Listen "Scaling One of South Africa's Biggest E-Commerce Exits - Justin Drennan, Parcelninja"
Episode Synopsis
Logistics is often the least exciting aspect of e-commerce. That’s where Parcel Ninja comes in, taking care of all the logistical hassles for e-commerce businesses.
By providing top-notch logistics services, Parcel Ninja empowers small to medium-sized e-commerce players to have the same logistics capability as the largest players in South Africa.
In today’s episode, we dive deep into the success story of Parcel Ninja with co-founder and former CEO Justin Drennan.
We begin by discussing the autonomy and freedom Justin enjoys post-exit and what that means for entrepreneurs. He shares insights on how Parcel Ninja tackled its own challenges, what product-market fit looked like for them, and the strategies they used to build a strong team and scale internationally.
We also explore the significance of entrepreneur communities, the complexities of international expansion, and the process of integrating with large corporates.
Expect to learn about the essential mindsets and skills that every entrepreneur needs, including the importance of building a solid network, the value of giving before taking, and ensuring you have a robust support system to combat loneliness, imposter syndrome, and self-doubt.
This episode is packed with invaluable insights and offers something for entrepreneurs at any stage of their business journey.
----
This episode is brought to you by Metavolve.
Metavolve turns highly capable African founders into confident business leaders by helping them develop clear and comprehensive business strategies that make building a great sustainable business less complex. Reach out to our team to learn more: https://metavolve.co/
----
As we gear up for Season 5, we want to make sure each episode is as valuable as possible for you. Your feedback is key, so we’ve put together a quick survey to hear what you think.
So if you'd like to help make The Founder Files even better, please take 5 minutes to fill out this survey: https://tally.so/r/wgZ2d4
----
To support The Founder Files:
🔔 Follow The Founder Files EVERYWHERE
⭐ Leave a review right here
💭 Share your thoughts on Linkedin and tag Cameron Coutts
----
00:00 Introduction
03:27 Entrepreneurs and ADHD
05:11 What does Parcelninja do?
22:47 What is post-exit life like for Justin?
25:41 How to hand over strategic knowledge when exiting
37:50 The benefits of entrepreneur communities
39:31 The scale of Parcelninja
46:15 Challenges of geographical expansion
50:35 Building a strong team to scale
53:03 Complexities of integrating with a corporate
58:31 Expanding to Brazil
01:12:47 What does product-market fit actually look like?
01:18:07 How to build a powerful network
01:27:28 Building vs scaling mentality
01:39:21 What the next 6 - 12 months look like for Justin
01:41:20 Entrepreneurship's impact on family
By providing top-notch logistics services, Parcel Ninja empowers small to medium-sized e-commerce players to have the same logistics capability as the largest players in South Africa.
In today’s episode, we dive deep into the success story of Parcel Ninja with co-founder and former CEO Justin Drennan.
We begin by discussing the autonomy and freedom Justin enjoys post-exit and what that means for entrepreneurs. He shares insights on how Parcel Ninja tackled its own challenges, what product-market fit looked like for them, and the strategies they used to build a strong team and scale internationally.
We also explore the significance of entrepreneur communities, the complexities of international expansion, and the process of integrating with large corporates.
Expect to learn about the essential mindsets and skills that every entrepreneur needs, including the importance of building a solid network, the value of giving before taking, and ensuring you have a robust support system to combat loneliness, imposter syndrome, and self-doubt.
This episode is packed with invaluable insights and offers something for entrepreneurs at any stage of their business journey.
----
This episode is brought to you by Metavolve.
Metavolve turns highly capable African founders into confident business leaders by helping them develop clear and comprehensive business strategies that make building a great sustainable business less complex. Reach out to our team to learn more: https://metavolve.co/
----
As we gear up for Season 5, we want to make sure each episode is as valuable as possible for you. Your feedback is key, so we’ve put together a quick survey to hear what you think.
So if you'd like to help make The Founder Files even better, please take 5 minutes to fill out this survey: https://tally.so/r/wgZ2d4
----
To support The Founder Files:
🔔 Follow The Founder Files EVERYWHERE
⭐ Leave a review right here
💭 Share your thoughts on Linkedin and tag Cameron Coutts
----
00:00 Introduction
03:27 Entrepreneurs and ADHD
05:11 What does Parcelninja do?
22:47 What is post-exit life like for Justin?
25:41 How to hand over strategic knowledge when exiting
37:50 The benefits of entrepreneur communities
39:31 The scale of Parcelninja
46:15 Challenges of geographical expansion
50:35 Building a strong team to scale
53:03 Complexities of integrating with a corporate
58:31 Expanding to Brazil
01:12:47 What does product-market fit actually look like?
01:18:07 How to build a powerful network
01:27:28 Building vs scaling mentality
01:39:21 What the next 6 - 12 months look like for Justin
01:41:20 Entrepreneurship's impact on family
More episodes of the podcast The Founder Files
From South Africa to the World: How AURA Is Revolutionizing Emergency Response - Ryan Green, AURA
13/10/2025
How Humanity SA Built a 7-Figure Business with Zero Experience - Shaun Raaff, Humanity SA
06/10/2025
Life After the Exit: Rebuilding, Reflecting, and Investing Smarter - Ariel Navarro, OneCart
29/09/2025
Powering Africa: How Open Access Is Scaling Clean Energy, James Irons - Open Access Energy
22/09/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.