Kingpin: Interview with Adii Pienaar
Q1: Most people in the WordPress community know you from having been the co-founder of WooThemes. What was that journey like?
Q2: The latest project you've started is called Receiptful. Was the inspiration behind that concept?
I was reading this article and decided to quit everything I was doing during that time and pursue this (crazy) concept instead. It made so an intuitive sense to me. I was shocked to find that no one was yet able to build this. It also seemed like I could draw on my experiences of building an ecosystem around WooCommerce to give Receiptful the initial push it needed.
Question 3: When a person has an eCommerce website, why is Receiptful superior to using the default receipts included with XYZ shopping cart?
Q4 Does anyone know of any other companies using Receiptful that readers might know about?
The most recognisable brand names using Receiptful would be musicians, Foo Fighters & Skrillex. One of my favorite brands are Kidrobot. And many WooCommerce store owners will know Nic Harry too, as they've been by WooThemes.com for ages.
Q5 How was the fundraising procedure like with Receiptful?
As a bootstrapper, I discovered that fundraising was as much fun than I imagined it would be. It was a true thrill to receive a yes from really impressive investors (including Matt Mullenweg). The first time I thought of reaching directly to my contacts first in order to secure the first couple of commitments. It really helped. After that, I started to take introductions to whomever was interested. We also did well on AngelList and this helped in a couple of others introductions.
Questions 6: What does the future bring in Receiptful?
We're very excited about creating a business that can remain around in the future. Our company will be in the process of becoming profitable this month, which basically means that we have great control over our destiny too. :) On a product side, Receiptful is evolving to be a full stack customer engagement platform (saying that makes me nauseous). The result is that eventually, Receiptful will be able to offer a range of products that allow entrepreneurs and owners of online stores to boost the interactions with their customers from the Receiptful dashboard.
Q7: Where do you feel eCommerce is headed in the future?
I think we're moving toward a future where customer interactions (purchasing & otherwise) are becoming more dispersed and spread between various channels. It's already evident in eCommerce retailers that are opening (or already have) brick-and-mortar stores in which they're having trouble reconciling their customer data across those channels. As the popularity of mobile commerce, for example, it's hard to imagine this trend slowing down.
Q8 The question is: If you had the chance to meet with an entrepreneur either in the past or today which one would you choose and what would the reason be?
I'd like to meet my original hero, Richard Branson. There's something in the way he started Virgin that always has resonated with me; I love the punk-like challenge to the status quo, for instance. What is however more impressive is how he's developed his persona and brand over time (into an empire) but without losing his personality.
Q9 In the event that you were able to go to the beginning of time, 10 years ago and do it all differently as an business owner?
There's nothing to say; I don't believe regretting previous decisions or actions can be helpful in any way. :)
Q10: What is Cape Town really like?
It's tempting to suggest that it's best to travel down and decide by yourself. :) But I'll give you an idea... Cape Town is a wonderful place because it's diverse; both as regards the various varieties of people living in the area and also the variety of the environment. In this sense, it's similar to San Francisco where you can move from city life to suburbia, the winelands, the beaches and the woods to the mountains in just an half an hour. The city is also an innovative one filled with youthful and exuberant spirit (which I've been told is similar to the way Berlin changed over the last few years).
Brian Jackson
Brian is a great fan for WordPress is a frequent user of it for more than 10 years, and even develops several premium WordPress plugins. Brian loves to write, watch movies as well as hiking. Connect with Brian on Twitter.