Why Trading Programs That Move Fast Break Everything (And How Slow Growth Built a 115-Country Empire)

If your affiliate program chases explosive growth with aggressive spend and flashy campaigns, this episode reveals why you might be building on sand. Yana Ivanova and Nir Iter from Exness share how they scaled from 18 to 115 countries not through brute force marketing, but through something radical in trading: patience. Lee-Ann and her guests discuss why daily payouts matter more than commission rates, how localisation means hiring humans who actually understand regional nuances, and why the Latin American market demands emotional connection before transactional relationships. This conversation reveals a counterintuitive truth: sometimes slow and steady really does win the race.

Talking Points Include:

• The payment infrastructure breakthrough that built trust faster than any marketing campaign and why waiting until month-end to pay affiliates destroys credibility in emerging markets
• Why treating LATAM as a single homogeneous market is the fastest path to failure and the exact localisation strategy that transformed passive content into community engagement across culturally distinct countries
• The team structure that prevents cannibalisation when 11 account managers chase global traffic and how individual KPIs combined with team goals create collaboration instead of internal competition

Listen to Find Out More About:

• How Exness structures team KPIs to prevent account managers from fighting over global affiliates while maintaining healthy competition
• The buddy program that integrates new team members without creating hierarchical friction in an 11-person global team
• Why the company prioritises quality over quantity now, deliberately slowing growth to ensure sustainable partnerships
• The specific data points Exness analyses constantly to identify which markets deserve localised attention versus broad global treatment
• How mobile measurement platforms become essential tools for LATAM affiliates where phone traffic dominates
• The real reason trading affiliate programs traditionally used CPA models and how Exness diversified beyond that constraint

Key Segments of This Podcast and Where You Can Tune In to Go Direct:

[08:17] The long-term mindset explained through hotel guest analogies and why three-year plans beat quarterly targets

[16:29] Daily payment implementation and the risk mitigation strategy that made it viable without enabling fraud

[20:34] Team scaling from a handful to 11 professionals and how specialisation by region prevents global chaos

[33:03] Honest advice for newcomers: pick your niche, build community, trust your data

Latin America: The Opportunity Ahead

For affiliates considering Latin America in 2026, both guests offered clear direction. Yana's focus centres on local communities, as the region values authentic, community-driven marketing over impersonal automation. Nir emphasised mobile optimisation, noting that with young, mobile-first audiences, ensuring your tracking, creatives, and user experience are optimised for phones is non-negotiable. Tools like AppsFlyer or other mobile measurement platforms are essential.

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