Adam Bierman is the co-founder and former CEO of MedMen Enterprises, the first American cannabis unicorn. During his decade at the company, it grew to five states, 32 retail stores, and 1500 employees. In 2019, MedMen lost 95% of its value and Adam chose to invest even more in the company despite advice to diversify. 

This led to lawsuits and MedMen essentially disappeared from the industry. Adam is now working with cannabis companies and investors to expand consumer access on a global scale. He was also responsible for setting the trend of dispensary design, with a layout similar to an Apple store.

Adam, the founder of MedMen, a cannabis unicorn, had a ten-year run of building the company and brand. He left the company and gave up his board seat and voting rights. Since then, MedMen has gone through three CEOs and has not recovered. 

Adam's biggest takeaway from his experience is that even though he was the face of the company, it didn't matter as people expected that person to be a party animal. He believes that the same stories would have been told about the company and the person regardless of who it was.

This week's episode of Blunt Business featured a roundtable discussion on advertising and social media with Ashley Fields, the Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications at Can, and Aaron Riva De Niro, the Director of e-commerce at Tiva. The two discussed recent updates to Twitter's advertising policies, which allow cannabis businesses to advertise in states where it is legal, with some exceptions. 

These exceptions include that the ads cannot promote or offer the sale of cannabis, with the exception of topical or non-ingestible hemp-derived CBD products that contain equal to or less than 0.3% THC.

Twitter recently announced that it will allow cannabis advertising in 2023, with a few restrictions. These restrictions include only targeting geographical areas in the US where cannabis products and services are licensed, not targeting users under 21, and complying with all applicable laws and regulations surrounding cannabis marketing. 

Ashley and Aaron weighed in on the announcement, noting that it is an important social and cultural step for cannabis advertising, but it is still uncertain how it will affect business strategies. They agreed that it is an important moment to pause and reevaluate paid strategies and how they are promoting brand awareness.

Our next guest operates a compliance strategy and services provider serving the hemp and cannabis industries nationwide. She brings a regulator’s keen eye and wide-reaching knowledge of evolving compliance and safety mandates to support businesses in tightly regulated industries.

Allay Consulting and The GMP Collective are now joining forces amid the rapid national growth of the cannabis, hemp, and emerging psychedelics sectors, with a focus on current Goods Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) compliance. 

Through this partnership, The GMP Collective will now have increased availability to focus on working with governments, standards bodies such as ASTM International, and ancillary service providers to lead the development of a cohesive regulatory framework that will align the disjointed statutes of the cannabis and hemp industries, both domestically and internationally. 

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are more than 50 publicly traded companies related to the development or administration of psychedelic drugs in the U.S., with at least three valued at more than $1 billion. The U.S. market for psychedelic substances is projected to grow from $2 billion in 2020 to $10.75 billion by 2027. We talk about the appeal of psychedelics as a means of deviating and diversifying from cannabis and much more.

Adam has 30 years of business, strategy and leadership experience in both Private and Public Companies. In 2021, Adam believed the timing and opportunity was right for him to bring his passion for business, innovative financing and entrepreneurial spirit to the Cannabis sector by creating funding products for all areas of this early stage, growth industry by founding FundCanna. FundCanna provides short term funding to all areas of the sector; cultivators, manufacturers, vendors, suppliers, distributors and retailers. In just its first year, FundCanna has underwritten roughly 500 files and funded approximately 250 unique files bringing much needed liquidity and financing solutions to the legal Cannabis industry.

While growing rapidly, and now in more than 35 states, the cannabis industry still faces a massive shortage of debt financing from traditional bank and non-bank lenders. Today, what little debt financing is available to the industry is generated by high-cost sources of capital including sale-leasebacks, non-conforming asset-based loans and other forms of debt capital that are more expensive than the solutions available to traditional, federally regulated industries.

FundCanna is the leading source of debt capital to the cannabis industry. For more than 20 years, their team of financial experts has provided nearly $20 billion in funding to underserved businesses and individuals across the country. FundCanna products are flexible and designed to service the unique needs of this amazing space. For more information about cannabis financing.

Sarah Evans is a tremendously talented singer and songwriter who has left an indelible mark in the world of country music. She has released ten studio albums, the most recent being 2020's Covers collection, and has five number-one hits. She has won numerous awards and accolades, including the Academy of Country Music's top Female Vocalist accolades, as well as numerous American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and CMA CMT Grammy Awards nominations.

Sarah is now on Blunt Business to talk about her new luxurious CBD product line called Born to Fly, which is named after one of her chart-topping signature songs. She expresses her gratitude for being on the show and for the kind introduction. Jorge reveals that he first heard her music in the form of the song Suds in a Bucket and found himself compelled to stop and watch the video every time it was on.

Sara is discussing how CBD has helped her to manage the chronic pain and anxiety she still experiences due to a hospital stay she endured at a young age. She explains that using the Born to Fly Roll On product and drops has helped her a great deal to relax the tension in her back and reduce her anxiety. She explains that when she was a child, she was unaware that she was dealing with PTSD after a traumatic event such as almost dying and having to endure numerous surgeries to correct her legs. CBD has been a saving grace for her in terms of managing her chronic pain and anxiety.

Our guest Sara Evans, who is a singer-songwriter, has had a long career and has struggled with anxiety and PTSD from a car crash. She discovered CBD and found that it could help her pain and anxiety, so she decided to start her own CBD line and brand, which she called Born to Fly after a song she wrote about her life growing up in Missouri. She said that the message of her CBD line is that everyone is born to fly and should not be held back by pain, anxiety, or PTSD. She is proud of the product and said it is one of the most exciting things she has done in her career. She also noted that she still has to maintain the image people expect of her when she is performing on stage.

The guest was Roy Bingham, the CEO of BDSA, who provides businesses with cannabis market intelligence, consumer research, and advisory services. He was welcomed on and apologized for the 50 emails. Roy thanked Leo and mentioned that everyone in the company is smarter than him. The host remembered meeting Roy's team at the NCIA's Cannabis Business Summit in 2016 and said everyone was delightful. The host also remembered having Roy on the 2018 show Cannabis Connection.

Roy Bingham, CEO of BDSA, recently released an updated five-year global legal cannabis market forecast, predicting that legal cannabis spending will grow from $32 billion in 2022 to nearly $60 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.2%. The US is predicted to drive this growth, especially with adult-use markets in Missouri, New Jersey, and New York, as well as the top four markets of Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Michigan, which will see an increase of nearly 10% in 2023, adding $770,000,000 in new spend. Despite the rapid price declines and flattening of sales, the cannabis industry is proving to be an impenetrable force, with growth continuing despite inflation and other obstacles.

The conversation focused on the current and projected growth of the global cannabis market. The speaker noted that the current global cannabis market is valued at $32 billion, of which the United States makes up over 80%. The speaker projected that the global cannabis market would grow to $60 billion in five years' time, with the United States making up 75% of that total. The conversation then turned to the US market, which is projected to grow to $44.5 billion by 2027 at a compound growth rate of 11%. The speaker then discussed the cause of the slower-than-expected growth in 2020, which was attributed to price compression in mature US markets due to an oversupply of cannabis. Price declines of 10-20% were noted in some of the larger US markets such as California, where a 17% decline was experienced in the five-quarter period ending at the end of last year.

The conversation discussed the taxation and revenue issues affecting the legal cannabis industry in California. They discussed the difficulty of being a legal cannabis company in the state, as consumers are still turning to the illicit market due to cheaper prices. The issue has been further compounded by the pandemic and the resulting lockdown orders, making the illicit market even more appealing. The conversation then shifted to investments and the significant decline in stocks of the major macOS in the last twelve months. This has caused companies to struggle to raise capital in order to fuel their growth plans, leading to layoffs and companies trying to get to profitability. The conversation then concluded by discussing the upcoming cannabis markets in New York and New Jersey.

Today welcome back a returning guest who has extensive experience helping scores of clients, from individual entrepreneurs to publicly traded companies, navigate complex cannabis disputes and successful business strategies. She is a partner and lead of the cannabis practice at Holland & Hart, based in Denver.

Elevations Hotels and Resorts, based out of Arizona, announced in January they will convert the Artisan Hotel Boutique, which is just off the Las Vegas Strip, into The Lexi, a 64-room hotel with the entire fourth floor designated as cannabis friendly. Elevations also own and operate the Clarendon Hotel & Spa in Phoenix, which lays claim to being the state’s first cannabis-friendly hotel. We discuss how amenities and the guest experience will ultimately be different and how this Vegas location will be able to perform. 

The Street reports that Las Vegas has a cannabis conundrum. The city allows the sale of marijuana for recreational use, but it only allows it to be smoked in private residences. That means that people visiting the Las Vegas Strip, Fremont Street, or any other part of the city are technically breaking the law when they light up.

Nevada has taken steps to correct the problem. The state has set the framework for legal consumption lounges and two very interesting players are getting close to giving Las Vegas tourists a place to legally (and comfortably) light up their joints, pipes, and other methods of smoking cannabis. 

Our next guest is a legacy cannabis entrepreneur. Serving California and Michigan recreational cannabis markets, he is here to tell us about a recently launched cannabis brand that they say “gives customers a sweet escape in the form of aptly-named vapes, edibles, flowers, prerolls, and concentrates.”

Gelato Canna Co. is not even a year old and has already landed its product line of vapes, edibles, concentrate, pre-rolls, and flowers in over 400 cannabis dispensaries throughout California and Michigan, with the bulk of its presence in the Golden State. They have yet to take a single investment dollar and hit their first million-dollar month in October at their eponymous Lake Elsinore store.

A distinctive aspect of Gelato’s founders is that they followed and understood the simple laws of offer and demand. In the midst of the hype, even while they were succeeding in the vaping segment, they got into concentrates. Now, once again ahead of the curve in market trends, they circle back to the basics. They went into premium flowers, which are not what they used to be.

Our next guest’s company is quite familiar to Cannabis Radio listeners. We featured this company last fall and we are happy to welcome back the folks from Paybotic, the premier payment solutions company that excels in tailoring solutions to the cannabis industry. 

Paybotic specializes in advanced technological solutions for payment processing providing financial solutions to help cannabis businesses in the United States. throughout the nation grow and succeed.

One major issue in the cannabis industry is the lack of financing and payment processing programs available. We continue to await some federal relief to legal barriers that have continued to create difficulty for dispensaries to obtain services, record sales, process payments, and hinder the growth of many marijuana dispensaries. All you have to do is look at the crisis ongoing with the industry in California. While we are still waiting for legislation like the SAFE Banking ACT to be implemented.

Our next guest has years of experience in cannabis investing, including financing, fund management, and consulting for early-stage cannabis businesses. He advises entrepreneurs looking to gain in-depth expertise on raising capital or securing financing, working with investors, and the legal ins and outs of starting a cannabis business.

More private lenders are entering the space and bringing with them innovative approaches to working with cannabis businesses. These lenders are not afraid to maneuver around historic industry barriers to financing and are opening up to cannabis companies' lending opportunities that have been available to other industries for decades.

For starters, cannabis businesses with assets can now use those assets as collateral for a loan. If the business already owns property or a building, for example, or if it has substantial stockpiles of equipment, these assets can be utilized to take out a loan against the value of these assets. These loans are classified as real estate loans or equipment loans.