Investing In Cannabis

In this week’s episode, Brandon welcomes Vikas Desai of WelCan Capital to the show. Vikas and his team have invested in some of the premier ancillary cannabis companies, including Front Range Biosciences, Treez, AG Gas, and Headset. While Welcan focuses mainly on ancillary, they do touch the plant as well with their investments. Brandon and Vikas also dive deep into why board seats and leading rounds is preferred, how to think about co-investing in cannabis, and why hiring a fund partner is so difficult. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Vikas and WelCan Capital!

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Shareef El-Sissi of Eden Enterprises to discuss how he helped build Eden and Treez into 2 powerhouse brands in cannabis. Shareef and his team run one of the most profitable + high volume dispensaries on the West Coast with their Eden location in Hayward. Eden also has their own consumer brands, distribution, and cultivation built out. As an SSO (single state operator) in California, Eden is now raising their next round to help grow into a truly scaled and vertically integrated brand. Learn how Shareef balances his time building Eden and Treez, his fascinating origin story with the CEO John of Treez, and why current California regulations have led to lower quality cannabis for consumers. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Shareef of Eden! Special thanks to Heffernan Insurance Brokers for supporting independent media. Learn how to protect your growing business with a completely free conversation with Marshall or Tanner! Email them directly at iC@Heffins.com

In this week's episode, Brandon sits down with Narbe Alexandrian of Canopy Rivers to discuss how the VC arm of Canopy Growth operates. Narbe and his team have made more than 14 investments, ranging from data analytics to beverage brands to premium cultivators and international licensees. He and his team sift through hundreds of deals per month and they focus heavily on repeat founders who are coachable. Learn how Narbe thinks about deals, his personal story, and why Canopy Rivers is needed alongside Canopy Growth. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted! Special thanks to Heffernan Insurance Brokers for supporting independent media. Learn how to protect your growing business with a completely free conversation with Marshall or Tanner! Email them directly at iC@Heffins.com

In this week’s episode, Brandon goes to Oakland to visit the Treez office to sit down with their CEO, John Yang. John and his team have built one of the top seed to sale platforms in the cannabis space. They started with the POS + retail side, but recently entered into the cultivation and manufacturing space with their acquisition of the Mister Kraken software. Couple that with their recent Series A round led by Intrinsic Capital, Treez is positioned to be one of the top companies in cannabis. Learn how John took his lessons from ERP consulting and building restaurant POS platforms to leading a team of almost 50 and raising $15 million total in capital. It took John 18 months to get his Series A lead investor on board, and you’ll learn about this struggle and more in this awesome interview. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with John of Treez!

In this week’s episode, Brandon welcomes Vince Ning, CEO of Nabis, to the show. Vince is not your average young founder. He’s already been a part of Y-Combinator and sold his first company to Amazon. After that experience, he turned his sights to cannabis. Seeing an opportunity to disrupt incumbents like RVR, CannaCraft, and Indus, Vince and his team built a low-cost, tech-based solution for cannabis brands. In less than 2 years, they’ve built a network to cover the entire state, have dozens of top level brands (like Canndescent, California Dreamin, and Flower Co), and are one of the fastest growing distributors in California. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Vince of Nabis!

In this week’s episode, Brandon welcomes Matt Nordgren, CEO of Arcadian Fund to the show. Matt and his team have deployed capital in some of the premier cannabis companies, including Meadow, Kush Bottles, Treez, Wurk, BDS Analytics, and Baker. Arcadian focused exclusively on ancillary companies in Fund 1, but as Matt gears up for Fund 2, the focus will shift to plant touching. Brandon and Matt also dive deep into his team’s due diligence process, co-investing in cannabis, and what new trends he’s following in the industry. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Matt and Arcadian!

In this awesome new episode, Brandon welcomes Tahira Rehmatullah to the show. Tahira has quite the cannabis story. After starting at Privateer and running the Marley brand, Tahira is now managing director of Hypur Ventures and CFO of MTech, which just merged with MJ Freeway. Brandon and Tahira dive deep into the usage of SPAC's, the rise of cannabis M&A, and how she balances her life + mind as an operator and an investor in the cannabis industry. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Tahira!

Happy New Year iC fans! In this special year-end episode, Brandon chats with CEO Ross Lipson of the online delivery startup Dutchie. Although delivery is certainly a competitive space, Ross believes his deep experience with food delivery gives him an edge. He sold his first company, GrubCanada in 2011. With this experience and a $3 million investment from VC firm Casa Verde Capital, Ross and his team are applying the lessons they learned from food delivery to the cannabis industry. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Ross and Dutchie!

In this amazing episode, Brandon sits down with Amy Ludlum, CEO of California Dreamin. Amy and her team went through Y Combinator, raised $2.3 million, and are building one of the hottest new cannabis beverage brands. With low-dosage and fast onset times as the newest trends, California Dreamin has created a low-dose delicious soda experience with an incredibly fast onset time. Instead of the normal 45 min to an hour waiting time, California Dreamin could be consumed just like an alcoholic beverage. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Amy of California Dreamin and the start of the cannabis beverage wars!

In this awesome episode, Brandon sits down with Tony Diepenbrock, CEO of the Flower Company. Tony and his team are building a Costco model for buying direct wholesale cannabis. With prices and taxes sky high in California, consumers are looking for a better, cheaper option. With Flower Company, you can buy a yearly membership and purchase large amounts of cannabis at 30-50% cheaper prices than retail. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Tony and the Flower Company!

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Sumit Mehta of Mazakali to discuss bringing investment banking in cannabis, the state of institutional capital and incubators, and why Canada’s public markets are a gift and a curse for founders. Sumit and his team have invested in founders for years in cannabis, and bring decades of financial experience to the space. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Sumit and Mazakali!

In this special video episode, Brandon and team head down to San Jose to check out Caliva and meet with their CEO Dennis O'Malley. Caliva is arguably the #1 dispensary and consumer brand in California. With enormous on-site cultivation, processing, packaging, etc and a beautiful retail dispensary, this company is a shining light for the industry. And it's a stunningly, beautiful example to Trump and Sessions on what legal cannabis can be. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Caliva!

In this episode, Brandon and Jon Trauben of Altitude Investments discuss how New York finance is approaching cannabis investing. The east coast VC world has a different approach to cannabis investing, but with capital invested in BDS Analytics, Flowhub, Wurk, and Cannadescent; Altitude is following a similar strategy to the other successful early-stage funds in cannabis. Brandon and Jon dive deeper into plant touching and how that impacts LP conversations, multi-state expansion, and the frothy Canadian public markets. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with another top investor in the cannabis industry!

In this episode, Brandon talks with Matt Hawkins of Cresco Capital about cannabis Private Equity (PE) investing, the appeal of public exits, and the changing stigma in Dallas, Texas regarding cannabis. Matt and his team have deployed over $25 million in the space in a number of investments including: Flrish Farms, Ebbu, Harvest, and Green Thumb Industries (GTI). Unlike many investors in this space, Matt and his team are not afraid to touch the plant. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with another prominent investor in the cannabis industry!

In this episode, Brandon dives into cannabis distribution with CEO Tim Conder of Blackbird. Tim and his team conquered the Nevada market, and now have their sights set on California. With competition rising, Tim discusses managing teams at scale, building v buying internal tech tools, and why solving California distribution is so difficult. If you've ever wondered how products get from farm to store (or directly to you!), then tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with cannabis distribution!

We've made it to EPISODE 100! Thank you all so much for listening and watching our show. In this extra special episode, Brandon welcomes founder Roy Bingham of BDS Analytics to the show. BDS is one of the leaders in harvesting, analyzing, and profiting off of data in the cannabis industry. Roy discusses his background in the natural food industry, raising a Series B with Canopy, and how to tackle the data challenges of California. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with BDS and the rise of big data in cannabis!

In this episode, Brandon welcomes Arthur de Cordova of Ziel to the show. Arthur and his team are changing the world of food safety in cannabis. With their radio frequency technology, they can process up to 100 lbs an hour of cannabis flower. This patented process actually vibrates the cannabis using it’s inherent moisture. In addition, Arthur and Brandon dive into how food safety improves a company’s bottom line, Arthur’s Wall Street background, and why remediation is so difficult with the cannabis plant. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Ziel and food safety in cannabis!

In this episode, Brandon dives into the European cannabis market with Stephen Murphy of Prohibition Partners. Similarly to the US, Europe has a wide variety of laws, customs, and cultural attitudes surrounding cannabis. Countries like Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal are leading the new medical cannabis revolution, but issues like patient access, cultivation supply, access to new products like oils, and Brexit are causing problems in the rollout of cannabis laws across Europe. Stephen breaks down the current laws in individual countries, the rollout of medical followed by recreational, and the reasons why the EU will be the biggest cannabis market in the world in the next 5 years.

In this hemp based episode, Brandon chats with Centuria Foods founder Michael Brubeck about how he built the largest hemp CBD manufacturer in North America. Starting in cannabis retail and cultivation almost 15 years ago, Michael shares his thoughts on the future of hemp, the efficacy of topicals, and why you shouldn’t buy his book..but you should learn the lessons. Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with the world of large scale importing, manufacturing, and processing of hemp CBD!

In this special episode, Brandon welcomes Dr. Rick Doblin of MAPS to the show to discuss cannabis, psychedelics, and how organizations like MAPS are helping reshape our drug culture, bring an end to the PTSD epidemic, and enhance our freedom of consciousness. Founded in 1986, MAPS is a non-profit pharma company focused on developing psychedelics and cannabis to help with PTSD and other health issues. They’ve raised tens of millions of dollars to study these drugs and have run into incessant government and political obstacles since inception. Learn how the MAPS team is reshaping our relationship with psychedelics, changing our political drug culture, and how you can help them! Tune in, listen up, and get acquainted with Dr. Rick Doblin and MAPS!