We have many sayings, or themes, that we’ve taken from other successful teams. These axioms guide how we approach each day here at Apex Trading.
First is, “We don’t want our clients to love us; we want them to love us emphatically.” This is a whole other level of love. To achieve it, the entire customer journey must be exceptional. In terms of product, this means truly listening to our clients and developing the features and tools they expect from us today, while also foreseeing the challenges they’ll face in the future and building toward what’s missing.
Second is, “Focus is as much about what you aren’t doing as what you are.” This can be challenging to remain true to. Oftentimes, startups and even more mature technology companies are under immense pressure from shareholders (venture capital specifically) to chase and unlock new TAM (total addressable market) to increase revenue and produce larger returns. And now, with the emergence of AI, one could argue that companies feel empowered to venture into new products or markets because of what they perceive as a relatively lower barrier to entry. However, we wholeheartedly believe that our success is based on being a “master of one,” in this case, wholesale, and not an “all-in-one master of none.”
There are several reasons we’ve been able to maintain these philosophies.
First, Apex Trading is a profitable business and has been for several years. This isn’t intended to boast or brag, but it does allow us to remain solely focused on our mission from day one: to provide the most robust wholesale platform, with every feature and tool the market needs, at the most affordable price. Our competitors, who are not profitable, are under constant pressure to chase the next shiny object as a way to stabilize their business and ensure future growth. Examples include LeafLink’s move into banking, financing, and logistics, and the several ERPs that recently decided to develop e-commerce and marketplaces. Many of these competitors have also raised substantial capital, which creates another layer of pressure to chase new revenue.
Second, the original founders of Apex Trading still lead and oversee all day-to-day operations. This means our culture and execution are still guided by the same people as on day one. They are fully committed to this industry and, over our nine years, have ridden the ebbs and flows of the industry alongside operators. There isn’t a scenario where a client can’t meet with one of our founders, and clients often interact with the founders daily, whether they know it or not. For example, Willy Wheeler oversees all client tech support and provides live chat assistance to users every day. In addition, our CEO, John Manlove, reviews every single client ticket to ensure our engineering team is working on the most important client needs while also developing new features and tools to the right specifications.
Here’s why, directly from John:
Why I Read Every Ticket and Manage the Development Queue
“First, I love product. There’s nothing more fulfilling than building tools that actually solve a client’s problem and make their day easier. In cannabis, we’re constantly pushing the edges of what’s technically possible, and being hands-on with the product lets me build for today while shaping where we’re headed.
Reading every ticket is a big part of that. I know most SaaS companies and, honestly, every ancillary company I can think of in this space, can’t say their founder sees every submission that comes through. But it keeps me grounded. It keeps me accountable to the people actually using what we build. And after 12+ years in this industry, it’s how I gauge what truly matters right now versus what’s noise, so we’re prioritizing the right things instead of the loudest things. It also forces me to keep learning every single day.
The clearest example is Planet 13 (see their testimonial here). When P13 joined Apex, they came in with real complexity: a big operation, a layered org structure, and very specific needs. Instead of guessing, I sat down with their department owners, mapped every requirement, got sign-off, and slotted each item into our queue by real priority. What came out the other side was a full Sage Intacct accounting integration that met their SOC requirements. On an ongoing basis, we hold a standing monthly meeting where we review their open needs, train their team on new tools, and make sure they’re fully supported. That relationship exists because I was close enough to the work to see what they needed and built it right.
We continue to invest in internal systems that, even at scale, keep me and the rest of the product team on the pulse of our client base, so at any given time we know exactly what will be most impactful for them. That’s what being a master of one looks like in practice: staying close enough to our clients that we never have to guess.”
Whether it’s John, Willy, or any member of the Apex Team, this is how we operate every day. If you’re interested in learning more about how the Apex Team can support your company with the tools you need to thrive, we encourage you to sign up for a quick demo below.