In July, we announced that our former VP of Finance, Jason Lee, was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. Since joining Faire in early 2023, Jason has led some of our most challenging financial and operational work. In his role as CFO, he’ll oversee all finance operations, including corporate and strategic finance, investor relations, accounting, tax and finance systems and data. He will also play a key role in shaping Faire’s strategy and investment allocation to ensure we can serve our incredible customer community for the long-term.

Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia Jason grew up around retail. His parents founded T&T¹, now the largest Asian grocery business in Canada. This early exposure to entrepreneurship sparked his passion for business. He’s since followed that passion by seeking out opportunities that empower small business owners to succeed.

Jason’s career so far has included roles at some of the world’s top financial organizations – including TPG Capital, and Morgan Stanley. Most recently, Jason spent over a decade leading finance and strategy at Square (now Block). He played a key role in leading Square’s IPO and overseeing investor relations as a public company, helping to grow its market cap from $2 billion to over $40 billion. Additionally, he built the company’s first Corporate Development team and played a leading role in the acquisitions of Caviar, Weebly, and Afterpay. 

Jason has already made an incredible impact on Faire through his commitment to our mission and the wealth of knowledge he brings to the business. 

Read on to get to know more about Jason.

What are you most proud of during your time at Faire?

I’m proud of the resilience of our customers over the past year. The macroeconomic environment hasn’t been easy, but our brands and retailers have continued to compete and grow, and our team has remained committed to their success. It’s a testament to our mission.

On the finance team specifically, we’ve evolved and improved how we operate the business. We added rigor to how we plan and forecast, and sharpened how we make investment decisions that will have a positive impact on our customers. We’ve also built up our finance team in meaningful ways – we created corporate finance and finance systems and data teams, and optimized the org design of our strategic finance team. I’m proud of the talent we’ve been fortunate enough to hire. To me, it’s reflective of the opportunity in front of us and the team around us.  

What advice would you give yourself 10 years ago?

I don’t remember where I got this advice but it really stuck with me – “Be a business person first”. That always encouraged me to operate as a strategic thought partner with a financial toolkit to solve problems. I still love spending time in the data, but it’s always in the context of the broader business strategy and customer impact.  

Another piece of advice that is relevant for everyone is the importance of communication and connection to drive insight and decision making. Early on in my career, I was taught to focus on sharpening my technical and analytical skills. And while that continues to be important, I came to understand that you can be the sharpest person in the room, but if people don’t understand and connect with you, it doesn’t matter. When you communicate with impact, you bring greater clarity and ensure everyone is aligned on the direction you need to execute against. 

What are you most excited about for Faire’s future?

One of the reasons I joined Faire is that we are solving such a deep problem for our customers – helping them save time, money, and grow their businesses in ways that were previously much more difficult. It makes our work incredibly motivating, but it also means that we have a huge opportunity to better the wholesale customer experience. This aspect of the retail equation has historically been cumbersome, expensive, and fragmented. No one has meaningfully built for or improved this sector before. We’re proud of what we’ve already accomplished but we know we can further deepen our impact. I get excited when I think about the many ways we can continue to become a more valuable partner to our customers and grow our relationships with them. 

If you could open your own retail shop, what would you sell?

I’d open some sort of family lifestyle shop. We’d sell board games, puzzles, home storage and organization – anything you need for family time. Some of my fondest memories have been playing games with friends and family, and it’s something I’ve carried throughout my life and now enjoy with my kids. We have an overflowing closet of board games at home, and playing with my kids now has given me the chance to re-discover the classics, like Twister or Snakes and Ladders². I love games that test your strategic thinking and bring out your competitive spirit, but at the same time, I also love when you can let loose with games that bring out your silly and goofy side. I’d want my shop to bring game night traditions to life for other people. 

Footnotes

1. T&T is still in the family – with one of Jason’s sisters now at the helm.
2. Also known as Chutes & Ladders in the United States.