In this episode we are joined by Alan "The Maven" Brochstein. Alan is an extremely experienced cannabis analyst who has been covering the sector since 2014. He is co-founder of New Cannabis Ventures and founder of 420investor. 

In this wide ranging conversation we discuss many different topics including:

- State of the market: how AB sees the cannabis stock action compared to previous years

- Cyclicality of Cannabis Stocks: How the pendulum swings to the extremes

- Staying flexible: the importance of combining trading and investing mentality

- Altria & Cronos: Why Alan thought (and still thinks) Altria should buy Cronos

- Interesting opportunities in the market right now, especially with newer issues

Thanks as always to Alan for joining us to share his insights

Connect with Alan:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Invest420

In this mega-episode our good friend Nick Gastevich joins us for the Q3 2021 quarterly review of Cresco, Curaleaf, Trulieve, Green Thumb, and Verano (in that order).

We do a deep dive into profitability, cash flow, brands, valuation and how we see the strengths and weaknesses of each company.

We discuss how well positioned each of these companies is for the current phase of our industry and for the future post-uplisting.

Thanks to Nick for another great and extensive review

Connect with Nick:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CannaVestments

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-gastevich-75841346/

Family Office Website - https://www.vginvests.com/ 

What a difference 2 weeks makes!

In this episode we discuss a few key themes around the biggest issues we are seeing in today's market

1) Narratives vs Reality - how the divergence creates opportunity for investors

2) Nancy Mace Legalization bill - what this really means and the effect its having on the market

3) $MSOS huge cash inflows and how we expect this to impact the cannabis stock market short term

4) Strategy - ideas on position your portfolio to play the ups and downs of cannabis volatility

In this episode (which was recorded on Fri Nov 5th) we discuss the rapid sentiment shift from "Depression" to "Euphoria" and why it is an excellent real-time example of the inefficiency of the cannabis investing market.

We often discuss how our market behaves irrationally but in this episode we delve into the reasons why it is that way, examples of irrational behaviour and strategies to take advantage of these swings.

This week we are joined by fan-favourite Nick Gastevich (aka CannaVestments). Nick is an OG cannabis investor whose family office invested in GTI's first round in 2014 (and again in subsequent years). 

In this episode we discuss:

- General negativity in the cannabis sector

- Schumer, SAFE, NDAA and federal politics

- Q3 financial softness in key markets of PA/FL

- Other headwinds which can make the short term choppy

- Positive catalysts being overlooked including potential 2022 legalization in PA/OH/MD/MO/AK

- Re-allocating your portfolio to account for tax loss harvesting

- Owning smaller companies vs the biggest MSOs

- Strategizing for SAFE vs no-SAFE banking

Thanks to Nick for a great episode as usual. 

Connect with Nick:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-gastevich-75841346/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CannaVestments

Family Office Website - https://www.vginvests.com/

In this (slightly late) episode we debrief a phenomenal MJ Biz conference including our takeaways, the negatives, the positives and our strategies for the coming quarters.

JP October SAFE/NDAA Update - https://www.reddit.com/r/weedstocks/comments/qc4h27/understanding_washington_october_updates/ 

In this episode we talk about how we can "sharpen our swords" and focus on improving our investing abilities. We talk about mistakes we've made (and re-made), what we've learned and some of the easiest ways to work on your cannabis IQ, investing knowledge and research capabilities in order to (hopefully) reach better outcomes.

In this episode we’re joined by Sayshu Medicherla (@Sayshu_MM), the Founder/CIO of MM Fund.  He has extensive experience investing professionally across a variety of asset classes and strategies including public equities, venture capital, private equity, and credit. We cover two major topics today:

First, we discuss different ways to approach investing in cannabis and why it’s important to ‘know what you own’ and understand that the people you’re following throughout various media outlets may not necessarily have the same investment style as you.  Sayshu also provides his insights on how he views investing through an institutional lens and how risk comes in various forms whether it’s liquidity, valuation, narrative shifts etc. We also discuss how he thinks about valuations in both a public and private market context.

Second, we discuss the evolving brand story in US cannabis. The story so far has been one of ‘if you can grow weed, you can sell weed’ and the top operators have proven they can run profitable businesses.  However, as we look out a couple years, we look at what we feel will be the next battleground for cannabis companies, the battle of the brands.  Sayshu explains why he thinks this is a relevant topic for investors today, and how he’s trying to understand the brand strategies of the top companies.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email us. If you have any questions for Sayshu please feel free to DM him on twitter @Sayshu_MM.

In this episode we are joined by George Archos who is CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Verano Holdings. 

In this interview we discuss:

- Background: How George got started in the restaurant industry

- What makes a restaurant successful and why its a good training ground for the cannabis industry

- Verano Orgins: How the company got started by winning an IL cultivation license

- Expansion Years: Building the base of assets rapidly over 3 years in MD, OH, NJ and NV

- Importance of Culture: How George brought in highly motivated people from the restaurant industry to win in cannabis

- 2018: Consolidation, Raising Capital and a false start in Florida

- Legislative Change: Why George is focused on State level changes over Federal

- The Harvest Merger: How this transformational M&A side tracked the company and hurt their footprint

- First Mover Advantage: Why Verano staked its name on high quality indoor flower

- Florida: Why Altmed was a great fit and why they choose to avoid participating in Florida's price war

- M&A: Why Verano was so aggressive in AZ and PA to expand the footprint

- Financial Performance: What happened to EBITDA margins from Q1 to Q2 and what we can expect longer term

- Running Lean: Why 2008 was a key learning lesson that influence's the company to this day

- The Future: Expanding the footprint, functioning like CPG

- Buying vs Building Brands: Where the company is focusing its energy today

Thanks to George for joining in for this in depth interview!

Connect with George on Twitter: https://twitter.com/georgearchos 

In this episode we discuss the importance of admitting "I don't know" when it comes to investing in this sector. 

We discuss how "I don't know" can be helpful for:

- Taking a more cautious approach to building your portfolio

- Federal change, the SAFE act and NDAA news

- Selecting which markets are attractive

- Evaluating headlines and social media

- Managing your cash position 

- Buying individual stocks vs the MSOS ETF

We also discuss having a CIN meet-up at the upcoming MJ Biz conference in October

The theme of this episode was inspired by a recent episode of Howard Mark's podcast the Memo which you can listen to here:

https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insights/podcasts/the-rewind-us-and-them