Thinking Outside The Bud

Tom Zuber is the Managing Partner of Zuber Lawler & Del Duca LLP, which handles IP, acquisitions, IPO’s and litigation. He has personally advised some of the most iconic companies in the world on their patent and trademark portfolios. He is at the cutting edge of cannabis patent and trademark law. Tom holds a law degree from Columbia Law School, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard...

Jessie Gill, RN is a cannabis nurse with a background in holistic health and hospice. After suffering a spinal injury, she reluctantly became a medical marijuana patient then quickly transitioned into an advocate. Her site, MarijuanaMommy.com educates about cannabis while challenging the stigma against marijuana use. She’s been featured on Viceland and her work has appeared on VICE, GoodHousekeepi...

Henry Finkelstein, CEO & Founder of Cannabis Big Data, empowers colleagues and clients by spinning data into gold with intuitive, actionable insights. After working in e-commerce, consulting, healthcare and government contracting, Henry saw the opportunity to create a modern-day data toolkit for licensed cannabis businesses that connects all the data dots with simple, intuitive, one-click repo...

As the CEO of The Hybrid Creative, Zack is deeply focused on business development and expansion of the award-winning agency into the premier international platform for launching successful cannabis brands. Zack brings 20+ years of experience in brand development, design, marketing and event production. Having been raised by cannabis farmers in the Emerald Triangle, he is truly “second generation.”...

Jordan Wellington, Esq., Chief Compliance Officer at Simplifya, served as the sole legislative staffer assigned to shepherd the legislation implementing Amendment 64 and the legalization of cannabis through the Colorado General Assembly. Building upon his work with the firm, Jordan created the vision and co-founded Simplifya, a software company that provides compliance solution to cannabis busines...

Vinay Tolia is the incoming CEO, pending regulatory approval, of The Flowr Corporation, a Health Canada Licensed Producer that cultivates ultra-premium nin-irradiated cannabis. An early investor in Flwor and former advisor to the company, Mr. Tolia is the managing member of Bengal Capital Trading LLC, a derivatives trading firm with a focus on listed equity options, and previously held roles with...

Jonathan is a shareholder in a boutique 18-attorney law firm that exclusively practices intellectual property law. Jon focuses on trademark, copyright and trade secret litigation and transactional work. He works with clients to register their intellectual property rights domestically and internationally, and license these rights when fruitful for his clients. He enforces and defends copyright, tra...

Jane West, Colorado-based CEO of the eponymous cannabis lifestyle brand Jane West, has emerged as a central figure in mainstream cannabis culture. When West lost her job as a corporate event planner in 2014 after her employer spotted her with a vape pen on CNBC, the working mother dove headfirst into the cannabis industry. She launched Edible Events, Colorado’s premiere cannabis event production c...

Amanda Reiman is the Vice President of Community Relations for Flow Kana, a branded cannabis distribution company that works with small farmers in the Emerald Triangle. She is also the Secretary of the International Cannabis Farmer's Association, a non profit that advocates for research and policies that favor sun grown cannabis cultivation through traditional farming methods and a Board member fo...

Dean Harris has an extensive background building brands and businesses. He has served as the Head of Marketing/Chief Marketing Offices for HotJobs, Vonage, Katak, kgb and BlueCava, Three of these brands went public and two were acquired. Before his CMO work, he co-founded and ran a full-service ad agency in New York City and Connecticut with accounts that included: Coca-Cola, J&J, Citi and Sot...

Nancy Gruskin Warner, is the CEO and founder of Assurpack. Nancy has a degree in package engineering and over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically in contract packaging, including expertise with materials, design, function, regulatory compliance and manufacturing. In 2012, Nancy co-founded Mina Pack, a contract packaging company providing specialty unit dose contract...

Dr. Jonathan Vaught is CEO and Founder of Front Range Biosciences™. Previously, he was Director of Assay Development at Velocity Sciences, an IP development company creating next generation assay technologies for diagnostic applications. He also served as a Senior Product Development Scientist at Beacon Biotechnology, where he led development of a foodborne pathogen detection platform. Prior to Be...

Jed is the founder and director of Elevated Talks: Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference, a platform for luxury-minded and design-forward visionaries in the modern Cannabis space. He is also CEO and head of content strategy for his company 818 Agency, an award-winning event content marketing agency based in NYC — as well as a leading retail and market trends journalist and strategist quoted in WWD, For...

Thinking Outside the Bud is a business podcast devoted to driving innovation in the cannabis space. During each episode, we speak with founders, investors, thought leaders, researchers, advocates, and policy makers who are finding new and exciting ways for cannabis to positively impact business, society, and culture. Have each episode delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: http://www.thinkin...

Mark is President of VantagePoint Benefit Administrators, a key provider of employee benefit services to a variety of entities throughout the country. Prior to starting his own company, Mark spent ten years working in various capacities in the insurance field at Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Group Health Incorporated, and Precise Benefits Administrators. Mark’s primary role with these compani...

David Champion is Co-founder and CPO at Baker - the leading CRM for the cannabis industry, helping dispensaries generate more revenue and build relationships with their customers in one easy-to-use platform. Brought up in Papua New Guinea, Portugal and Scotland, Champion most recently lived in Kenya, where he founded an educational non-profit in response to policies that unfairly exclude children...

Andy is the founder and president of Apeks Supercritical, a leading CO2 extraction system manufacturer, established in 2001 in Johnstown, OH. He is an engineer and skilled fabricator with experience in engineering and operations management. Andy and his team continually work to improve the processes and capabilities of Apeks Supercritical systems to increase processing efficiency for faster extrac...

Throughout his career JP has been creating understanding and connections between people and brands, buyers and sellers, companies and employees. He began his career at MCI, marketing some of the world’s very first Internet services, and seeing first-hand how a powerful brand – and a committed culture – could disrupt a 100-year old monopoly and change the world. Over the next twenty years, JP held...

Steve chairs global cannabis law firm Hoban Law Group's Pennsylvania and New Practice and Financial Services Group. With 14 offices and 441 lawyers, Hoban Law Group is only practice 100% devoted to cannabis and hemp law. Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Steve represents entities, governments and individuals in choosing a structure, preparing and submitting license application,...

Ronit Pinto is a filmmaker, founder and publisher of Honeysuckle Magazine. Bringing counterculture subject matter to the mainstream, Honeysuckle strives to normalize taboo subjects and put everything out onthe table through diverse voices and visual impact. Issues include sustainability, spirituality, social issue, culture and art. Ronit founded Honeysuckle in Detroit in 2013 and is now on her 7th...

JeffThe420Chef, author of The 420 Gourmet, The Elevated Art of Cannabis Cuisine (Harper Wave, 2016), has quickly risen to prominence in both the cannabis and culinary worlds. Jeff is the pioneer of "layered micro-dosing" and famous for inventing FreeLeaf™, odorless, tasteless, cannabis for stealth smoking and for creating "tasteless" edibles. Jeff was recently named one of Amer...

Ms. Bell joined the staff of MPP in December 2015 and is working toward reform in D.C., Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming. Prior to joining MPP, she worked as a criminal defense attorney based in Baltimore, Maryland, where she witnessed first-hand how the racially disparate enforcement of prohibition warps the relationships between police and the co...

Nurturing others with wholesome, healing foods is part of Jenny’s DNA. She grew up in her Greek grandfather's restaurant and her grandmother cooked traditional Polish food for the family every day. When Jenny was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, she discovered the powerful health benefits of CBD (full spectrum hemp). She began experimenting with using CBD (full spectrum hemp) in cooking and i...

Julie Wilson Gordon is originally from Parkersburg, WV. She relocated to Greensboro, NC and started working as a Marketing Director for a local Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer. Her passion for health came after enduring severe gastrointestinal disorders and stress that resulted from being a single mother and working nonstop. After several years of relying on doctors and prescription meds, she de...

Matthew Nordgren is an ambitious executive, dedicated philanthropist, and accomplished athlete who brings a unique passion to creating strategic alliances. He brings breadth and depth of experience in finance, corporate development, and capital sourcing, as well as in building highly motivated teams of skilled professionals.  Mr. Nordgren is currently CEO and Founder of ARCADIAN Fund and ARCADIAN...