Seed to CEO: Stories from Cannabis Businesses

Sara Gullickson didn’t have much business experience of any sort when she launched her first consultancy. But she ultimately sold that firm for an enviable sum and was able to take time off with her family. Today, she’s back in the cannabis industry with The Cannabis Business Advisors.

Sara shares insights on: 

•Aligning your company’s strengths with market needs

•How “telling stories” can make your application stand out in competitive markets

•How to prepare your company for

When Jill Ellsworth, CEO of Willow Industries, looked to bring her food & beverage safety knowledge to this new industry, she noticed a huge gap in the process of getting safe, clean cannabis to consumers: a “kill step” to eradicate pathogens. Legalization might be spreading rapidly, but testing is still trying to catch up.

•The steps taken to find the best way to meet a broad industry need

•The blend of bootstrapping, outside investors & debt used

•How a focus on consumer safety helped land i

When California-based Harborside went public, it had to adapt to some new challenges – and new challengers. In 2020, for example, a group of disgruntled shareholders overturned the board of directors. In this episode, Matt Hawkins, Harborside’s chair & interim CEO, talks about how the company faced the new challenges & laid the groundwork for future growth:

•Different challenges for private & public cos.

•Why going public isn’t always the best option

•How to navigate the complex regulations i

Lilach Mazor Power launched a vertically integrated medical marijuana operation in 2012, navigating a market beset with strict rules & hostile politicians. When voters legalized adult use in the 2020 election, Lilach thought she’d have time to prepare for the transition. Arizona had other ideas.

Lilach discusses:

• How she from medical to recreational in less than 1 week

• Various demands of launching a cannabis business

• Surviving unrealistic business plans, human error & the race to the botto

After investing in & launching several cannabis companies, Jim Makoso took time during the COVID-19 pandemic to reflect on where to turn his focus. The result? Flowe Technologies, a platform & system for researching & developing CPG products in cannabis. In this episode, Jim shares:

• How he leveraged partnerships to mitigate risks & costs

• What's still missing from cannabis product development

• Why better research is the future of cannabis

The cannabis industry got the band back together this week! MJBizCon 2021 met together in person in Las Vegas for the first time since 2019. In this special episode, we share insights from featured event speakers who previously appeared on our show, including:

• Chris Ball, Ball Family Farms

• Berner, Cookies (Due to his cancer diagnosis, Berner was unable to appear at the event but still appears in this episode.)

• Nancy Whiteman, Wana Brands

• Denise Mink, Med Pharm

• Wanda James, Simply Pu

After her brother was arrested and given a 10-year sentence for cannabis possession, Wanda James knew she had a mission. Today, James & her husband own & operate Simply Pure - “America’s most political dispensary” - in Denver.

In this episode:

•How staying true to your values can benefit a business’ bottom line

•Why it’s important to be politically connected in cannabis

•How to set yourself apart in a mature market

When marketing maven Lisa Buffo broke into the marijuana industry in 2014, she had lots of questions concerning compliance, regulations and other issues, but there was no place for a cannabis marketing professional to find an answer. So she created that place herself through the Cannabis Marketing Association.

In this episode:

•How CMA can be a model for other professional groups

•How to strategically scale even as new markets are still coming online

•Why marketing really matters in cannabis.

Ross Lipson had built & sold his second online food-ordering company by the time he was 25, but when he decided to launch a B2B online ordering platform for cannabis - Bend, Oregon-based Dutchie - he wanted to start with a “fresh slate” because cannabis is so different.

In this episode, Ross shares:

•Why you need to be relentless & humble to get buy-in for a new idea

•The problem of trying to rely totally on experience

•Why it’s important to understand your weaknesses as much as your streng

Starting a cannabis retail business with only $50,000 may seem impossible, but that’s how Seun Adedeji got started in the Oregon adult-use market at just 23. Today, the 28-year-old's Elev8 Cannabis has locations in OR & MA. Seun shares how he became one of the most successful young entrepreneurs in the U.S. cannabis industry, incl:

• How to partner with growers even when upfront cash is tight.

• Why being the COE – chief of everything – is a bad idea

• Why community participation & engagement