The Cannabis Business Coach Podcast Episode 47: Andrés Fajardo, Clever Leaves
The Cannabis Business Coach Michael Zaytsev interviews Andrés Fajardo, Co-Founder and President of NASDAQ listed multi-national Cannabis company Clever Leaves. There, amongst many other achievements, Andrés led the development of Clever Leaves first 18 Hectares of GACP and EU-GMP certified cultivation and post-harvest facilities.
Prior to Clever Leaves, Andres was a Founding Partner of Mojo Ventures, a unique late-stage company builder focused on working with startups and small companies to achieve unprecedented growth and profitability. Before being an entrepreneur, Andres was President/CEO at IQ Outsourcing, a leading Colombian Business Process Outsourcing Firm that is part of the Sanford Group of Companies. Prior to joining IQ, Andres was a Principal Member at Booz & Company, a management consulting firm. He also has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
On this episode, Andrés shares an overview of 5+ years in the Cannabis industry for Clever Leaves, the critical mistake most companies get wrong about the employee-employer relationship, the unpredictable nature of Cannabis business, 3 elements of successful leadership, why Cannabis entrepreneurs are the luckiest business people, and more!
In the business coaching portion, Mike Z mixes it up and asks Andrés for coaching around the question of choosing good partners, especially when an opportunity is time sensitive and so you don't have much time to get to know the other side.
Recorded on 5/19/2021
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The Cannabis Business Coach Podcast Episode 46: Chris Walsh, Marijuana Business Daily
The Cannabis Business Coach Michael Zaytsev interviews and coaches Chris Walsh, CEO of Marijuana Business Daily, which includes MJBizDaily.com one of the best Cannabis industry news sites and the widely attended MJBizCon conferences.
Chris shares his journey from journalist to Cannabis CEO, we celebrate Marijuana Business Daily's 10 year anniversary, and Chris shares a multitude of reasons why he's more excited about the future of the Cannabis industry than ever before. Perhaps it's because his team's research suggests that the size of the legal Cannabis market could double and approach $50 billion by 2025.
In the business coaching portion, Chris asks Mike a big question about staying power and keeping an edge when business is already doing well.
Recorded on 5/5/2021
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The Cannabis Business Coach Podcast Episode 45: Vanessa Gabriel, Drop Delivery
The Cannabis Business Coach Michael Zaytsev interviews and coaches Vanessa Gabriel, CEO and Co-Founder of Drop Delivery, a high growth technology company that may become the Shopify of Cannabis delivery.
Drop Delivery recently raised over a million dollars via equity crowdfunding in less than 2 months. They’re going to raise investment capital via crowdfunding again according to Vanessa, who successfully sold her previous cannabis business (Greenlight Technologies) to a publicly traded company.
On this episode we discuss the courageous craft of entrepreneurship, equity crowdfunding for Cannabis startups, the power of teamwork and much more.
In the business coaching portion, Mike offers Vanessa support around the challenges of hiring for Cannabis jobs. Specifically how to scale your team without damaging a deeply established team culture.
Recorded on 4/28/2021
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The Cannabis Business Coach Podcast Episode 44: Milan Patel, PathogenDx
The Cannabis Business Coach Michael Zaytsev interviews and coaches Milan Patel, Co-Founder and CEO of PathogenDx, a biotechnology company that has reinvented DNA-based testing to identify pathogens more quickly and easily than ever before. Their diagnostic solutions are helping to detect and address viral, bacterial and fungal infection and contamination in the agriculture, food, Cannabis, and healthcare industries.
On this episode we discuss the challenges of bringing innovative technologies to market in highly regulated industries, why money doesn't determine whether or not you achieve your goals, the importance of doing the right thing, for the right reasons, with the right resources, and more!
In the business coaching portion, Mike helps Milan with the challenge of remaining organized and efficient while scaling rapidly and servicing clients across very different industries.
Recorded on 4/21/2021
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The Cannabis Business Coach Podcast Episode 43: Rich Gonzalez, Chill
The Cannabis Business Coach Michael Zaytsev interviews and coaches Rich Gonzalez, inventor of the Chill, a revolutionary smoking apparatus. With nearly 30 years of experience in both the CPG and Home Goods verticals, Rich has a deep knowledge of the "concept-to-shelf" process, and hundreds of millions of people around the world own at least one item he’s helped create. But none of them are quite like the Chill.
On this episode we discuss the challenges of manufacturing and distributing Cannabis related products, the importance of having a great legal team and supportive partners, how brining a Cannabis accessory to market is different from traditional markets, and how to succeed in Cannabis even if you come from a non-traditional background.
In the coaching portion, Mike and Rich discuss one of the biggest buzzkills to the Cannabis industry, government.
Recorded on 4/14/2021
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