A Farewell with Gratitude: Reflecting on 4 Years of Growth in the Cannabis Sector

Series B, Series C, COVID, and beyond: last Wednesday was my final day at Treez, and I can’t help but reflect on the unforgettable journey and the type of people it takes to succeed in a turbulent industry.

• Every company has people who inspire, motivate, teach, & define camaraderie. They’re the people you speak to endlessly about life, relationships, leadership, and figuring out how to make the startup engine work. Find those people and make a real connection; they’ll show you what it takes to thrive in this industry.? Joey Sterling John Arbour - Thank you for the spark.??
• Have a client willing to spend hours teaching you how they think about their business? Listen carefully. How they think informs you on positioning, onboarding, marketing, retaining, supporting, and building a product. Tyler Licata , Mike & Rob Read . Thank you for your patience, knowledge, and extensive guidance over the years.?
• When visionary meets domain mastery, grab a notebook, and find time to ask them hundreds of questions. I believe Shareef El-Sissi and John Yang are the foremost domain experts in cannabis, and I can’t thank them enough for the time they’ve spent helping/teaching me the ropes.?
• People who push the boundaries of work/life balance for you and the customer’s sake. Early morning to early morning, you’ll find these people by your side, fixing, solving, and completing projects. They’ve been by your side for years, responsive to your texts, ready to help, and have a relentless work ethic; these people make you feel like you’re part of something special. Hope L. , Jamie Stevenson Hailey Matos , Edmund Ewell , Valerie Simpson , Zak Kronick , Bianca Jayanty , Will Kattenburg , David Yan , Brian Tran , Nate Fortunato .
• When you start at a company, introduce yourself and connect with people in every department. You will grow immensely and soon find that these people build the bridges necessary to enact change across an organization.? John Ucciferri , Emily Miller , Josh Lamb , Graham Arnold , Richard Thorne , Wayne Lee , Jeffrey Cheung , Elizabeth Poole , Nick Kane , Scot Shields , Scott Thacher , Aman Mahal , Ameya Pethe .
• Keep an eye on the people who want to niche down, specialize, and epitomize integrity in their role. They're not only reliable & consistent, they also give you the stability you need to build an innovative future. Brian Perlmutter , Umar Muqtadir , Amanda Ahedo , Nick M, Alexandra Conklin , Jessa P. , Zachary Speltz , Adrienne Jones , Matthew Rogers - Thank you for being a rock when we needed you most.?
• There’s no formula to find them, but when you do, you know it. They develop and challenge themselves daily, they fix processes without prompting, they lead communications when you’re busy, they’re the first to cover or lead people through difficult tasks, and they ultimately manage themselves. Do everything you can to keep and enable these people. Naresh C. , Joel Hill , Chase Jepson , - You made my job easier; Treez is lucky to have you.?
• Mentors. If you simultaneously find yourself energized and humbled in a conversation, it’s a sign. If you find yourself erasing your work only to rebuild from scratch to be much more concise and clear, it’s a sign. I’m grateful for your help, clarity, friendship, and camaraderie Suresh Khanna .?

TLDR: Surround yourself with incredible people and the rest will fall into place.

Thank you, Treez Inc. To the moon.