Bob Brilon, President and CFO of Vapen MJ Ventures (CSE:VAPN), joins Barrington Miller to discuss ringing the bell at their Market Open (0:50), the company’s recent, record-breaking month (2:44), and their plans to use a different approach for expansion outside of Arizona (6:52). Listen until the end to learn more about Vapen’s diverse product line, how Bob feels the political climate will affect US cannabis in 2020, and for his advice to entrepreneurs.
Peter Miller, CEO of SLANG Worldwide Inc. (CSE:SLNG), joins Barrington Miller in the podcast studio after the company’s Market Open to discuss what differentiates SLANG as a “house of brands” in the cannabis space (3:09), the inaugural outdoor harvest of cannabis from their Canadian operation, one of the first in Canadian legal cannabis history (6:22), and his thoughts on the vaporizer ban in the US, including how regulation and legalization can help alleviate issues that have played a role in the ban (12:30). Listen until the end to learn about SLANG’s association with Bruce Linton, their program dedicated to assisting nonviolent cannabis offenders who are currently in prison, and to hear where in the world SLANG Worldwide is heading next.
Ian Mclelland, CEO and Founder of Proactive Investors, joins James Black to discuss how he turned his investing blog into a global financial news business (2:01), what Proactive offers that goes beyond the range of traditional news media and how they maintain their broadcast standards (8:24), why it’s important to have a global footprint in the industry (14:06), and how they create mutually beneficial relationships with third party syndication sites (20:22). Listen until the end to learn how investor interests and preferred media format vary by region, why Proactive created their app, and for Ian’s advice to publicly-listed companies on maintaining visibility and building trust with shareholders.
Hadley Ford, CEO of iAnthus Capital Holdings, joined James Black after the iAnthus Market Open at the CSE Media Centre to discuss some of the firsts the company has achieved as an MSO in the cannabis space (4:11), how regulatory challenges in the US drive their strategy for branding and distribution (8:15), and his thoughts on the SAFE Banking Act, including how quickly he believes it will get through the Senate (14:37). Listen until the end to learn about the company’s mission to build a portfolio of iconic brands and delight their customers, for his opinion on the current vape ban in the US, and to hear why cannabis is a family business for him.
Ross O’Brien, Founder of Bonaventure Equity and Cannabis Dealmakers Summit, joins Grace Pedota via Skype to talk about what makes Cannabis Dealmakers Summit different from other conferences, and their goal to positively impact one billion lives (2:48), how maturation in the cannabis industry is helping bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and investors (5:07), and which sectors he believes have been (and will be) most impacted by cannabis (6:50). Listen until the end to learn more about his book, Cannabis Capital, for his thoughts on the development of customer affinity towards certain cannabis brands and products, and to hear about his upcoming appearance on the show Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch.
Anthony Durkacz, Chair of the Board of Directors at World Class Extractions (CSE:PUMP), joins Barrington Miller after opening the market to discuss how a cancer diagnosis helped inspire him to become an entrepreneur (1:24), why he believes the legalization of cannabis edibles in Canada could be a tailwind for the extraction industry (8:31), the operational benefits of the company’s recent merger with Quadron Cannatech (10:28), and what they’re focused on for the immediate future (15:23). Listen until the end to learn more about Anthony’s history with the CSE, the importance of scalable and efficient operations, and why he believes 2020 is “the year of the income statement.”
In this very special 50th episode of #HashtagFinance, CSE CEO Richard Carleton joins James Black as the podcast’s first-ever repeat guest to celebrate the CSE’s 15-year anniversary as a recognized exchange (1:02), to reflect on how the growth of the cannabis industry affected the evolution of the CSE (7:08), to discuss the upcoming expansion from junior exchange to an exchange that’s focused on a broader base of securities (12:48), and how it felt to ring the bell at the very first Market Open at the CSE Media Centre (24:10). Listen until the end to learn more about the culture and people who have helped the CSE achieve this milestone, why Richard loves coming into the office every day, for details on the new Media Centre, and to see what’s ahead for the CSE. Cheers to 15 years!
Paul Rosen, CEO of Pantry Food, joins Phillip Shum to discuss what makes a good (and not so good) cannabis operator (5:08), how Pantry is evolving cannabis edibles from a “broken category” into a wellness-based, artisanal industry (10:05), and developments in the cannabis space that he believes may cause investors to be more particular about where they choose to invest going forward (16:08). Listen until the end to learn about his history as an avid entrepreneur and early entrant into the cannabis space, for his advice to investors who are looking to enter the industry, and to hear why he believes hemp is the “sleeping giant” of the economy.
Dan Nelson, CEO of Wikileaf Technologies (CSE:WIKI), joins Grace Pedota to discuss the Wikileaf Market Open at the CSE Media Centre (0:39), how his own experience with cannabis inspired him to create a dispensary comparison platform (2:09), and Wikileaf’s mission to empower cannabis consumers with information (12:07). Listen until the end to learn about the company’s partnership with Chuck Rifici and Nesta Holding Co., for his experience with consumer brand and product loyalty, and to hear about Dan’s climb up Mount Kilimanjaro!
In this special episode of #HashtagFinance, Kevin Murphy, CEO and Founder of Acreage Holdings (CSE:ACRG.U), joins James Black to discuss what the upcoming House vote on the SAFE Banking Act could mean for US cannabis (2:44), how the growing acceptance of cannabis as a valid medicinal product has impacted the company (5:45), and the progress that has resulted from Acreage’s alignment with Canopy Growth (9:18). Listen until the end to learn more about the remaining challenges for cannabis in the US, for Kevin’s opinion on states’ rights, and to find out what’s ahead for Acreage in the next six months.
