Best company in the world, CEO needs serious work - Corporate Thought Leadership Director Trellis Group Employee Review

5.0
Jul 3, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Best company ive ever worked for, the most amazing team, a category leader in the sustainability industry. What a joyous place to work, and colleagues to be surrounded by. Ask anyone working in sustainability and GreenBiz is an instantly recognizable, household name/brand with serious affectionate resonance with the worlds most powerful sustainability leaders. The uncontested leader in the media and events space for the sustainability industry. Go to one GreenBiz event and you immediately see that the most powerful/influential practitioners/executives in sustainability are there...year after year. From the most exciting startups, top NGO's, to the largest fortune 500's in the world, they are all there. Pretty freaking cool!

Cons

Leadership (but really just the CEO, who has a stranglehold on company strategy and direction) really needs to appreciate that this isn't a company that can scale (and exit) like some other tech company. GreenBiz was successful when its growth was organic, deserved, justified, well thought out, slow and intentional. The current CEO thinks that the classic hockey stick of growth applies to an event company, but it's just not the case. Greenbiz's greatest asset is it is the premier event platform for the world's top sustainability professionals, a leading editorial/website outfit addressing this industry, and a unique executive network. These platform's success is contingent upon them being intimate, small, super senior level, and not open to the masses....or some SAAS platform that can be scaled into oblivion. The CEO's growth strategy is antithetical to what makes their brand so cherished, sought after. They are simply incongruent with one another. GreenBiz isn't meant for an exit, acquisition, and payout to the owners/leadership team. I know it sucks to hear, but those who pay attention know this is the case. It's irrefutable. The CEO is a great human/individual, but he needs to learn how to listen/react to clear market signals and feedback from his team, the Greeniz community, etc. He is incapable of listening, narcissistic, poorly equipped for the job, doesn't actually engage with our community, incapable of being challenged, and incapable of leading effectively. The greatest threat to GreenBiz's success is the CEO...hard stop. He isn't a lost cause, but if he doesn't wake up and smell the coffee, i worry for us all. The GreenBiz team is one of the most capable, inspiring, hard-working, groups in the land. It pains me to say this all, but it simply needs to be said because we all love and beleive in GB. Despite not working there anymore, it was a career highlight for me!

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Trellis Group Response
1y
This is Joel Makower, Chairman and Co-founder of GreenBiz Group. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback about your experience at GreenBiz. I’m happy to hear that you found your time at GreenBiz a career highlight and a joyous place to work. I agree that we have an amazing team! While I appreciate your feedback regarding our CEO, strategy and approach, I feel it important to respond. First and foremost, we are a for-profit organization. We intentionally became so to demonstrate that advocating for sustainable business can be profitable, not an activity reserved solely for nonprofit organizations. We work with the world's largest companies that are part of the capitalist system and believe that working within this system best positions us to drive positive change and impact. Like most of those companies, we have investors and other stakeholders that expect us to be a profitable, self-sustaining and growing enterprise, and we are fully committed to being so. Moreover, we take extreme pride in the fact that every one of our employees is also a shareholder with a financial stake in our success. We feel an obligation to steward their financial future, too. Today, sustainable business is at a crossroads. There are powerful forces working against companies' efforts to address the climate crisis. Our desire to scale our company's impact, beyond whatever financial rewards that may result, is aimed at countering those forces and pushing industry forward. We show up every day excited to meet that challenge. As co-founder and chair of the board, I can assure you that both I and the rest of the board have deep confidence in our CEO, who is, indeed, deeply rooted in the communities we serve. He and the awesome team he leads are responsible for our success to date, and we fully support his vision to take our company to new and ever-greater levels of impact.

Explore other reviews about Trellis Group

5.0
Jul 23, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

*Best in class coworkers: Passionate, smart, mission-driven. I've never had better! *Gained experience in behind-the-scenes strategy, people-management and onstage/audience-facing engagement *Landscape view of the field with potential to impact its direction *High credibility in the space *Felt ample room to learn and investment in my growth

Cons

*Small org has frequent need to be scrappy *Burnout potential given peak season/cyclical work patterns *Boom and bust event business encourages uneven company growth *Leadership styles and shifts in strategy can be challenging to navigate

2
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Trellis Group Response
1y
Hi there, This is Nick from the People & Culture team. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I absolutely agree about the best-in-class coworkers. So happy to hear that you gained valuable experience with room for learning and development—that is our ultimate goal for anyone at Trellis Group. I also appreciate your honest input on the challenges that come with working in a smaller organization, especially one that has a unique nature in media & events. We recognize the potential for burnout during peak times and are continuously looking for ways to support our team during these periods. Finding the right balance for our team in an ever-changing landscape is a priority, and your feedback reinforces the importance of this focus. Thank you again for your thoughtful insights—they help us grow and improve!
4.0
Sep 24, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People, work-life balance and remote work

Cons

Has gone through tough financial times with many rounds of layoffs

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