A hunger for success
Creating out of a desire to be an entrepreneur
Armin Wieland is a seasoned digital marketer at V5 Digital, a business he founded with the goal of living his dream of becoming an entrepreneur – the road has not always been simple, but it has been worth it.
Armin Wieland is a seasoned digital marketer with a track record of success across multiple industries.
He is enthralled by the disruptive prospects of digital transformation and the customer-centric possibilities of marketing automation.
Armin holds a bachelor's degree in technology in business informatics from Cape Peninsula University of Technology as well as an MBA from Stellenbosch Business School. He is the chairman of the board of Intrahealth Namibia and a board member of the Commercial Advancement Training Scheme (CATS).
He is especially proud of the expanding number of customer trailblazers who rely on V5 Digital's services and skills.
About V5 Digital
V5 Digital is a digital marketing agency situated in Windhoek.
It serves customers from all over the world, from bioenergy start-ups to blue-chip financial services clients. Salesforce, SharpSpring, and Rocketseed are the company's global customer success leaders.
V5 Digital assists its customers transform to the power of digital by building and implementing dynamic digital marketing strategies that drive customer success.
They help their customers and clients reach consumers by delivering digital marketing strategies and tech solutions.
A trip down memory lane
During the summers, Armin and his siblings would help his parents on their farm. This proved to be a great learning experience, teaching him at a young age how to think independently, work hard, and be rewarded for his efforts.
Armin developed a drive for entrepreneurship during his high school years at the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek (DHPS). After graduating from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), he began his post-graduate career as a SAP support engineer and later as a SAP consultant at Agilent Technologies' European Headquarters in Böblingen, near Stuttgart in Germany.
He returned to Namibia in 2004, where he joined the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group of Companies, serving in various roles such as SAP consultant, IT project manager, group digital marketing manager, and lead of digital transformation at Dimension Data, Namibia Breweries, and the O&L Centre of Excellence. Armin emphasises his appreciation for his profession and says entrepreneurial freedom is priceless.
"I always knew I would be a full-time entrepreneur. Nothing could extinguish that passion," Armin says.
After graduating with an MBA, he first waited to take the entrepreneurial leap.
Challenges and accomplishments
He acknowledges that he initially expected success and growth to come much faster.
Armin says it's important to remember that the Namibian market is small and still digitally immature. They are now almost five years old, and their momentum is slowly but surely starting to accelerate exponentially.
"There are so many moments to be proud of. Firstly, there is the opportunity and privilege to work with some pretty amazing digital customer trailblazers – our clients," said Wieland.
"Second, there is V5 Digital's knowledgeable and dedicated team, who consistently meet and strive to surpass our clients' expectations."
The next step is the formation of Algorithm Labs, V5 Digital's innovation and ideation hub. Together with their collaborators and clients, they produce extraordinary solutions that are frequently first to market. They use The Lean Startup Method to rapidly test and learn in order to consistently produce customer solutions that solve real business problems.
Noteworthy solutions and initiatives that were born out of Algorithm Labs include:
• The LinkIn Bio solution, where we turn followers into customers: https://www.linkin-bio.digital
• The WhatsApp for enterprise solutions that allows our customers to interact at scale: https://www.v5.digital/whatsapp
• The V5 Africa Webinar Series that uses data and digital to connect Namibia to Africa, and Africa to the world: https://www.v5.digital/africa
• Our My2Cents Digital Newsletter – the perfect coffee-break read: https://www.v5.digital/my2cents
Future
"We would love to grow our young team and our customer base. One aim is to leverage our partnerships with global customer success leaders Salesforce, SharpSpring, and Rocketseed. For example, we are currently recruiting customer success officer(s) in digital marketing, Salesforce interns, and Salesforce certified consultants," he says.
They strive to support enterprises not only in Namibia but across Africa with the successful adoption of the Salesforce ecosystem.
If this interests you, watch the V5 Digital Recruitment video to join the digitally passionate team at V5 Digital: https://www.v5.digital/careers
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to make certain that they are truly passionate about the type of business they establish.
"Don't do it for the money; the money will come later. Expect no revenue in the first six months and no profit in the first twelve months."
A day in his life
"We do not operate from a typical office and, thus, don’t have a typical day. Our team consists of digital nomads who are enabled and empowered to create success from anywhere," Armin explains.
He usually spends the early morning hours planning for the day, re-planning for the week and month if necessary, and updating their Trello Boards and team communication. He then spends time with specific team members or the entire team, depending on where he is most needed and has the greatest impact.
He also spends time with existing or new clients depending on the day and situation.
Finally, he makes time for self-development, learning, and invention, as well as exchanges with collaboration partners.
Wielands' interests include farming, training his German Shepherd Gulivier, and travelling.
Five things to know about Armin:
1. I am married to my amazing wife Gyöngyi who is originally from Hungary. She has the most beautiful blue eyes.
2. I am proud of my Swabian ancestry.
3. I farm with Dorper sheep in the Kalahari.
4. I used to invest in buy-to-let property.
5. I love my puppy: You can follow him on instagram.com/gulivier_the_german_shepherd.
He is enthralled by the disruptive prospects of digital transformation and the customer-centric possibilities of marketing automation.
Armin holds a bachelor's degree in technology in business informatics from Cape Peninsula University of Technology as well as an MBA from Stellenbosch Business School. He is the chairman of the board of Intrahealth Namibia and a board member of the Commercial Advancement Training Scheme (CATS).
He is especially proud of the expanding number of customer trailblazers who rely on V5 Digital's services and skills.
About V5 Digital
V5 Digital is a digital marketing agency situated in Windhoek.
It serves customers from all over the world, from bioenergy start-ups to blue-chip financial services clients. Salesforce, SharpSpring, and Rocketseed are the company's global customer success leaders.
V5 Digital assists its customers transform to the power of digital by building and implementing dynamic digital marketing strategies that drive customer success.
They help their customers and clients reach consumers by delivering digital marketing strategies and tech solutions.
A trip down memory lane
During the summers, Armin and his siblings would help his parents on their farm. This proved to be a great learning experience, teaching him at a young age how to think independently, work hard, and be rewarded for his efforts.
Armin developed a drive for entrepreneurship during his high school years at the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek (DHPS). After graduating from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), he began his post-graduate career as a SAP support engineer and later as a SAP consultant at Agilent Technologies' European Headquarters in Böblingen, near Stuttgart in Germany.
He returned to Namibia in 2004, where he joined the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group of Companies, serving in various roles such as SAP consultant, IT project manager, group digital marketing manager, and lead of digital transformation at Dimension Data, Namibia Breweries, and the O&L Centre of Excellence. Armin emphasises his appreciation for his profession and says entrepreneurial freedom is priceless.
"I always knew I would be a full-time entrepreneur. Nothing could extinguish that passion," Armin says.
After graduating with an MBA, he first waited to take the entrepreneurial leap.
Challenges and accomplishments
He acknowledges that he initially expected success and growth to come much faster.
Armin says it's important to remember that the Namibian market is small and still digitally immature. They are now almost five years old, and their momentum is slowly but surely starting to accelerate exponentially.
"There are so many moments to be proud of. Firstly, there is the opportunity and privilege to work with some pretty amazing digital customer trailblazers – our clients," said Wieland.
"Second, there is V5 Digital's knowledgeable and dedicated team, who consistently meet and strive to surpass our clients' expectations."
The next step is the formation of Algorithm Labs, V5 Digital's innovation and ideation hub. Together with their collaborators and clients, they produce extraordinary solutions that are frequently first to market. They use The Lean Startup Method to rapidly test and learn in order to consistently produce customer solutions that solve real business problems.
Noteworthy solutions and initiatives that were born out of Algorithm Labs include:
• The LinkIn Bio solution, where we turn followers into customers: https://www.linkin-bio.digital
• The WhatsApp for enterprise solutions that allows our customers to interact at scale: https://www.v5.digital/whatsapp
• The V5 Africa Webinar Series that uses data and digital to connect Namibia to Africa, and Africa to the world: https://www.v5.digital/africa
• Our My2Cents Digital Newsletter – the perfect coffee-break read: https://www.v5.digital/my2cents
Future
"We would love to grow our young team and our customer base. One aim is to leverage our partnerships with global customer success leaders Salesforce, SharpSpring, and Rocketseed. For example, we are currently recruiting customer success officer(s) in digital marketing, Salesforce interns, and Salesforce certified consultants," he says.
They strive to support enterprises not only in Namibia but across Africa with the successful adoption of the Salesforce ecosystem.
If this interests you, watch the V5 Digital Recruitment video to join the digitally passionate team at V5 Digital: https://www.v5.digital/careers
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to make certain that they are truly passionate about the type of business they establish.
"Don't do it for the money; the money will come later. Expect no revenue in the first six months and no profit in the first twelve months."
A day in his life
"We do not operate from a typical office and, thus, don’t have a typical day. Our team consists of digital nomads who are enabled and empowered to create success from anywhere," Armin explains.
He usually spends the early morning hours planning for the day, re-planning for the week and month if necessary, and updating their Trello Boards and team communication. He then spends time with specific team members or the entire team, depending on where he is most needed and has the greatest impact.
He also spends time with existing or new clients depending on the day and situation.
Finally, he makes time for self-development, learning, and invention, as well as exchanges with collaboration partners.
Wielands' interests include farming, training his German Shepherd Gulivier, and travelling.
Five things to know about Armin:
1. I am married to my amazing wife Gyöngyi who is originally from Hungary. She has the most beautiful blue eyes.
2. I am proud of my Swabian ancestry.
3. I farm with Dorper sheep in the Kalahari.
4. I used to invest in buy-to-let property.
5. I love my puppy: You can follow him on instagram.com/gulivier_the_german_shepherd.
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