2019-09-01 Entrepreneur Magazine

(Darren Dugan) #1
58 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / September 2019

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Top Cannabis Companies


How to Succeed


in Weed


Ten top cannabis entrepreneurs share their


biggest lesson from the industry.
by NICOLE PAJER

C


annabis is an ever-growing, ever-changing, ever-
crazy industry—so anyone who jumps in must be
prepared to pivot fast, react faster, and go with
the flow. In other words, they must do what all
entrepreneurs do...but, at times, more intensely.
How do the best manage? That’s what we asked—by
calling 10 of the companies on our first-annual top
100 cannabis companies list.
The list was produced by our sister publication
Green Entrepreneur, which evaluated companies
based on four I’s—influence, innovation, impact, and inspiration.
You can read it all at our site GreenEntrepreneur.com. And here,
on these pages, executives from 10 companies on that list share
their biggest lesson from the journey so far.

Future State Brands
HQ/ Los Angeles

“Focus on delivering a tangible benefit to your target cus-
tomer. How? Ensure that your brand experience will improve
their life—or at the very least, surprise and delight them.”
—DRAKE SUTTON-SHEARER, CEO AND FOUNDER,
FUTURE STATE BRANDS

Future State Brands is a global consumer goods and marketing
company with a mission to lead cannabis from the black market to
the supermarket. Its portfolio includes lifestyle and wellness brands
across hemp, CBD, and THC, including flagship PRØHBTD, Hempa-
thy, Ceeby Dee’s, Hot Nife, The Patch Co., and Heavy Grass. The
company also counts several exclusive partnerships—with Licensing
Expo, Advertising Week, Beanstalk Licensing Agency, All Def Media,
Postmedia, and Regulated Solutions, among others—in its arsenal.

Wana Brands
HQ/ Boulder, Colo.

“Expect things to go wrong, and be prepared to pivot
and adjust your strategies and tactics. Plan B is
your friend! Things move very quickly in this industry,
and it’s easy to get left behind.”
—NANCY WHITEMAN, CEO AND FOUNDER, WANA BRANDS

Wana founder and CEO Nancy Whiteman is generally credited with
inventing, or at least popularizing, the now ubiquitous cannabis
gummy. The chewy morsel has proved a solid foundation for the
company, which has grown into one of the largest cannabis brands in
Colorado, offering vaporizing, CBD, and capsule products. Whiteman
has plans to expand into other legal states.

Photograph (top) / JOHNNY AUTRY
Free download pdf