Shows
Life ProfitsAdii Pienaar: "The ego beast was chasing me"In our pilot episode we turn the spotlight on "Life Profits" co-host Adii Pienaar. After Co-founding WooCommerce in his early twenties, Adii went on to Co-found two more companies—becoming more intentional with "how" each was built along the way. We dig into the highs and lows of Adii's career, his exploration of the purpose of entrepreneurship, and South African wine.2024-09-0443 min
The SaaS Academy PodcastThe Ecommerce Genius: How to build companies that sell (with Adii Pienaar) | Ep 36👉🏻 Want a 3-step action plan to help scale your SaaS?Book a FREE growth session (https://www.saasacademy.com/scalenow?...)--Join Matt (@mattverlaque) as he sits down with Adii Pienaar (@adii), founder of WooCommerce, Conversio and Cogsy, which led to multiple successful exits.📌 In this episode we dive deep into...➡ How the e-commerce industry has gone through phases of platform development, marketing and acquisition, and is currently focused on operational challenges and logistics.➡ How finding the right co-founder involves aligning values and cr...2024-07-231h 09
2X eCommerce PodcastAdii Pienaar: How Inventory Management Plays a Crucial Role in Improving Conversions and RevenueAdii Pienaar is the founder and CEO of Cogsy, an inventory management software for eCommerce brands. He started Cogsy after seeing the need for a more user-friendly and powerful inventory management solution that could be used by both generalists and specialists. Cogsy is designed to be easy to use and can be integrated with a variety of eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento.In the interview, Adii discusses his background in eCommerce and how it led to the creation of Cogsy. He also talks about the challenges of building a startup and the importance of...2023-05-3054 min
BreakOut Podcast28 | Building a Successful Remote Team - Insights from Adii Pienaar - Founder @ CogsyJoin Gareth as he sits down with Adii Pienaar, a successful 3x founder who is currently building Cogsy, a cutting-edge e-commerce inventory and demand planning tool. Adii opens up about his incredible journey, sharing valuable insights and experiences in various aspects of entrepreneurship, including hiring and screening for top talent, building a remote team, and cultivating a strong and healthy culture.TIMESTAMPS[00:00:58] Adii’s background in e-commerce[00:05:53] Building a successful remote team pre-pandemic[00:09:53] Automatic’s acquisition of WooCommerce[00:13:11] Get intentional about culture and values from day one[00:15:37] Why a hybrid work model is h...2023-05-0942 min
Keep Smiling: The E-Commerce Customer Experience PodcastEp. 035 - Tygh's Interview on The Checkout with Adii Pienar of CogsyThis episode is a recent conversation I had with author and 3x founder, Adii Pienar. After building Conversio & WooCommerce, Addi is leading a company called Cogsy, making inventory management and financial systems for Shopify and Amazon sellers. In this conversation we review how SellerSmile got it's start and some interesting ideas around customer experience, customer service, artificial intelligence. In particular, and related to Cogsy, we talk about the perils of stocking out. Cogsy helps sellers develop a system to to manage inventory levels by reading historical data and forecasted events. Try Cogsy with...2023-02-1744 min
The Money PodcastAdii Pienaar on reaching international success and lessons learnedIn this episode of The Money Podcast we talk to Adii Pienaar, a trail blazer and massively successful
tech entrepreneur about his biggest successes and failures with money.
Adii – co-founder of WooThemes/WooCommerce and author of 'Life Profitability'- discloses his biggest regrets, the lessons he learned as a tech entrepreneur and how he built and sold two globally successful businesses from South Africa.
He shares his wisdom and experience with money, and these lessons are both timeless and highly relevant.
If you aspire to be an entrepreneur or just being better at money, th...2023-01-2539 min
DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built#247 - Adii Pienaar, Cogsy: Acing Commerce Ops & Optimizing InventoryAdii Pienaar is the Founder & CEO of Cogsy, the operations & inventory optimization platform for e-commerce. Prior to starting Cogsy, he was the Co-founder & CEO of WooCommerce - the e-commerce solution for WordPress, and CM Commerce, both of which resulted in multi-million dollar exits.On this episode of DTC Pod, Adii joins Blaine & Ramon to chat about getting your inventory and operations right from the get go, brands going multi-channel, optimizing across all your sales channels, the importance of data, how to match inventory to demand, automating manual processes away from spreadsheets, building the modern day ERP with...2022-12-0851 min
Future CommerceThe Uncanny Ability to Balance Idealism and Enterprise Value, feat. Adii Pienaar, CogsyWith the advancements in technology over the years and the prospect of advancements looking into the future, how can we make sure we are looking around and keeping our approach as one that brings others with us? Is there a way to build that also lifts others and strives to not leave some behind? Phillip and Brian chat with Adii Pienaar about this and more. Listen now! Human-Centered Future“Going from 0 to 1 remains hard. As a founder, especially when you are responsible to your shareholders and your team members, there are some days where things don't wor...2022-11-2549 min
THE ECOMMERCE EDGE Podcast with Jason GreenwoodE166: Talking Automated eCommerce Demand Planning & Inventory Management at Scale w/ Adii Pienaar, Cogsy - At the Coalface Podcast - 03 November 2022Adii is Founder of COGSY - https://cogsy.com
As an original Co-Founder of WooCommerce, Adii knows eCommerce from the inside out
Adii recognised the challenges that eCommerce retailers have with inventory and demand planning and he built COGSY to address these challenges
COGSY is a SaaS platform for eCommerce demand planning
Stockouts cost retailers ~$1T every year - Cogsy, helps retailers prevent stock-outs, generate 40% more revenue, and save 20+ hours a week managing inventory.
COGSY has out of the box integrations with Shopify and Amazon with more coming soon!
In this episode, Jason and Adii discuss how eCommerce retailers can...2022-11-0255 min
Ecommerce Building BlocksEp. 21 Adii Pienaar from Cogsy, on Empowering Brands to Optimize ROI with Dynamic Inventory ManagementAdii Pienaar is a third time founder with Cogsy his successful operations software business, and Jason invited him onto the show to talk both about his shifts in mindset through years of building companies as well as the nitty-gritty of supply chain and inventory wisdom he uses to ensure his clients make the most of their working capital whether they are placing their first PO or restocking after years of being in business.
In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason and Adii talk about what Adii has learned through founding multiple successful companies - why empowering...2022-06-1525 min
Just RaisedEp.35: Cogsy: No More Excel Spreadsheets With Adii Pienaar, Founder | VCSpreadsheets! Changing founder behavior is at the heart of Adii Pienaar’s mission to improve business models across the globe. Find out how Cogsy is taking on Excel.Business marketing has gone through 3 phases. First, building the infrastructure and platforms to trade online, then focusing attention on email marketing, connecting to audiences, now it’s all about back office features - making sure operations are fully optimized.Joe and Adii discuss the difficulties fast scaling brands face when it comes to creating consistent cash flow, how Cogsy is helping eCommerce founders save money and time with...2022-03-0428 min
Own Your CommerceAdii Pienaar: On building Cogsy, “Your Extra Head of Inventory Operations.”Before building tools for ecommerce brands, Adii Peenar helped co-found the now popular WooCommerce platform for Wordpress. Since his WooCommmerce days, he's built, launched and successfully sold a Shopify app called Conversio; authored a book called Life Profitability; and now, has created a new product he refers to as "your extra head of operations."Â
Cogsy turns data into accurate forecasts for businesses so they can make better decisions about inventory and free up extra capital. It actually does more though, giving customers accurate re-stock dates right on product pages when out of inventory. Cogsy couldn't have come a...2021-11-2558 min
A Productive ConversationAdii Pienaar talks about Measuring Life ProfitabilityToday’s guest, Adii Pienaar, is not a fan of labels, but he’s a true life-first entrepreneur and avid writer. He also co-founded WooThemes in 2007, founded Conversio in 2014. His latest book, Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success distills a new perspective for becoming self-aware, recognising your values, and understanding your impact. I found it really impactful, so I couldn’t wait to bring Adii on to the show.Listen to this conversation as we take a step back and review how to live an enriched life AND run a successful business. We discuss the power...2021-08-2543 min
School for Good Living Podcasts158. Adii Pienaar – Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial SuccessAdii Pienaar is someone who uses his strengths, gifts, and talents in a variety of ways to solve real problems for others. He has been able to implement self-expression into his career of building successful companies. He’s a family man, a seeker, and a learner. He’s also a founder of Cogsy, Conversio, and WooCommerce; which shows he knows a thing or two about building and growing a successful business from the ground up. One of the things that sets Adii apart is his ability to balance creating these successful businesses with the things he values most in life...2021-08-101h 34
The Unshit Show With Grant SmeeEpisode 29 | Adii Pienaar | Entrepreneur, Family Man, Author,On this episode we chat with Adii about the business he has founded one of them being Woo Commerce, we talk about what it is to be an entrepreneur and we find out more about his book and his philosophy on Life Profitability.
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https://adii.me/
https://epicsouthafrica.com/
 2021-05-2645 min
Watts InvolvedEpisode 170 | Adii Pienaar | Entrepreneur, Family Man, AuthorOn this episode I chat with Adii about the companies he has founded, his Latest Book Life Profitability, and his latest business venture.
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Adi shares the following with us:
I'm not a great fan of labels. For as long as I can remember there has been three labels which I have strived to achieve and make my own: family man / dad, entrepreneur and writer. Looking back at my journey, I can find evidence where I accelerated my pursuit of these things, even when it wasn't the most prevalent path. Hindsight is an exact s...2021-05-1045 min
Let Your Ears Be the Gateway to Knowledge With Full AudiobookLife Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success Audiobook by Adii PienaarListen to this audiobook in full for free onhttps://hotaudiobook.com/freeID: 519383
Title: Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success
Author: Adii Pienaar
Narrator: Nathan Agin
Format: Unabridged
Length: 06:34:50
Language: English
Release date: 04-26-21
Publisher: Authors Republic
Genres: Business & Economics, Business Development
Summary:
What does success mean to you?
If youre an entrepreneur, this probably feels like a straightforward question with a simple answer: you want your business to thrive. You want to make a profit, stand out, be noticed. But then what? Are you done? Are you fulfilled? Are you happy?
For Adii Pienaar, selling two multimillion-dollar...2021-04-266h 34
UI Breakfast: UI/UX Design and Product StrategyEpisode 211: Starting a New SaaS Product with Adii PienaarWhat can we learn about starting new SaaS products from a multi-exit founder? Are there generalized lessons that apply for almost every product? Our guest today is Adii Pinaar, the founder of Cogsy and author of Life Profitability. You’ll learn what lessons Adii accumulated from his prior companies, how to evaluate advice before applying it, how to hire in the early stages, and more.Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Podcasts.Show NotesWooCommerce — Adii’s prior...2021-04-161h 08
Building a Business that LastsEpisode 111 - The True Measure of Success with Adii PienaarSend us a textIs your life profitable? Not just in money, but in everything else: family, friends, hobbies — the things that really matter and bring you the most happiness. That’s what Adii Pienaar is focused on. A published author and 3x company founder of Cogsy, Conversio, and WooCommerce, Adii has learned what it truly means to have a meaningful, fulfilling life as an entrepreneur, and he’s here to share just a few things he’s discovered along the way. Support the showListen to other episodes and see videos of...2021-04-0545 min
The Paul Minors Podcast: Productivity, Business & Self-ImprovementPMP #208: Life Profitability With Adii PienaarI was recently contacted by the author, Adii Pienaar, wanting to share his new book all about 'life profitability'. As someone who prioritises building a business that supports the lifestyle you want, this concept of 'life profitability' really got my attention!
Adii mentioned that he'd been in contact with one of my online business heroes, Paul Jarvis. You might remember that I interviewed Paul on the podcast all about his book 'Company of One' and building a business that doesn't prioritise growth. This was all the convincing I needed so I decided to get Adii on the...2021-04-0452 min
Scaling Up ServicesAdii Pienaar, Founder & EntrepreneurAn entrepreneur and founder of two global multimillion-dollar companies, Adii Pienaar prides himself on the commercial ​and ​life profitability of his businesses.
Adii’s personal journey enabled him to discover a rich, fulfilling life that coincides with a sustainable strategy for success in the workplace. His concept of life profitability is now gaining momentum in the business world. A native of South Africa, Adii lives in the winelands of Cape Town with his wife, Jeanne, and their two children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2021-04-0230 min
WP-Tonic | WordPress | SaaS | Bootstrap SaaS | Startups#579 WP-Tonic Show With Special Guest Adii Pienaar The Joint Founder of WooCommerce We Discuss Adii Pienaar New Book "Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success."
We with discuss Adii the foundations of Woocommerce and why he sold his share of the company. What has he learned connected to starting and selling two tech companies? We also discuss his latest book "Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success." and what are the main things that Adii would like the reader to get from reading the book.
 2021-03-2539 min
Business BookshelfAdii Pienaar - Author of “Life Profitability"Episode 125 of the Business Bookshelf - Adii Pienaar - Author of “Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success"
Today our guest is Adii Pienaar.
Adii is an entrepreneur and founder of two global multimillion-dollar companies and prides himself on the commercial and life profitability of his businesses.
Adii's personal journey enabled him to discover a rich, fulfilling life that coincides with a sustainable strategy for success in the workplace. His concept of life profitability is now gaining momentum in the business world.
Adii is the author of “Life Profitability: The New...2021-03-1432 min
Everyone's Talkin' MoneyThe Secrets to Living a Profitable Life | Adii Pienaar
What is the secret recipe to living a profitable life? A life that is about more than just the amount of money you make. In this episode, entrepreneur and author of the new book Life Profitability, Adii Pienaar, shares with you why you need to create what he calls a life portfolio.Meet AdiiAn entrepreneur and founder of two global multimillion-dollar companies, Adii Pienaar prides himself on the commercial and life profitability of his businesses. Adii’s personal journey enabled him to discover a rich, fulfilling life that coincides with a sus...2021-03-1242 min
The Unmistakable Creative PodcastAdii Pienaar | Rethinking How We Measure Entrepreneurial SuccessHow we measure our success has a huge influence on our well being and happiness. Adii Pienaar is an author and entrepreneur who had to rethink how he defined his own entrepreneurial success before things fell apart. Take a listen to his story and find out how you can do the same and maximize your life profitability.Adii's book, Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success, is available right now on Amazon | https://geni.us/LifeProfitabilityVisit Adii Pienaar's website to find out more about his work | https...2021-03-1000 min
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture CapitalLife probability with Adii PienaarIn this episode, Adii talks about his journey from WooCommerce to Cogsy and his process for writing a book along with running a startup. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partnergrow.substack.com2021-03-0748 min
The Daily Grind PodcastEp. 538 Adii PienaarAbout Adii
An entrepreneur and founder of two global multimillion-dollar companies, Adii Pienaar prides himself on the commercial and life profitability of his businesses. Adii’s personal journey enabled him to discover a rich, fulfilling life that coincides with a sustainable strategy for success in the workplace. His concept of life profitability is now gaining momentum in the business world. A native of South Africa, Adii lives in the winelands of Cape Town with his wife, Jeanne, and their two children.
About Adii's New Book
What does “success” mean to you?
If you...2021-03-0233 min
Built to Sell RadioEp 275 Adii Pienaar - How a Simple Strategy Led to a 35% Higher Valuation for ConversioIn 2014, Adii Pienaar started an email marketing platform for retailers, which became Conversio. By 2019, Pienaar had $2 million in revenue and 14 employees. 2021-02-261h 03
Idea to Value - Creativity and Innovation with Nick SkillicornPodcast S5E104: Adii Pienaar - Building Life ProfitabilityIn this episode of the Idea to Value podcast, we speak with South African serial entrepreneur Adii Pienaar about Life Profitability. See the full episode at https://wp.me/p6pllj-1y4Â After starting and selling several successful businesses, including the company which went on to become WooCommerce, Adii asked himself why he wasn't feeling fulfilled. In his new book, he talks about his own experiences defining and finding Life Profitability. Topics covered in this episode: 00:01:30 - Adii's journey and realising his entrepreneurial spirit 00:03:30 - Why selling his businesses didn't fill him w...2021-02-2522 min
the full bloomAdii Pienaar :: the new measure of entrepreneurial success | the full bloom 1.9Adii Pienaar believes there's a new measure of entrepreneurial success. After more than 12 years of chasing success, Adii is reflecting on his journey as a 3x founder and CEO, and introduces his new perspective of "success" as a startup founder.Adii's entrepreneurial journey started with building custom Wordpress themes, eventually leading to founding WooThemes in 2008. After WooThemes was acquired by Woocommerce in 2015, Adii has parlayed his wins into multiple e-commerce technology ventures- mostly recently as the founder of Cogsy.In this episode, Bart and Adii host a conversation about the importance of founders separating themselves...2021-02-2435 min
Moving UpAdii Pienaar – How to live Life Profitability3x founder and now author – Adii lays out a new measure of entrepreneurial success. We discuss how to become aware of what your underlying goals and how to incorporate them into your life and career.2021-02-1825 min
The Food Blogger Pro PodcastLife Profitability - Building a Business that Can Serve Your Life with Adii PienaarHow to measure Life Profitability, practicing mindfulness, and how your personal values can connect to your brand's values with Adii Pienaar. ----- Welcome to episode 292 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Adii Pienaar about his new book, “Life Profitability.” Life Profitability When starting and building your own business, it’s easy to get “tunnel vision” and put all of your time, effort, and thoughts into making it succeed. But will all of that brain-space spent on your business make your life more fulfilling...2021-02-1656 min
The Business of FamilyAdii Pienaar - First Generation Wealth Creator & Living Life Profitably [The Business of Family]Adii Pienaar is the founder of three technology companies, two of which he’s exited so far to create first generation wealth for his family. A prolific reader, writer and maker, Adii brings a refreshing perspective to the way he views family, business and wealth.
I was fortunate enough to preview his new book which was released last month, titled Life Profitability. In Life Profitability, Adii provides you with a new perspective for becoming self-aware, recognising your values, and understanding your impact. An enriched life and successful business are not mutually exclusive. In fact, this book will pr...2021-02-0856 min
COMMIT FIRST with Sagi Shrieber76: Work Life Balance & Life Profitability w/ Adii Pienaar (Founder of WooCommerce) + 20 Books Giveaway!Hey everyone!In this episode I invited Adii Pienaar to talk about his new book: Life Profitability.Adii Pienaar is the founder of multiple companies. Many of us know him as the guy who created WooCommerce, an e-commerce platform that works on WordPress. It was acquired by Automatic.He then created Conversio, email marketing automation for e-commerce brands which was acquired by Campaign Monitor. His latest company is called Cogsy.I invited him here to argue about his ideas...2021-02-021h 17
The $100 MBA ShowMBA1713 Guest Teacher – Adii Pienaar – How to Build a Business That Profits Your LifeWhat’s the cost of making money?
It’s easy for entrepreneurs to be over-focused on their business. Take today’s special guest teacher, for example. Adii Pienaar founded multiple, massively successful startups with huge payouts in the end.
But along the way, he realized he was losing something: life, bit by bit.
Today, Adii explains how to make sure your business fuels your life, rather than diminishing it in exchange for the conventional idea of profit. The ROI of entrepreneurship should be an existence you love — not just a business you’re proud of...2021-02-0119 min
Jon Nastor's Hack the Entrepreneur522: Working Towards Life Profitability | Adii PienaarI don't just recommend Nexcess, I trust them with my website. My entire business depends on fast, secure hosting. Use Offer Code HACK60 to Get 60% Off For Your First 2 Months Visit: https://hacktheentrepreneur.com/go/hack60 My guest today is an impulsive writer, family man, and founder of three companies with two successful exits under his belt. Back in 2007, and while still in college, he founded what would become Woocommerce. After six years growing the company, we exited to start something new and exciting. The following year...2021-01-2744 min
Slow & SteadyLife Profitability with Adii PienaarAdii Pienaar joins Brian and Benedikt to talk about his new book Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success. They talk about the concept of Life Profitability, how Work-Life-Balance doesn't really exist, and why it's important to challenge traditional ideas about entrepreneurship. Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial SuccessRyan HolidayPaulo Coelho - The AlchemistHerman Hesse - SiddharthaAndre Agassi - OpenYung Pueblo – InwardAdii Pienaar on Twitter2021-01-2738 min
Startups For the Rest of UsEpisode 533: Life Profitability After Two Exits (with Adii Pienaar)In this episode, Rob speaks with Adii Pienaar, a multi-time founder with multiple exits under his belt. They discuss life probability and the importance of measuring your entrepreneurial success by the things that matter the most to you and your life.
The topics we cover
[4:36] What motivated Adii to write the book
[10:17] Life probability defined
[12:45] Work-life balance is not the solution
[29:21] Choosing to go back into the SaaS trenches
If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.
2021-01-2637 min
Life ProfitabilitySilvia Mella | Rediscovering Passion With Green TeaSilvia Mella is the founder of Los Angeles based tea company Sorate. In this episode, Adii and Silvia talk about designing personal alignments in life, finding true calm, and the trip to Japan that would set Silvia off on a quest to found her own green tea brand.2020-12-0934 minLife ProfitabilityLeo Widrich | Finding Energy in FearLeo Widrich is a CEO, leadership coach, and cofounder of Buffer. In this episode, Leo shares vulnerable stories as he and Adii discuss making human connections, Leo’s time living at a Buddhist monastery, and an anecdote about Burning Man.2020-12-0237 minLife ProfitabilityBunny Young | Throwing Starfish Around the WorldBunny Young is a former stunt woman and therapist, an entrepreneur, and army wife and mother. In this episode Adii and Bunny discuss becoming an entrepreneur against all odds, how being diagnosed with a heart condition and losing a dear friend transformed her journey, and ultimately her goal of making the world a better place.2020-11-2545 minLife ProfitabilitySaray Khumalo | The First Black African Woman to Summit EverestSaray Khumalo is the first Black African woman to summit Everest. She is a motivational speaker, transformational coach, and successful corporate executive. In this episode, Adii and Saray discuss mountaineering, failing up, finding a unique purpose in life, imposter syndrome, and why the sky is not the limit.2020-11-1844 minLife ProfitabilityAmira Alvarez | Reprogramming Yourself for SuccessAmira Alvarez is a mentor and teacher, and founder and CEO of The Unstoppable Woman, a global entrepreneurial coaching company. In this episode, Adii and Amira discuss reprogramming self perceptions, the power of getting dressed, mapping out your own path, getting off the “hamster wheel,” and building a unique, personal legacy.2020-11-1147 minLife ProfitabilityAndrej Dukic | Industrial Designer and Creator of Maker HandFor the past four years industrial designer Andrej Dukic has been working on a functional and sustainably-priced 3D printed prosthetic hand for amputees. It’s called Maker Hand. In this episode, Adii and Andrej talk about the need to find a meaning in life, even when you’re comfortable; the injury that inspired his project; the importance and dangers of competition; and a desire to create a meaningful impact.2020-11-0440 min
Better Done Than PerfectCarrots, Sticks & Measuring Success with Adii PienaarSome entrepreneurs break into SaaS fairly early in life and make a real impact in the community. One of such inspiring founders is today’s guest, Adii Pienaar, the founder of WooCommerce and CM Commerce (previously Conversio). In this episode, you’ll hear about Adii’s successes and failures in user onboarding, as well as his views on email marketing, task simplification, concierge onboarding, success metrics, segmentation, and much more.Visit our website for the detailed episode recap with key learnings.Show notesCM Commerce, WooCommerce — Adii’s previous productsDan Martell’s SaaS AcademyLife Profitability...2020-10-2837 minLife ProfitabilityLora DiCarlo | Founder and CEO of Lora DiCarloLora DiCarlo is the Founder and CEO of sex-tech start-up, Lora DiCarlo. Through tech, she has revolutionized the sex tool industry. In this episode, Adii and Lora talk about personal values that served as a foundation for her business and building the best team to create a sexually equitable world.2020-10-2841 minLife ProfitabilityPaddy Donnelly | Illustrating a LegacyPaddy Donnelly is an Irish illustrator and author. Over his career he has made the transition from web and app designer to children’s book author and illustrator. In this episode, Adii and Paddy discuss the pursuit of diversity, openness to new opportunities, growing and making changes in work to avoid monotony, and creating a legacy through illustration.2020-10-2143 minLife ProfitabilityNora Wendel | Living a Life of Effortless PleasureNora Wendel is a teacher, coach, and soon-to-be-published author. She teaches Feminine Magnetism, the art of being a confident, sexy woman. In this episode, Adii and Nora discuss seeking effortless pleasure in work and life, why self expression is so important, the difference between feminine and masculine energies, and the need for feminine energy in capitalism.2020-10-1446 minLife ProfitabilityAndrew Wilkinson | Designing a New Way To Do BusinessAndrew Wilkinson is the founder of MetaLab Design and a cofounder of Tiny Capital, a company that starts, buys, and invests in internet businesses. In this episode, Adii and Andrew discuss Andrew’s evolution from designer to investor, how design fits into the work he does now, starting MetaLab out of necessity, and optimizing his life and career to be able to say “no.”2020-10-0741 minLife ProfitabilityCatharine Dockery | Removing Stigmas and Reducing Harm in the Vice IndustryCatharine Dockery is the founder of Vice Ventures, a venture capital fund that specializes in harm reduction in vice products and investing in “good” companies that operate in “bad” industries. In this episode Adii and Catharine discuss harm reduction; the mission, vision, and values of Vice Ventures; standing up for your beliefs; overcoming stigma through conversation; and where passion fits into creating something meaningful.2020-09-3039 minLife ProfitabilityMegan Davies | Entering the Music Industry in the Age of YouTubeMegan Davies is a singer, songwriter, artist, and YouTuber known for videos of mashups, covers, collaborations with other artists, and her own original music. In this episode, Adii and Megan discuss turning music into a viable career, the importance of curiosity in refining a craft, artistic individuality, and being true to your own vision and holding yourself to a standard of growth and improvement in whatever you do.2020-09-2344 minLife ProfitabilitySidra Qasim & Waqas Ali | From Pakistan to Y Combinator, Kickstarting a VisionSidra Qasim and Waqas Ali are a wife and husband co-founding team behind two shoe companies, Markhor and Atoms. Together they have combined their Pakistani heritage and interest in social media and technology to create shoes that are both comfortable to wear and that stand the test of time. In this episode Adii, Sidra, and Waqas discuss their journey from rural Pakistan to the USA, combining craftsmanship and heritage, building a second company, how they define and are defined by labels, and what has ultimately kept them going through their business journey.2020-09-1642 minLife ProfitabilityTony Weaver Jr. | Being Weird EnoughTony Weaver, Jr. is the CEO of Weird Enough Productions, recent Forbes 30 under 30 nominee, and TEDx speaker. Weird Enough Productions combats misrepresentation of minority groups by creating unique and diverse heroes to help people of all backgrounds and circumstances recognize their own power. Adii and Tony discuss social entrepreneurship, interplay between business and art, the importance of honest conversations with oneself, the “why” of business, and the impact of influencers and idolizing the wrong people.2020-09-0948 minLife ProfitabilityBrian Gardner | Less is More in Business, Life, and DesignBrian Gardner is a minimalist designer and internet marketer, the founder of StudioPress, and the “OG” of the premium WordPress ecosystem. In this episode Adii and Brian discuss their similar paths in business, living as a minimalist in life and business, side projects, and committing to new journeys.2020-09-0245 minLife ProfitabilityTshepo Mohlala | Solving Humanities Greatest Problems Using StartupsTshepo Mohlala is the founder of Metacode, a search tool for coders and engineers, and Aspect, a website building platform. He aspires to create real change in the world—his ultimate goal: solve human aging. In this episode Adii and Tshepo discuss how growing up in South Africa and where you get an education can greatly affect your worldview; expanding Silicon Valley ambitions beyond San Francisco; and the concept of going big and going home.2020-08-2637 minLife ProfitabilitySara Mauskopf | Transforming Childcare with TechSara Mauskopf is CEO and Co-Founder of Winnie, a marketplace for childcare. She worked for Twitter in its startup days, and in several product creative roles for Google, YouTube, and Postmates. In this episode, Adii and Sara talk about raising millions of dollars and transforming the childcare market with Winnie, early ambitions and adjusting to change, and creating a work/family life balance.2020-08-1939 minLife ProfitabilityTim Van Damme | Unfair Moments of Opportunity and Leaving Space for OthersTim Van Damme is a digital designer who has worked with some of the best known tech companies in the business. Sometimes known as “the first ever designer,” Tim is the Principal Product Designer at Abstract and has worked with Instagram, Facebook, Gowalla, and Dropbox. In this episode, Adii and Tim discuss getting started in design, evolving into a team player, unfair moments of opportunity, leaving space for others, and setting an example for children through work/life decisions.2020-08-1237 minLife ProfitabilityMarie Prokopets | Making a Change, Taking a Risk, and Quieting the Inner CriticMarie Prokopets has had a “wild ride” of a career. She is the co-founder of tech start-up FYI, recent recipient of Product Hunt’s Golden Kitty Maker of the Year award, former Diageo Director of Tequila, comedy screenplay writer, and avid meditator, crystal collector, and sage burner. In this episode Adii and Marie discuss making career changes, keeping a student mindset, taking risks, and the habits and attitudes necessary for success.2020-07-3142 minLife ProfitabilityEliot Peper | Making Sense of the World through StorytellingEliot Peper is the author of nine novels and a practicing independent consultant for several Fortune 100 companies. In his writing, he bends and blends traditional genres to explore the intersection of technology and culture. In this episode, Adii and Eliot discuss the intersection of Eliot’s roles and storytelling, how forgetting can be a superpower, and the importance of labels.2020-07-3146 minUI Breakfast: UI/UX Design and Product StrategyEpisode 157: Serving Your Customer's Customers with Adii PienaarWhat are the implications of building software that interacts with your customer's customers? Our guest today is Adii Pienaar, previosly the founder of WooCommerce and Conversio. We talk about his five-year journey with Conversio, product lessons learned, how to do freemium right, how to stay ethical, and much more.Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music.Show NotesCM Commerce (previously Conversio) — Adii's latest product, acquired by Campaign MonitorWooCommerce — Adii's previous productUserlist — Jane's productMotion — Adii's poetry bookAdii...2020-02-1543 min
Making New MistakesOwnershipJust because we paid for something, does it mean we own it?
I'm not so sure that I can agree with that definition of ownership with complete conviction. In many ways, I've been thinking more about shared possession than outright ownership; especially in cases where money has exchanged hands.2019-12-1202 min
Making New MistakesIntimate AssetsAs much as we can study any subject extensively and do our 10 000 hours en route to mastery, it's a risky endeavour when we can't be intimate and comfortable with ourselves first.2019-12-0503 min
Making New MistakesChild's PoseGrowing up may just be the original hamster wheel.2019-11-2803 min
Making New MistakesDemons are verminAs I reflect on my own entrepreneurial journey, I do wonder whether a greater acceptance of this vermin in my house, would've helped me navigate some of the challenges I faced easier and in a way that mentally, emotionally and physically cost me less.2019-11-2103 min
Making New MistakesPacking For The JourneyEntrepreneurship shouldn't feel like jumping off a cliff and learning to build a plane on the way down. This mindset and acceptance of the status quo just creates unnecessary stress and anxiety.2019-11-1402 min
Making New MistakesToxic Entrepreneurial MasculinityAs a collective, we have contorted what it means to be an individual on an entrepreneurial journey.2019-11-0704 min
Making New MistakesReturn On Me (ROM)As I come up to the 6th anniversary of me leaving Woo, I can unequivocally say that my Return On Me during this period of my life has been incredible.2019-10-3102 min
ZenFounderEpisode 221: The Poetry of Entrepreneurship with Adii PienaarSherry sits down with Adii Pienaar, fresh off of his exit from Conversio. They talk about how entrepreneur’s identities often become intertwined with their businesses and the importance of finding something outside of that. For Adii this is a love for poetry. He shares his journey of finding poetry and also shares some of his work.
Adii’s book “Motion”
Want more content like this? Check out our book.
2019-10-2500 min
Making New MistakesMagical ExpressionFinding one’s magic is sometimes like finding a needle in a haystack. Until you realise that all of it is you. And you are already magical.2019-10-2402 minStartups For the Rest of UsEpisode 467 | “A Life-Changing Exit” with Adii Pienaar of ConversioShow Notes
In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob talks with Adii Pienaar of Conversio, about his life changing exit, when and why he decided to sell, and what the whole process was like.
Items mentioned in this episode:
Conversio
TinySeed
Adii.me
Discretion Capital
2019-10-2243 min
Making New MistakesLegacy and breadcrumbsI write to leave breadcrumbs for my boys to retrace all the parts of me they perhaps never knew or saw or understood.2019-10-1703 min
DistantJob PodcastEP32: Running Remote Businesses Life-First with Adii PienaarAdii Pienaar is the founder of Conversio and lives in Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to Conversio, Adii was the co-founder of WooThemes / WooCommerce . Today Adii is a family man (which is why Conversio is a life- and family-first company) who enjoys running, reading and wine. In this episode, we talk about the philosophy of leading from first principles. We explore how to act in order to prevent your employees from burning out (more common than you think in highly motivated remote teams) and how a leader can be consistent while still striving to learn and being ope...2019-07-0954 min
One Stop ShopThe best way to increase your abandoned cart recovery rateIf you’ve done everything (shipping coupons, social proof, product reviews, etc) and you still haven’t seen an increase in your abandoned cart recovery rate, it may be time for you to change your tactics so you can view different results.
As my imaginary friend Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” and we don’t want this, do we?
Because here’s the truth: sometimes, your website may be great, and your email sequence may be top-notch, but if the customers coming into your we...2019-04-0900 min
One Stop ShopThe best way to increase your abandoned cart recovery rateIf you’ve done everything (shipping coupons, social proof, product reviews, etc) and you still haven’t seen an increase in your abandoned cart recovery rate, it may be time for you to change your tactics so you can view different results.
As my imaginary friend Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” and we don’t want this, do we?
Because here’s the truth: sometimes, your website may be great, and your email sequence may be top-notch, but if the customers coming into your we...2019-04-0910 minOne Stop ShopOne Action RuleDon’t get me wrong here: I get it.
Sometimes when we’re given access to our prospect’s emails, we can’t help but think that people are already overloaded, so when they open our email, we need to put everything there so they can get as much information as possible, don’t you think?
After all, more than 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI. And knowing that around 76% of subscribers make purchases from email marketing makes you feel pressured to say everything you want to say in a single email so y...2019-03-2600 min
One Stop ShopOne Action RuleDon’t get me wrong here: I get it.
Sometimes when we’re given access to our prospect’s emails, we can’t help but think that people are already overloaded, so when they open our email, we need to put everything there so they can get as much information as possible, don’t you think?
After all, more than 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI. And knowing that around 76% of subscribers make purchases from email marketing makes you feel pressured to say everything you want to say in a single email so y...2019-03-2607 minOne Stop ShopThe one thing every ecommerce business needsAssuming most of you have answered d, which talks about building mutually beneficial relationships with your customers and increasing their CLV over time through up-selling and cross-selling, you’ve nearly hit the nail on the head.
After all, it costs 5x as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one, remember? Additionally, selling to an existing customer has a success rate of 60%-70%, whereas it’s only 5%-20% when you’re selling to a new one.
Now, let’s be real here: you already know about the concept of maximizing CLV, right? M...2019-02-1200 min
One Stop ShopThe one thing every ecommerce business needsAssuming most of you have answered d, which talks about building mutually beneficial relationships with your customers and increasing their CLV over time through up-selling and cross-selling, you’ve nearly hit the nail on the head.
After all, it costs 5x as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one, remember? Additionally, selling to an existing customer has a success rate of 60%-70%, whereas it’s only 5%-20% when you’re selling to a new one.
Now, let’s be real here: you already know about the concept of maximizing CLV, right? M...2019-02-1209 min
The Jeff Large PodcastAdii Pienaar | Identify Your ValuesAdii Pienaar is one of the original founders of WooThemes and WooCommerce. He is currently the high king of WooCommerce at Conversio. In today’s discussion, we talk about work-life balance, identifying your values and priorities, and finding meaning.2018-07-3000 min
The Business Generals Podcast | Helping You Maximize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams - Every Single Week061: The Techpreneurial Genius Behind WooThemes (w/Adii Pienaar)Adii Pienaar is a serial entrepreneur best known for founding the successful and multi-million dollar company WooThemes in 2008 which he also built from his home country South Africa. Since WooThemes, Adii has started a few new businesses, most recently Conversio (previously Receiptful), a SaaS business for all-in-one ecommerce marketing including features like email receipts, cart abandonment, follow ups, recommendations, product reviews, search, and feedback.
Starting outÂ
When Adii started out in business, he just wanted to be an entrepreneur and work for himself. He got into Wordpress out of necessity because he needed money for school. So...2017-09-0348 min
HackToStartAdii Pienaar, Founder, Conversio | EP 157Adii Pienaar is the Founder of Conversio, an all-in one marketing dashboard. Adii is based in Cape Town, South Africa and previously co-founded WooThemes - an e-commerce platform for Wordpress - which bootstrapped their way to over 150,000 customers. Today, Adii is continuing to help e-commerce entrepreneurs worldwide build stronger businesses through his latest startup Conversio, an all-in one marketing dashboard that helps you sell more. Adii joins us to share his story, how he started his career in entrepreneurship, what it was like transitioning wordpress templates into a full e-commerce platform, what it was like bootstrapping a company, how he’s...2017-07-1831 min
Founder ChatsAdii Pienaar (WooCommerce & Conversio)This week I talk with Adii Pienaar, founder of WooCommerce and Conversio. We discuss growing up in Cape Town, how Adii’s entrepreneurial father and teacher mother influenced his career path, how entrepreneurship gave him a sense of belonging and so much more. Enjoy!
http://founderchats.com
https://conversio.com
https://baremetrics.com
2017-06-2756 min
Exhale#12 - Ambition is hard workI have to say that I've been chasing my tail a bit and running around like a headless chicken since the start of the month.
And all because of my ambition, which makes it challenging for me to prioritise all the things that I want to work on. Plus - I really don't always have a great relationship with speed either, which tends to make my experience in any given situation tougher than it needs to be at times.
Ambition is hard work.
Cover artwork by Francis Taylor. Intro & outro music is...2017-01-1900 min
Exhale#11 - Reaching Superficial MilestonesI want to run 2000km in 2016 and after a 3-week break due to illness, I'm behind schedule. So it's going to be tough to reach that milestone. That said, I'm not even sure why 2000km is even that important. Is it more important than 1900km? Or 1850km?
In thinking through this, I realised that I'm not always super-clear with myself about why I sometimes set specific goals.
I can remember feeling so much stress, anxiety and impatience before Conversio initially reached $1m ARR, then $100k MRR and again $125k MRR. The truth was that reaching...2016-12-0800 min
Exhale#10 - Behind The ScenesMy perception is that most people know me due to my two successes: WooThemes and now Conversio.
I also suspect that most people don't know about all of my failures: Maiden League Records, Akkerliefies, The Cellar, Radiiate V1, Lunchbox, Radiiate V2, CFOh!, Radiiate V3 and PublicBeta. This list doesn't even include all of the ideas that were only ever ideas. Or the acquisitions I've explored in the past.
The reason people don't know this, is because we don't know what's happening behind the scenes of others' lives and businesses. We have extreme survivorship bias, where...2016-12-0100 min
Exhale#9 - What's the meaning of life?Whenever someone rhetorically asks "What's the meaning of life?", I have a wry smile, because it always seems like such a loaded, unanswerable question.
Yet when I look at my life, I've always had a very clear tactic for answering that question: I've used the work I do as a way to find purpose and meaning in my life. Whilst this has not been totally misguided, I get the sense that I attached a little too much weight to the purpose and meaning I was really deriving from my work alone.
In fact...2016-11-2400 min
Exhale#8 - Positive ImpactI had an uncomfortable realisation earlier. The only minority that I've ever been part of, has been one of privilege.
When I initially realised that, I was totally overwhelmed. Not in a way that I felt bad about myself or what I've done in my life thus far. But it I was suddenly very aware that I could and should be doing much more to just love more. Be more inclusive. Promote and enable unity.
An idea that has been very prominent in my life in recent months is one of having an impact. One...2016-11-1000 min
Exhale#7 - Playing your own gameEarlier this week, we rebranded and relaunched Receiptful as Conversio. This was ultimately a project that represented our own evolution and what we had learnt about ourselves in the last 2 years since we first launched.
See... In those two years, we had done quite a few things that weren't necessarily planned. We launched as a bootstrapped company with a paid-only product then switched to a freemium-only model, which meant raising $500k in a seed round all before we even had a feature set for which we could charge. And then we came to a fork in the...2016-11-0300 min
Exhale#6 - Did Not FinishThis past Sunday I had entered to race in my first triathlon. After a couple of weeks of hard training, I felt that I was prepared and was excited to take part in my first race.
But I only swam for 100m before I quit the race. I did not finish.
In reliving this experience in the last couple of days, I recognised that there was a major gap between my expectation for the race and the ultimate reality of my experience. The latter was influenced by some external factors beyond my control and it...2016-10-2600 min
Exhale#5 - Slower MorningsWe have two young boys (5 & 2) in the house and I can positively say that their random sleeping and (subsequent) morning routines has made it really hard for me to stick to my own morning work routines. This has been especially hard on me, because I'm great in the mornings and have developed my morning routines for a very long time.
As soon as I stopped clenching onto my morning routines and accepted the randomness that kids bring, my mornings became profoundly better. And in this sense, slower has been better.
My mornings now includes...2016-10-2000 min
Exhale#4 - The Obstacle is the WayI started Exhale by sharing my very first exhale experience when I realised that my life - and especially my work / business - felt like I was pushing a rock up the hill. That sensation and the fact that I had become unhappy and tired in doing so, was my obstacle.
Where I am today, I'd very much like to avoid that sensation of feeling I have to persist and persevere with something that isn't enjoyable, isn't working and likely making me unhealthy (mentally, emotionally and / or physically).
Instead I've tried to be more aware...2016-10-1300 min
Exhale#3 - I don't believe in work/life balanceWe often hear about why work/life balance is important, how a few people are successful at achieving it (survivorship bias much?) and mostly how the majority of the world just struggles with this.
I used to be that hamster on that wheel too.
In February this year, I decided that I really wanted to run my first marathon this year. That goal soon become my primary goal for the year and helped reshaped my perspective on how I view work and life. My training for my marathon became the first thing on my daily...2016-10-0600 min
Exhale#2 - Having a softer focusWhen I left WooThemes, one of my goals was that I wanted to create a SaaS company, because I wanted to have the challenge of hacking the recurring revenue growth curve. Inspired very much by "the startup way of thinking", growth hacking the shit out of a business just held such great attraction to me.
Until I got to the point where I was trying to hack growth.
And I struggled to do that. Which made me feel like shit and sometimes even made me feel ashamed that I couldn't report better metrics...2016-09-2900 min
Exhale#1 - Saying hello with no clear planThe path I took to create this episode - and maybe the podcast as whole, but to a lesser extent - might have a bunch of different names: freestyling, intuitive and maybe slightly impulsive. The one thing that stands out to be though is the fact that this is authentic and represents me in this moment.
In this episode, I introduce the start of a new chapter in my journey, where I'd like to explore and share a few other, non-obvious or unexpected perspectives through which we could consider life and business. I share a little bit...2016-09-2400 min
One Stop ShopThe Secret of Getting Started with Adii PienaarThis episode is a short, 3-minute prologue for the One Stop Shop podcast by Receiptful founder, Adii Pienaar.
In this prologue, Adii shares some of the inspiration and motivation for why the Receiptful team has produced this podcast. He also shares their hopes and goals with the podcast (hint: it's about telling the stories of eCommerce businesses in a way that helps others learn and grow).
Credits:
Music featured in this episode was "Celery Man" by Birocratic and can be found at www.soundcloud.com/birocratic.
This podcast was produced by comealivecreative.com.
2016-07-0902 minOne Stop ShopThe Secret of Getting Started with Adii PienaarThis episode is a short, 3-minute prologue for the One Stop Shop podcast by Receiptful founder, Adii Pienaar.
In this prologue, Adii shares some of the inspiration and motivation for why the Receiptful team has produced this podcast. He also shares their hopes and goals with the podcast (hint: it's about telling the stories of eCommerce businesses in a way that helps others learn and grow).
Credits:
Music featured in this episode was "Celery Man" by Birocratic and can be found at www.soundcloud.com/birocratic.
This podcast was produced by comealivecreative...2016-07-0900 min
Hack The EntrepreneurHTE 067: Adii Pienaar on Looking for the Biggest Opportunity to Make MistakesToday’s guest is an entrepreneur in the truest sense, and at times even to his own detriment.
In 2007, my guest started a one-man web design company in Cape Town, South Africa and within a few years he turned it into the worldwide brand that is now known as WooThemes — a multi-million dollar WordPress company with more than a million users.
In 2013, my guest exited that company and being the entrepreneur that he is, he immediately jumped into his next endeavour PublicBeta. And although he consciously went at it differently this time, he found himself burn...2015-03-0432 min