WHO’S PRESENTING
Five of YPO’s most successful and influential public & private
cannabis industry CEO’s.
Moderated by YPO-G, Jeff Ullman, CEO, GoodFOR.us
Should you
Stay high or lay low in the Cannabis Industry?
Which companies will survive, thrive or die now that we’re in the Age of Global Pandemics and Societal Changes?
Sponsored by the YPO Cannabis Industry Wealth and Health Group
About
WHAT TO EXPECT
An only-in-YPO opportunity to learn from YPO’s most successful investors and operators
Each panelist will share their expertise, analysis, insights, growth strategies, and predictions for what operators, investors and the canna-curious can expect over the next few years across the globe.
Quick Summary
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Every level of YPOer, their key associates, and adult family members who are involved in or considering entering the THC and/or CBD/Hemp markets.
- The most significant changes which point to future conditions
- Is now, later, or never the right time to invest, buy or sell?, or get out?
- Future of medical and recreational usage
- Where supply, demand and pricing is headed
- States, countries, niches and technologies to develop or avoid
- Regulatory environments and taxes
- COVID-19 decisions
- Marketing and sales breakthrough strategies and methods
- The onslaught entry from ‘The Bigs’
Event
YOUR PANELISTS
Chief Executive Officer of Akerna—the first cannabis compliance technology company to be traded on Nasdaq (Nasdaq: KERN) — the first CEO from the cannabis industry to bring a company to a major U.S. exchange. The cornerstones of Akerna’s service offerings include: MJ Freeway, Leaf Data Systems®, solo sciences, and Trellis. Jessica is the recipient of Fortune’s “Most Promising Women Entrepreneur Award,” Inc.’s “Female Founders 100,” and Entrepreneur Magazine’s inaugural 100 Powerful Women. Jessica received a degree in Communications and Computer Science from the University of Georgia and lives with her daughter in Denver.
Contact | Jessica Billingsley | jlb@akerna.com | 970-729-0372
Chris Driessen sells a lot of weed. — even though you might not have known his name until now (BTW, he’s a brand new member of YPO; so fresh that you might not yet find his name in the YPO directory for another month)! Driessen and his company, SLANG Worldwide, have put up some gaudy numbers over the years, here’s a few highlights:
- Sold more than 20,000,000+ cannabis products;
- Some of the world’s best selling cannabis consumer packaged goods including O.penVAPE, District Edibles, Bakked Concentrates, Firefly and Pressies Pills
- These products have delivered over 1 BILLION servings of cannabis in the last 10 years
- Products are sold in 10 states, and in: Canada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, with ancillary products sold in another 30+ countries
- Organa Labs, the company’s first extraction facility, is the longest licensed CO2 extraction lab in the country
- O.penVAPE, is one of the oldest, most successful brands in the country. #2 best selling cannabis brand of all time Source: BDS Analytics
- In January 2019, Driessen’s legacy company, Organa Brands, was acquired by SLANG Worldwide (CSE: SLNG), and subsequently went public
- Amongst his most prized accomplishment is how well he’s created efficient business processes that streamline diverse operations, while continuing to generate dramatic revenue gains which foster lasting, mutually-profitable relationships with the largest names in the cannabis industry.
- In February 2019, he negotiated and executed an exclusive partnership with the largest American public cannabis company, Trulieve.
Chris lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with his wife, Jen, and their three children Avery (9), Colton (7) and Zachary (6).
Contact | Chris Driessen | President | SLANG US | (303) 875-4427 | Driessen@slangww.com
Todd Harrison is the Founding Partner of CB1 and our Chief Investment Officer. Todd has spent almost three decades on Wall Street managing risk and researching financial market strategies. His institutional experience includes Morgan Stanley Global Equity Derivatives (VP), The Galleon Group (MD-Derivatives), and Cramer, Berkowitz LLC (President and Head of Trading).
Todd was also the Founder and CEO of Minyanville Media, Inc., an Emmy Award winning financial media company that covered global markets in real-time, developed, and licensed investment content to broker-dealers, and wrote real-time content that enabled millions of traders and investors to make more informed financial decisions. He oversaw all operating segments, enterprise relationships, dot.com properties, investment products and newsletters, gaming platforms, production studios and events.
Todd is also the founder & President of The Ruby Peck Foundation for Children’s Education, a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and he serves on the Advisory Board of the Nassau County Police Department Foundation. His first book, The Other Side of Wall Street, was published in 2011 by FT Press, and he received two Emmy Awards from The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
He has been active in the research of financial market learning tendencies among college students, and was a contributing author to “ Threat, Intimidation, and Student Financial Market Knowledge: An Empirical Study,” published in the Journal of Education for Business.
Mr. Harrison has appeared on CNBC, FOX, FOX Business, MSNBC and Bloomberg as a financial authority and has been quoted and covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Worth, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s, Dow Jones MarketWatch, New York Magazine and Canada’s National Post. He was featured in the 20th Anniversary documentary of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and the 2013 documentary, Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve; he was the international spokesman for eSignal, a division of IDC, from 2012-2014. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Syracuse University.
Todd Harrison | Founding Partner | Chief Investment Officer | CB1 Capital Management | todd@cb1cap.com
Jason Wild is the founder and President of JWAM, an SEC registered investment adviser with approximately $800 million under management. After starting his first fund in 1998 with only $80,000 in assets under management, Jason achieved early success by leveraging his background as a pharmacist to find undervalued specialty pharmaceutical companies and by managing the firm’s investments for long- term growth. After building a strong track record as a stock picker, Jason expanded his investment universe and applied his entrepreneurial spirit and extensive healthcare network to private market opportunities. He has since established himself as a highly respected investor and sought-after partner for both public and private companies.
Jason has achieved over 20% annualized returns, net of fees, since launching JW Partners LP in 1991. The firm’s 20+ year audited track record is a testament to its ability to generate quality deal flow, identify exceptional investment opportunities, and add significant value as a business partner to portfolio companies.
Jason became Chairman of TerrAscend after JWAM led a private placement into the company in 2017.
Having built a deep knowledge base and network in the cannabis industry over the preceding years, Jason felt he could bring strategic value as an investor and partner. He has since worked collaboratively with management to help guide the company’s strategy, including its U.S. expansion.
In 2010 JWAM led the acquisition of Arbor, at the time a small private company. As Chairman, Jason leveraged his pharma network to help identify highly accretive acquisitions and grow Arbor’s sales from under $10m at the time of acquisition to over $300m several years later. In 2014, KKR purchased approximately 1/3 of Arbor at a $1.1 billion valuation.
Contact | Jason Wild | JW Asset Management | jwild@jwfunds.com | 914-260-9948
Duane Zobrist is the founding partner and CEO of Appalachian Extracts.
Appalachian Extracts’ primary focus is to keep creating superior bulk, full and broad spectrum CBD through tight operating procedures which can produce consistent product quality for blending into his customers’ custom products.
Duane does not grow, but his extraction facility is close enough for him to work closely with his farmers. Key elements include the genetic selection of the hemp seeds, organic growing methods and tight management of all growing conditions. He has probably heard (and witnessed) more farmers’ horror stories about what went wrong and either cost them their entire business, or forced vast changes in grower management decisions.
Prior to AppExtracts, Duane built several businesses in diverse industries before he entered the world of CBD in 2017. Extraction has been the most challenging because of the constantly changing regulatory oversight, and the state by state patchwork of laws, which make each day management only as beneficial as the consistency of management.
Duane has an MPA from Brigham Young University, has served in a wide variety of chapter, regional and international positions for YPO, and is active in the Boy Scouts of America. He splits his time between White Sulphur Springs, WV and Colorado Springs, CO.
Contact | Duane Zobrist | Resort Outfitters | P: 304-536-9245 | C: 304-661-3551 | dz@ResortOutfitters.com | Skype: Duane.Zobrist
YOUR
HOST
This YPO Webinar was underwritten by GoodFOR.us
Jeff Ullman,
Western Region Member at Large
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Send Panel Questions to:
First questions received will be first questions answered. Email: jeff@goodfor.us
