system with humanity in management? Where to find drive when the market demands maximum speed? This is the subject of a big conversation with the people who form CashYard today.
The way to affiliate
HWYD: Do you remember your first step into affiliate - how did it happen?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Yes, it was the most random step. I was working in another field and was offered a job in the affiliate industry. That's how it all started.
HWYD: Was it a conscious choice or more of an accident?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: At first, it was an accident, of course. But after a while, it became a conscious choice to continue developing in this area.
HWYD: What stuck with you the most in the industry then?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: It's hard to say, because at that time I wasn't familiar with this area at all. Many things were discovered in the process of work.
HWYD: What was your entry point to affiliate?
Artem, COO of CashYard: I started by launching ads and working with partners. Over time, I began to understand more about how the operating system works.
HWYD: At what point did you realize that you wanted to stay in this field?
Artem, COO of CashYard: When I saw how quickly the result could be scaled up if the processes were built correctly.
HWYD: What did you find the least obvious or most challenging at the start of your work?
Artem, COO of CashYard: The number of nuances in working with traffic and partners. Many things become clear only with experience.
Formation in the field of
HWYD: What period in your career has shaped you the most as a leader?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: It was the time when we had to make decisions quickly and take responsibility for the results of the entire team.
HWYD: What is it about your character that helps you the most in your role as CEO today?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Ability to see the bigger picture and quickly adapt to changes.
HWYD: What work tasks give you the most energy?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Strategy, development of partnerships and launch of new directions.
HWYD: What experience has most influenced your approach to operations?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Work in new projects where all processes were built from scratch.
HWYD: What are you personally responsible for and control in your work today?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Operational processes, system stability, and interaction with partners.
HWYD: What tasks in your work give you the greatest professional drive?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Optimizing processes and building a system that works stably even with growth.
Work style
HWYD: How do you usually make difficult decisions - more through numbers or through feelings?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Most often, it's the numbers, but intuition also plays a role.
HWYD: When do you feel most responsible for the team?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: When you need to make difficult decisions that affect the entire team.
HWYD: What management habit helps you keep your focus the most?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Set priorities clearly and don't spread yourself thin.
HWYD: What does a typical working day look like for you, without any embellishments?
Artem, COO of CashYard: A lot of communication, operational tasks and constant monitoring of processes.
HWYD: What processes are you most demanding of and why?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Those that affect the stability of the affiliate's work and its scaling.
HWYD: What operational mistake does a team most often underestimate at the start of growth?
Underestimation of process scaling and staff expansion.
About CashYard and first results
HWYD: When did you first feel that CashYard was starting to gain momentum in the market?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: When new partners began to actively come and a steady stream of traffic appeared.
HWYD: What was the team's main focus in the first months of work?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Building trust with partners.
HWYD: What was crucial for you to get right from the very beginning?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Transparency of work and high-quality communication with partners.
HWYD: CashYard received the «Best Affiliate» award from Buyer Media after only six months on the market. How did you manage to do it?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Thanks to a strong team and high-quality work.
HWYD: What is the most significant result of these six months?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Trust of partners and stable growth of indicators.
HWYD: The market has definitely noticed your online presence. Are you ready for a full-fledged offline entry?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: We have always seen online as a foundation, but not as a limit. To be honest, the market has long been pushing us to have a more visible offline presence, and we have been preparing for this. I will say this: the coming months will be very interesting for CashYard. We are planning several steps that will allow our partners to get to know us not only in chats or on calls, but also in person. And one of these moments will happen very soon. We won't reveal all the cards yet, but I advise those who follow us to take a closer look. I think that very soon we will have many reasons to say, «Let's talk offline.».
HWYD: From an operational point of view, where does a stable affiliate actually start?
Artem, COO of CashYard: From clear processes, stable payments, and transparent traffic analytics.
HWYD: What was the most difficult process to set up at the start?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Automation of processes, building an operational structure without unnecessary bureaucracy.
HWYD: Where was the most handmade in the beginning?
Artem, COO of CashYard: In building departments and their proper functioning.
HWYD: Where has CashYard become significantly stronger operationally over these six months?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Process stability and system scalability.
HWYD: Which process is more stable today than at the start?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Communication between departments.
HWYD: What kind of operational load is the team ready for now, even though it looked ambitious at the start?
Artem, COO of CashYard: To a much larger volume of traffic.
CashYard team
HWYD: Who are the people you intuitively feel are “yours” in the team?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Those who are responsible for their work and share our values.
HWYD: What is more important to you when hiring: experience or a person's approach to work?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Approach to work and desire to develop.
HWYD: What are you most pleased with in the team's development over these months?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: How quickly the team grows and takes responsibility.
HWYD: At what point do you realize that a person can be trusted with autonomous work?
Artem, COO of CashYard: When it consistently shows results and makes the right decisions.
HWYD: Where has the team grown the most in these six months from an operational point of view?
Artem, COO of CashYard: The speed of independent decision-making and the quality of work with partners.
HWYD: What request do you hear from webmasters most often nowadays?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Stability, unique offers, transparency of transactions, and fast payouts.
Life outside of work
HWYD: How do you usually recover from intense periods?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: To be honest, there is no special ritual. I can go to the shooting range and shoot, and that's enough to reboot.
HWYD: How easy is it for you to switch between work and personal life in general?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: It's not always easy, but I try to find a balance.
HWYD: What helps you to return the resource faster?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Time with loved ones.
HWYD: How do you switch gears after hard weeks of work?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Sports, relaxing with friends.
HWYD: What helps you not to burn out at this pace?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Desire for dynamic growth of the project.
HWYD: What is the habit that keeps you balanced the most right now?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Regular sports.
HWYD: What kind of vacation or travel format really resets you?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Mountains and training at the training ground.
HWYD: Are there any places you are consistently drawn to return to?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Yes, I have a few favorite places.
HWYD: What hobby most recharges you after a day at work?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: Shooting.
HWYD: What do you like to do outside of work when you have time for yourself?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Sports.
HWYD: What trip or vacation format did you remember the most over the past year?
Artem, COO of CashYard: Travel to a conference in sunny Barcelona.
HWYD: How do you see CashYard in a year's time, not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of market perception?
Olga, CEO of CashYard: We want CashYard to be associated with stability, strong partnerships, and quality work.
And traditionally from HWYD: what would you like to say to partners and the industry today?
Artem, COO of CashYard: We thank our partners for their trust. We continue to develop and make the product even stronger.
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This interview shows once again that behind every strong business are people whose character, habits, and way of thinking form its foundation. In talking with Olga and Artem, we can particularly feel the balance of two different but complementary energies: Olga's strategic intuition, which finds focus even during a reset at the testing ground, and Artem's operational clarity, which maintains momentum through discipline and systematicity.
It is in this tandem - where numbers are combined with feelings, and a clear management system with humanity - that the answer to the question of how CashYard gained a foothold in the market so quickly lies. When the brand is backed by such open and clear people, the partnership ceases to be just working with the platform - it becomes an interaction with a team that knows the value of its responsibility.
Today, the faces of CashYard are already well known to the industry. And the team's plans for further development and future offline steps only confirm that the pace the company set at the start is only the beginning of a great story.