The Dime

AI has made software easier than ever to build. That does not mean every internal tool should become the backbone of your business. In this episode, Bryan sits down with Chris Guthrie to break down the growing temptation inside cannabis companies to vibe code internal tools, dashboards, CRMs, ERPs, and operational systems in the name of saving money. The problem is not the first version. The probl...

Cannabis rescheduling is not as simple as “Trump rescheduled cannabis.” States are interpreting rescheduling completely differently depending on their license structure. These tiny details are widening the gap between potential winners and losers. In this episode, we break down what actually changed, what is still unresolved, and why rescheduling may already be picking winners and losers. This wee...

Predictable cash flow is the whole game. In cannabis, predictable is the one thing almost nobody has. Organigram CEO James Yamanaka came up over 20 years at British American Tobacco, where that discipline is the entire model. He thinks the opportunity starts there: trim the portfolio, stop chasing every trend, tighten the supply chain, lean on the science, and align operations. Germany's market co...

When a regulator asks what the downside is of adding one more testing requirement, what is the downside? Just a little more safe. Just in case. Especially when adding one more item to an already exhaustive testing panel. That logic is how licensed cannabis markets end up buried under compliance layers copied from other states, calibrated to someone else's problems. It is also exactly how two adjac...

The cannabis industry convinced the world it had a medicine before the science caught up. Now the science is here, and almost no one is paying attention. CBD is not a panacea. When Charlotte's Web opened hearts and minds, the messaging of what it could do ran years ahead of what the data could actually support. That gap created a backlash the legitimate medical thesis didn't deserve. What's left o...

The number in your head and the number you actually need are not the same number. That gap is where most cannabis businesses break. Joe Lustberg has financed operators across the country for years and watched that gap swallow businesses that looked fine on paper. He has also spent over two years paying rent on a Hamptons dispensary he cannot open because a municipality tried to rezone his property...

Cannabis operators aren't short on data. They're drowning in it. The real problem is what happens when that data gets handed to the wrong person, read at the wrong time, or used to justify the wrong decision. Overproduction cycles, steep discounting, margin pressure building back into manufacturing: most of that traces back to data being used reactively instead of as a decision guidance tool. Laye...

A customer walks into the dispensary and asks the budtender for a flower recommendation. They end up with a degraded version of the once high-end flower that graced your cultivation floor. They do not know it. Your brand took the blame. Ed Rosenthal, the most referenced name in cannabis cultivation history, says the cannabis supply chain has a freshness problem that starts in the dry room and comp...

The largest payment processor in the world handles cannabis in Canada. In the U.S., they will not touch it. That’s the gap. Aubrey Amatelli left JP Morgan believing that if you followed the rules, aligned with card brand requirements, and structured things correctly, you could build a compliant, stable payment product. Then came Mastercard shutdowns, a failed tech partner that cost six figures, an...

Politics is a dirty business. Sometimes being feared is the influence you need because access is not the problem. Politicians say "we'll take care of this." Gretchen Gailey has a different approach: stab them in the back, push them down the stairs, and take credit for the fall. It's time to put fear behind cannabis. She spent 20 years on Capitol Hill. She's watched cannabis show up once a year for...

Investing in cannabis requires a split personality. Everyone thinks they're early. Dan McDermitt has been trading the sector for 15 years — through the Canadian boom, the Biden promise, and the slow bleed that followed. His take: if you've been through multiple pump-and-dump cycles, you're not early anymore. You're just still here. This is a masterclass in separating trader psychology from fundame...

Most cannabis companies chased scale. Rubicon chased quality. What does it actually take to build a premium cannabis brand? Trust sits behind what “premium” really means, why consumers only give brands one chance, how Rubicon evaluates resource capacity and audits operations, and why Europe could become the next meaningful opportunity for their trusted brands. This week we sit down with Margaret B...

When California legalized cannabis, did anyone see 70% of the state opting out. Retail access never recovered. The illicit market stayed durable. And taxes kept compounding pressure on operators. Micah Anderson, CEO of LEEF Brands, explains how local bans strengthened the illicit market, why pesticide drift can wipe out millions in product, and why he is rebuilding a recovery and wellness push wit...

Everyone knows the Cheech & Chong name. Almost no one understands the infrastructure behind it. This isn’t a celebrity brand story. It’s a leverage story inside a fragmented, state-locked cannabis market that could shift overnight. While most operators vertically integrate and hope legislation cooperates, Cheech & Chong are building optionality. Reverse licensing, local partnerships, and asset-lig...

Beverage may be the most approachable format in cannabis. Familiar ritual. Familiar packaging. Familiar context. Easily Sharable  But familiarity creates comparison. Alcohol. That means safety, expectation, and education cannot be left to chance. This week we sit down with Kristin and Eric Rogers of Levia to discuss: • Beverage as a social format • The responsibility of education • Scaling experie...

For the last 18–24 months, reported cannabis growth told an incomplete story. Demand did not plateau. It was fragmented — between hemp channels, illicit markets, and regulated operators. Now, with the Farm Bill loophole closing, Virginia coming online, and rescheduling potentially closer to execution, the numbers begin to look different. And feel different. This week we sit down with Trent Wolovec...

If you doubled your marketing spend tomorrow, would you double your sales? Most cannabis marketing does not fail because teams spend too little. It fails because marketing is asked to create success while known problems remain unfixed. That is why marketing is often the first thing cut when results stall. What has changed is that modern tracking makes attribution clearer and easier than ever. Attr...

Exceptional extraction has long been treated as an art. What separates the best teams is not creativity. It is the ability to repeat quality, consistently. And it is not SOP alone. It is judgment applied consistently under real constraints. Constraints that define what is technically possible, operationally realistic, and economically viable. Those constraints tart with understanding your system a...

Most cannabis automation fails for a simple reason. It optimizes motion instead of understanding. Automation executes. Robotics adapts. That distinction matters in an industry where variability is unavoidable and capital is limited. This episode breaks down why feedback loops matter more than machines, why fully automated facilities are still far off, and how teams should think about constraints b...

Jaunty’s rise to the top of the New York cannabis market was not an overnight success. It was built through discipline in a market uniquely designed New York’s rollout remains unforgiving. One store openings, supply and demand constraints, and continuous price compression forced every decision into the open. This week we sit down with Nicolas Guarino , Co-Founder and CEO of Jaunty , to break down...

Before CBD was discussed by a President in the Oval Office, it was a medical necessity. The Charlotte Figi story is well documented — and powerful. Not because it was emotional, but because it forced a serious medical conversation. Stories like Charlotte’s change how physicians, regulators, and institutions think about where cannabinoid therapy belongs — not as a last resort, but as a legitimate o...

Everyone wants their product and brand to be known for consistency . Almost no one is willing to do the difficult work that makes consistency possible. This week we sit down with Ryan Crandall, Chief Commercial Officer at MariMed, to break down: Why most cannabis brands fail at scale — and how process control, not an artisanal mindse t , determines who lasts How MariMed engineers consistency acros...

Schedule III isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting gun. The EO said a lot — but most operators aren’t ready for what it actually means. This week we sit down with Zach Edge and Dr. Matthew Moore to break down: Why Schedule III is guidance, not rules — and why the real impact comes during rulemaking What GMP, CFR, and pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing will actually require from operators Which...

SNDL is much bigger than most people realize — with global distribution, massive extraction capacity, and a diversified retail and manufacturing engine that touches nearly every part of the cannabis supply chain. This week we sit down with Tyler Robson , President of SNDL, to break down: • How SNDL became a global manufacturing and retail powerhouse • Why extraction and derivatives are their true...

Most operators think debt is dangerous. But what if the real problem is how we think about it? The opposite is true: when used correctly, debt is the single biggest growth lever in cannabis. Every major industry scales on borrowed capital — cannabis is the only one still trying to do it alone. This week we sit down with Adam Stettner to discuss: • Why debt — used properly — compounds growth • The...