For 31-year-old Capetonian, Adii Pienaar, tinkering on a keyboard is second nature.
Growing up with a dad who owned a PC hardware store before computers became mainstream meant figuring out things for himself. His dad, also a programmer, showed him just enough to be “dangerous in DOS”, as he puts it. He was hooked and taught himself HTML, CSS and PHP.
Today Pienaar is the founder and ex-chief executive officer of the highly successful WooThemes, a multimillion-dollar company that focuses on creating customisable themes and plugins for powerful internet companies like WordPress and Tumblr. Being the first movers in the space, the team had to figure things out on their own.
And they did, making Pienaar one of South Africa’s most dynamic entrepreneurs. His second successful business, Receiptful, came with new challenges, but his past experiences kept him sharp. The most significant achievement for him was realising he is more than a one-hit wonder.
With two businesses and two kids, Pienaar understands the importance of prioritizing.He is present in his children’s lives and will not trade being a dad for anything in the world.
He is a firm believer in “pursuing the things that make you happy”.
Find Pienaar on Twitter: @adii
