From freelancer to successful co-founder, Ionut Neagu has worked with WordPress for 13+ years. Along the way, he has grown his company, Themeisle, into one of the most respected names in the WordPress ecosystem.
Their flagship products, including Neve and Hestia, are helping shape the future of website building and WordPress theme development.
Like many scrappy entrepreneurs, he started with little more than determination and a desire to learn. What makes Ionut’s story unique is his strong persistence and focus on creating genuine value.
In this interview with the WPBeginner team, Ionut shares his journey and offers valuable insights for anyone looking to build a lasting business in the WordPress space.
“I think intentions kind of matter… if you have the intention to create value through this process – for employees, for clients, for everyone that you work with… I think that also matters… my advice would be to be persistent, to try to focus on creating value and things will compound in time.”
Ionut Neagu – Co-Founder of Themeisle
Keep reading to learn how Ionut built and grew Themeisle into a household name. Whether you’re a brand-new WordPress freelancer or an experienced entrepreneur, his expert advice can help you grow.
This is our series, #MyWordPressStory, which brings you insights from leaders who use WordPress to make positive changes in the world.
If you’d like to be featured in our interview series – whether you’re a plugin developer, founder, or SEO expert – feel free to reach out and let us know through our contact form.
Video Interview with Ionut Neagu
If you’d like to watch the complete video interview with Ionut Neagu, then you can see it here:
Or you can use the links below to see what we covered in the interview (and more):
- 🙋 Meet Ionut Neagu: WordPress Pioneer and Themeisle Co-Founder
- 👨💻 The WordPress Journey: From Freelancing to Themeisle
- 🔍 Business Growth Strategies & Themisle Products
- 💡 Advice for Aspiring WordPress Entrepreneurs
- 🔮 Looking Ahead: The Future of Themeisle
- 💭 Final Thoughts
- 💥 Bonus Guides and Resources
🙋 Meet Ionut Neagu: WordPress Pioneer and Themeisle Co-Founder
Before we share Ionut Neagu’s valuable lessons, we have to revisit his beginnings as a web developer, before Themeisle existed.
Fresh out of college in 2010, armed with a computer science degree and a deep curiosity for learning, Ionut entered the tech world during an interesting time.
While the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis meant there were fewer traditional job opportunities, it also created space for innovative thinkers to create their own paths.
When chatting with Ryan Priddey from the WPBeginner team, Ionut reflected on these early days with his characteristic humility and a sense of humor.
“Someone took a chance on me and said, ‘Okay, we just need someone to help.’ I said, That’s me. I don’t know anything.”
This eagerness to learn and grow, even without immediate rewards or recognition, defined his early career. “I just knew I wanted to learn and prove myself,” he shared.
He even recalled how he once told a potential employer he didn’t need a salary—just the metro fare to come to work. That still didn’t get Ionut the job, but it also didn’t discourage him. He just laughed it off and kept on moving, which is an example of his persistence and resilience.
“What worked for me was curiosity and persistence and not thinking about necessarily the results.”
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen many successful entrepreneurs start with this same combination of humility and determination.
Ionut’s story stands out because he has maintained this learning mindset throughout his 13+ year journey with WordPress, even as his company became a major force in the ecosystem.
Today, Themeisle’s WordPress themes and plugins power hundreds of thousands of websites worldwide.
As co-founder and product strategist, he’s involved in everything from theme development to exploring new acquisitions and future directions for the business.
His approach has never been about following a predetermined path or copying others’ success. Instead, he’s always focused on understanding problems and finding ways to solve them effectively.
Ionut’s story reveals how staying true to your core values can transform a simple freelance career into something much bigger.
👨💻 The WordPress Journey: From Freelancing to Themeisle
In his early days with web development, Ionut started by building one freelance project at a time. His first breakthrough came with a modest $30 jQuery slider project that took three days to complete.
Like many developers starting out, he was less driven by the money at this time, and more focused on building his portfolio and expertise.
Through persistence and dedication, he began to establish himself as a freelancer, although he knew there had to be a more sustainable path forward.
Around 2012, Ionut co-founded Themeisle, marking a shift from freelancing to product development. The early days brought important lessons about building a business.
“I had a lot of misconceptions because I thought by having a company, printing business cards, making the company website, we will get clients… but none of this contributed in any way.”
These struggles are acknowledged outright on the ‘About Us’ page of the Themeisle website, which says they quickly learned to adapt because “three years without a sale will do that.”
In our opinion, Ionut’s humble and lighthearted attitude comes through here, as the team jokingly celebrates their early failures.
When asked about mistakes he’d learned from, Ionut acknowledged he has always been a bit risk-averse. He casually quoted one of his inspirations, Charlie Munger, who famously said, “All I want to know is where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there.”
But upon further reflection, Ionut also recognized that sometimes mistakes are just part of the learning process:
“A mistake, a little bit for me, is when you have all the information and you do some wrong judgment. I mean, for me back then, I had no information… I was just learning and yeah, finding my way.”
The lesson here? It speaks to the importance of not being too hard on yourself when learning something new. Everyone has to start somewhere!
As the Themeisle team grew, they faced new challenges. After working on a lot of different projects, from SEO to Java and PHP, Ionut realized they needed to laser focus on something. And that something was WordPress development.
The timing proved perfect – soon after, they released Zerif, their first theme in the WordPress repository.
“When we released Zerif… we saw early signs of success. That was a pivotal moment because then we stopped worrying about money and could focus on how to grow the business.”
This financial stability allowed Ionut and his team to think strategically and make long-term investments. They began developing Themeisle’s blog, knowing it might take two years to see results. The focus shifted from immediate gains to building lasting value.
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen that this kind of patient, long-term thinking often separates successful WordPress businesses from those that struggle to gain traction.
By 2015, Themeisle had established itself as more than just another theme company. Instead, it was becoming a team dedicated to pushing WordPress innovation forward. Plus, the Themeisle blog started to earn a reputation as a valuable resource for WordPress tutorials, roundups, and more.
But transforming successful product launches into a thriving business required more than just good code. It also needed a solid business strategy.
🔍 Business Growth Strategies & Themisle Products
As Themeisle grew, Ionut realized that sustainable growth required more than just great products. He needed systematic approaches to running the business.
A significant milestone for the team came when Ionut started using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Our founder, Syed Balkhi, uses this model for all of his businesses, so we’re huge fans of it.
In our interview, Ionut even fondly recalled discussing EOS with Syed and how meaningful those conversations were.
After that, Ionut talked about the importance of learning how to manage while scaling. “It was another meaningful moment when we started to work with an implementer that actually showed me how I can have the team more involved and not me deciding and telling different things.”
Around this shift in management style, Themeisle also made major changes to its operations. It moved from gut-feel decision-making to data-driven strategies.
“Before that, it was a lot of guesswork. We knew like everything goes fine, we make more money than we spend, and it looks good. And that was basically all the knowledge that we had on the business.”
“Now we have quite detailed P&L (profit and loss) for the business, for the product. We understand very well where are our costs, where we invest, how that investment is working or not.”
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen how this systematic approach to business management can transform a WordPress company. It’s not just about creating great products—it’s about building sustainable processes that support long-term growth.
This strategic approach also helped Themeisle maintain focus on their core mission: creating value for users. They concentrated on understanding and solving real problems for their customers.
The result? They developed and launched some of the most popular WordPress themes and plugins today, including Neve, Hestia, and Optimole.
But building a successful WordPress business isn’t just about strategy and systems. Ionut also has some valuable advice for others looking to follow a similar path.
💡 Advice for Aspiring WordPress Entrepreneurs
When asked what advice he’d give aspiring WordPress entrepreneurs, Ionut emphasized the importance of genuine value creation over surface-level business tactics.
His own experience taught him that traditional approaches, such as polishing resumes or printing business cards, often matter less than solving real problems.
“You need to reflect and try to think what are your skills and adjust the people you work with, adjust the industry you go to, adjust your product to suit your skills,” he explained. This self-awareness, he believes, is crucial for long-term success.
“My advice would be to be persistent, to try to focus on creating value and things will compound in time.”
“The skills you gain, the people you meet, the clients you work with, the employees that grow with you – it all compounds over time,” he explained.
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen this compound effect in action. The most successful WordPress entrepreneurs aren’t usually those who chase quick wins, but those who focus on building value consistently over time.
When it comes to technology and tools, Ionut is particularly excited about AI’s potential. “I feel AI will bring monumental change to how we do things, how we live, and how we work,” he said.
His advice? “Just using it and trying to involve AI in everything that you do.”
He talked about how his team is experimenting with using AI tools like Cursor, but also about how every aspiring entrepreneur should focus on how to most effectively use AI.
“It’s more to build the mental models, right? So it’s not to kind of just see what’s the latest cool and trick and so on. I think just to rewire a little bit and to create mental models, because after a couple of weeks, for example, what I noticed is that I start to think differently.”
“So when I get into a problem, I would say, okay, for that problem, I would need to use this deep research. For that problem… I need to create the flow with agents and et cetera to handle it… for this problem, I would need to ask a reasoning AI… because they work differently and are helpful in different ways.”
“I would say that people are not spending enough time on this… this is the one thing I would be focusing on.”
💥 Related Article: Surprising AI Statistics – Everything You Need to Know
This focus on creating genuine value while embracing new technologies has served Themeisle well in the past. But what does the future hold for the company and its co-founder?
🔮 Looking Ahead: The Future of Themeisle
Rather than making grand predictions about the future, Ionut prefers to focus on the fundamentals that stay constant regardless of how technology evolves. “I have a hard time to think and to plan in terms of what’s the goal in five years,” he admitted.
Instead, he said he always concentrates on two key areas: maintaining strong relationships with existing customers and nurturing a capable team.
“We have those clients that are paying their yearly subscriptions. What I can do for them? How I can make sure they are happy?”
“Now and even in five years, whatever, it would be important to have smart people around you and to grow yourself and grow as well as a team. To be able to tackle any opportunities or challenges or markets.”
This approach of focusing on fundamentals while remaining adaptable has served Themeisle well. When Ionut spots something truly promising, he’s ready to invest fully. “When I spot something unusual, then I will go all in on that,” he explained.
His current focus is exploring how AI can enhance WordPress development and user experience. He sees it as a tool to deliver more value to users.
“I’m trying to use it for everything pretty much… trying to map it with real needs that people have or businesses have.”
As WordPress itself evolves, Themeisle’s commitment to both innovation and fundamentals positions them well for continued success. But for Ionut, success isn’t just about business metrics. It’s also about creating lasting value for the WordPress community.
💭 Final Thoughts
Ionut Neagu’s journey from a curious computer science graduate to co-founder of Themeisle offers valuable lessons for anyone looking to build a lasting WordPress business.
His story shows that success isn’t about following a predetermined path but staying true to core values while remaining adaptable.
What stands out most is his consistent focus on creating genuine value. From his early freelancing days to leading Themeisle today, Ionut says that business success follows naturally from helping others solve real problems.
We also appreciated how Ionut seems to strongly value the potential of each unique individual and how that should be embraced on any entrepreneurial journey.
“No entrepreneur is the same… all the stories are different… so I think in terms of skills, it’s a great opportunity to craft your own journey that suits your strengths.”
At WPBeginner, we’ve watched ThemeIsle grow from its early days to become a significant force in the WordPress community. Their success story reminds us that in WordPress, sustainable growth comes from combining technical excellence with a genuine desire to serve users.
Through economic challenges, technological changes, and evolving market demands, Ionut’s approach has remained consistent: focus on fundamentals, invest in people, and create real value.
💥 Bonus Guides and Resources
Looking to learn more about building a business around WordPress? Here are some helpful WPBeginner resources:
- WordPress Career Options – How to Make a Living With WordPress
- How Ben Rojas Rose From a Developer to the President of AIOSEO
- How Zac McDonald Grew Into the Top-Rated WordPress Freelancer on Upwork
- Blogger Turned WordPress VIP Partner: How WordPress Continues to Inspire Rahul Bansal
- The Future of WordPress: What to Expect (Our Predictions)
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The post From Freelancer to Founder: Ionut Neagu’s Journey to Building a Successful WordPress Business first appeared on WPBeginner.
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