PickTrace is proud to be a team of diverse backgrounds, skill sets, and interests. Each week we highlight members of our team to learn about what makes them, and PickTrace, unique.
Read on to learn more about PickTrace CEO Joel Zemer
RAPID FIRE:
- Grew up in: Santa Barbara, CA
- Currently in: Still Santa Barbara, CA
- Star Sign: Cancer
- What was your favorite band when you were a teenager?: Classic Rock always. 99.9 is the radio station I’ve listened to my whole life with my dad. Every Saturday was the ‘Breakfast with Bob Marley’ block from 7am to noon. We’d listen and make breakfast to it every Saturday.
- If you could go to the Olympics for any sport, what would it be?: I think what’s special about the Olympics is the team unity and I’d like to be part of a team that competes – so a swimming relay would be really special.
- What is the most used app on your phone? Normally it would be a tide chart that I check every single day, but our dog is going through a training program and he has a ‘doggie fitbit collar’ and part of his training routine is that he has to hit a certain amount of physical activity every day, so I’m constantly checking that app to see where he’s at.
DIGGING DEEPER
Prior to being PickTrace’s CEO, you were our VP of Sales – what how did you get into sales initially?
- I got into sales through my grandfather who ran sales for a couple large multinational corporations. In his era that required a lot of travel, he would talk to me about his business trips and that got me interested in sales.
- Right out of college one of my best friends’ fathers got me my first sales job out of school and continued to mentor me for a number of years – that helped me grow from an account executive to pursuing sales leadership
How does your sales background influence your approach to business overall?
- Going from sales leader to running a business was a transition I don’t think I was fully prepared for because of my lack of knowledge of the R&D space – I had partnered with them before, but I didn’t have the deep knowledge of how high functioning R&D orgs operate and how to scale them. That was my biggest challenge as a leader and why I pushed so hard to bring in a high caliber CTO in Damon Valenzona to help cover that blind spot
- The background of sales that’s suited me well is my comfort in getting in front of customers, supporting our sales org, shaping a buyer persona, the value props we bring to the market – I think this background has allowed us to grow an efficient sales org that can support the kind of growth we’ve had with a lean team.
What do you find most exciting about serving the Agriculture industry?
- I think it’s rare in today’s world that vendors truly are looked at as partners and when someone is evaluating a new vendor that they really want to understand what that individual and company looks like and feels like to work with. Much of sales has moved to a transactional process and that’s not the case in Ag
- We go onsite with almost every new customer, getting to know them as people and as a business. This means our sales cycle lengths can be a bit longer, but that plays into the high retention that we see because customers see a partnership there rather than feeling like we’re just a software provider. It brings much more value to the work that we do everyday.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
- That I am an avid traveler. I’ve been fortunate to travel pretty extensively and have visited over 50 countries around the world.
- Before joining PickTrace, my wife Maddie and I spent a whole year going around the world
What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled, and what’s at the top of your bucket list?
- I’m a sucker for remote island locations and remote destinations in general.
- The top couple trips that come to mind would be an island 1000 miles off the coast of Australia called Lord Howe Island – that’s a special place to my family. Quantas flies one flight a week so once you’re out there you’re truly out there and there’s only 20 or 30 other people on there at a time
- The Komodo islands are a super memorable place. Maddie, and I chartered a fishing boat and spent a week diving some of the most untouched reefs in the world.
- Before it closed down, Myanmar was one of the coolest land adventures I’ve been on. Bagan is one of the most impressive ruin networks I’ve ever explored in my life. There aren’t paths, it’s not guarded, you’re just climbing through these temples with unrestricted access.
- I also love East Africa – the first time I went, I was immediately fascinated by the culture, the people, the vast land where you can be in a Jeep for 14 hours and not see another car – you’re coming across the most incredible landscape and crazy animal encounters.
- Next up is Japan!
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
- It’s changed, before having our son, Bennett, I spent a lot of time diving, surfing, playing golf and hiking
- Post-Bennet it’s a lot of time with him, whether it’s at the zoo, the sea center, or the beach. Definitely a lot less time diving and golfing
If you were a kind of produce, what would you be and why?
- Coconut – I’m a sucker for tropical islands and as a coconut you get to hang out on a tropical beach every day.
