Three Months as CEO and What I Got Wrong About Being a Good Customer

When I accepted the CEO role at 3 Tree Tech three months ago, I thought I understood the vendor side of technology partnerships. I’d been partnering with vendors for over a decade, and I'd been 3 Tree Tech’s customer for over five years. I'd seen how partnering was traditionally done, and then I saw how 3 Tree Tech operated differently. I felt I knew the pain points on both the customer and vendor sides.

At the Portland Summit, 3 Tree Tech hosted its own “tribal council.” Tim Schocke, Product Manager at Lowe’s, Stacy Sherman, Founder of Doing CX Right®, and Eric Skeens, Co-founder and CTO of 3 Tree Tech sat down to debate. In true Survivor fashion, the question was not who has the best tools. It was who can outwit, outplay, and outlast the speed of disruption.

A friend in business retorted to me, “I’ve never known anyone to actively demote themselves and bring in their replacement while smiling.” Cyber security leaders think in terms of impact. They don’t ask “Is this cool?” — they ask “If this fails, what breaks for customers and the business?” That mindset promotes growth while reducing friction in business.

Stacy Sherman, founder of Doing CX Right, took the stage at the Portland Summit to deliver a powerful message for technology leaders: IT and security are not just support functions. When leaders break silos, align goals, and strengthen connection across teams, they turn technology into a true competitive advantage.