Nir Zohar on His Evolution from Wix Coffee Maker to COO, Why the Wix Management Team Has Offsites in the Water, the Super Bowl Ad that Changed Everything and Why Wix Bought Base44–”One Guy”–for $80 Million
Description
On this episode of Invested, Michael sits down with Nir Zohar, President and former COO of Wix.com, who helped transform the company from a scrappy Tel Aviv startup into a global platform serving hundreds of millions. A former naval officer and Chief Engineer on a missile boat, Nir reflects on how military discipline and his years leading the Israeli Scouts shaped his philosophy that management is service, not status. He recounts pivotal moments in Wix’s journey—from the risky Super Bowl campaign to the bet-the-company decision to rebuild on HTML5—and the creation of Wix’s “companies and guilds” structure to empower teams at scale. Nir also discusses leading through crises, from evacuating hundreds of Ukrainian employees during the war to navigating Israel’s upheavals, and why he believes resilience, empowerment, and values-driven leadership are the keys to building enduring companies.
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KEY TOPICS
00:00 – Intro
02:17 – Wix’s $10M Super Bowl Gamble
08:52 – Reinventing Retired NFL Legends
13:28 – Being in the Navy Taught Nir to Run a Startup
16:02 – Business Lessons from the Scouts
18:55 – Why Management Should be Service, Not Status
21:43 – Wix Strategy Offsites in the Water
27:25 – Why Wix Employees Bought Their Own Chairs
30:38 – Betting Wix on HTML5
39:41 – The Breakfast That Sparked Wix's IPO
46:18 – How Wix's Leadership Team Stayed Together for 18 Years
50:24 – Why Going Public Gave Wix More Control, Not Less
53:08 – Hiring a Chief Politeness Officer to Say "No"
55:57 – The $80M Bet on Base44 and Vibe Coding
01:02:31 – Cutting Off Russia While Protecting Small Businesses
01:03:33 – Chartering Planes and Building a Kibbutz in Krakow
01:12:22 – How to Lead a Company Through War
01:18:47 – Why Wix Runs on "Companies and Guilds"
01:25:10 – AI Inside Wix: Productivity, Process, and Team Flow
01:26:14 – Why Nir Is Bullish on Small Business in the AI Era
RESOURCES
Follow Nir on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirzo
Follow Nir on X - https://x.com/nirzo
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CREDITS
Executive Producer: Erica Marom
Producer: Myron Shneider
Video and Editing: Ron Baranov
Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar
Content and Editorial: Kira Goldring
Design: Rony Karadi
United States
