synkd | raise the bar
ADVICE FROM THE PROS —ON TECHNOLOGY AND BETTER PRACTICES—
Marie Ambusk
Greyson Walldorff
CEO & Founder at TreesROI™, Urban Tree Steward Advocate and Researcher Hinesburg, VT
Founder & CEO of Lawn Capital and President of Grey Development Atlanta, GA
My tech startup is one of those aiming to adopt a new, improved, and innovative approach to growing Urban Trees to maturity—the trees where we live. Change is difficult. We accept the challenge, but we cannot do this alone! It’s one thing to develop a concept into a new tool for noninvasive inspection and grading of tree root quality; it’s another to find industry partners to help us implement the innovation. It’s not just about learning who cares, it’s about finding the right partners to help us.
32 SYNKD Fall 2025
The barrier to entry in our industry is only getting higher, and that means business owners have to move quickly when it comes to adopting new practices or technology. In five years, it will be far more capital intensive to start or to catch up, so waiting is the real risk. If something makes sense for your business, you have to act on it. The biggest companies in the world allocate a portion of their budget to research and development because they know innovation drives longterm success. If you don’t treat your business that way, you’re going to fall behind. There’s a much larger cost in not trying new things than in experimenting and learning. Our industry can feel like a train that never stops—you can’t just pause operations to rethink everything—but you can discipline yourself to adopt what makes sense along the way. For me, that meant investing in electric equipment and vehicles. It was a logical step forward, a ‘no-brainer’ for the direction we’re headed. The reality is that many people in landscaping are risk-averse, but my advice is simple: Don’t let fear stop you. If an opportunity feels right and aligns with your long-term goals, do it. Hesitation is often more dangerous than taking the leap.
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