A Georgian entrepreneur turned a small software startup into a global online gaming powerhouse with more than 77 million monthly players. Now, his biggest challenge isn’t building the next hit. It’s knowing when to get out of the way.
For most entrepreneurs, building a business that practically runs itself is the ultimate jackpot. But for David Natroshvili, the founder and CEO of software developer giant SPRIBE, getting there meant learning one of the toughest lessons in business: Sometimes the smartest move a boss can make is to loosen their grip.
The Georgian entrepreneur started SPRIBE in 2018 with a small team of developers in Kyiv and an ambitious idea for shaking up the online casino industry.
Seven years later, the privately held company had grown to more than 300 employees across offices in Tbilisi, Kyiv and Warsaw, with more than 6,000 casino operators offering its games.
Its blockbuster product, Aviator, has attracted more than 60 million monthly players worldwide. But the founder’s greatest achievement may not be the game’s explosive popularity. It could be building an organization that no longer needs him to make every decision.
From software developer to gaming industry heavyweight
Natroshvili wasn’t an overnight success story.
He began his career in government as a senior official in Georgia’s Ministry of Economy from 2004 to 2007, a tenure that culminated in his appointment as First Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development. He also found time to earn an MBA from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
Before launching SPRIBE, he founded multiple technology ventures, and brought that entrepreneurial energy and years of experience in technology, business and government to this new venture.
Natroshvili saw an opportunity in an online casino industry dominated by traditional slot machines and table games. He believed players wanted something faster, more interactive and more social. That combination of technical knowledge and executive experience helped shape the company’s engineering-first culture.
SPRIBE’s answer was Aviator, launched in 2019.
The concept is simple. Players place bets as a virtual airplane takes off and a multiplier climbs higher. They must cash out before the plane disappears, or lose their wager. The game incorporates multiplayer features and live chat, turning an individual gambling experience into a shared digital event.
SPRIBE distributes its games to casino operators rather than directly running consumer-facing casinos. That business-to-business model has helped the company expand internationally without building a separate gambling platform for every market.
Its growth also brought high-profile marketing deals, including partnerships with UFC and WWE.
When success creates a whole new problem
As SPRIBE expanded, Natroshvili discovered that the skills required to launch a successful company weren’t necessarily the same ones needed to manage a global operation.
In the beginning, he was accustomed to overseeing almost everything.
“In the early days, I tried to be involved in everything,” Natroshvili told Forbes Australia. “Today, I focus on direction and people. The stronger the team, the lighter the founder’s touch should be.”
It’s a familiar dilemma for entrepreneurs.
When a startup has only a handful of employees, the founder can personally oversee product development, hiring, operations and strategy. Decisions happen quickly because everyone is working closely together.
But that hands-on approach becomes increasingly challenging when a company has hundreds of employees operating across international borders.
By 2025, SPRIBE’s rapid expansion was putting pressure on its internal processes, communication and leadership structure. “Growing fast is exciting, but it puts pressure on processes, communication, and people,” Natroshvili said.
His response was to strengthen the company’s management structure while giving individual teams more responsibility. “We focused on building stronger leadership structures, prioritizing transparency, and empowering teams to take ownership,” he said.
The goal wasn’t to abandon oversight. It was to replace constant intervention with a system that allowed capable employees to make decisions themselves.
Building a global company without losing the personal touch
Managing employees spread across multiple countries becomes a challenge akin to herding cats. Natroshvili believes effective communication matters more than having employees physically together. “Clarity beats proximity,” he said. “If teams understand the goals, the priorities, and the ‘why,’ they stay aligned no matter where they are.”
His advice to other business leaders is straightforward. “Invest in communication, not micromanagement.” The approach represents a major departure from the founder’s early days, when he personally monitored nearly every aspect of SPRIBE’s operations.
Today, his attention is increasingly directed toward organizational strategy, leadership development, vibrant entertainment and maintaining the company’s culture.
What entrepreneurs can take away from SPRIBE’s story
Natroshvili’s experience offers lessons for entrepreneurs whose businesses have outgrown their original management structures.
- First, founders must recognize when their personal involvement becomes a bottleneck. Delegating decisions to experienced managers can help organizations move faster without sacrificing accountability.
- Second, rapid growth requires investment in communication and leadership development. Expanding headcount without strengthening internal systems can create confusion and slow decision-making.
- Finally, successful businesses must continue innovating even after finding a winning product.
For SPRIBE, that challenge is especially important as competitors enter the crash-game market and the company pursues an ambitious goal of reaching 100 million monthly players.
The bottom line
Natroshvili built SPRIBE by recognizing an opportunity that established gaming companies had largely overlooked. But sustaining its success has demanded something different from the instincts that helped launch it.
His evolution from hands-on entrepreneur to strategic CEO reflects a fundamental truth about growing businesses. The founder who once needed to control everything eventually has to build a company capable of thriving without that control.
For Natroshvili, the ultimate measure of success isn’t how many decisions he makes. It’s how many great decisions his team can make without him.
Credit: Source link
