On this week’s episode of The Budding Report, we are joined by Rick Batenburg III and Warren Bobrow. The guests join our hosts Charles Horton, Melissa Nasits, Christian Shaw, MD, PhD, and Chris Perri as we discuss Marijuana Advocates Seriously eye Federal Legalization After Election.
Being a venture capitalist means being the centralized ignition point to connect ideas, people and resources. Creating something where there was nothing is the best way I know how to contribute to our society that has given us so much. Spent 3.5 years playing Jr. Hockey in Canada. Business School at Nichols College in Massachusetts. Cut my teeth at Merrill Lynch in Private Wealth. Executed the syndicate ‘buys’ for IPOs and secondary issues. I developed a specialty in bringing private equity alternatives into our portfolio. My work in private deals growing up and then again with ML is where I developed a taste for venture capital and began looking for an entry point outside of the constraints of a large firm. In 2015, Colorado we formed Cliintel Capital Management Group, a venture firm focused on emerging markets and more specifically cannabis. CCMG became the first Qualified Institutional Investment capital firm in Colorado to own THC licensed facilities through a venture fund. We have acquired, built and growing cannabis companies across the supply chain preparing for ubiquitous legalization across the globe starting here in the epicenter of the cannabis universe, Colorado.
Warren Bobrow, the Cocktail Whisperer, is the multi-published author of six books. Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today, Whiskey Cocktails: Rediscovered Classics and Contemporary Craft Drinks, Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails & Elixirs, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks & Buzz-Worthy Libations and his celebrated, 2017 release, The Craft Cocktail Compendium. He also has an edition of Apothecary Cocktails translated into French for the European market. Bobrow led a panel on Cannabis Cocktails for Park Street University at the Berlin Bar Convent in Germany. He is self-made.
1. Please tell me about yourself? What brought you to the cannabis/botany world? Healing? What was your inspiration to do what you do?
I grew up in North Carolina in a conservative town where cannabis legalization felt like the furthest thing from reality. I couldn’t have been more out of place. I was the skater kid with dyed hair, and I wrote a punk ‘zine. Out of curiosity to see how hard it was, I planted my first seeds when I was 17. Of course, I had no idea how to grow good weed and I’m pretty sure I fed my first plants Miracle Grow.
In college, I connected with other growers
and learned how to actually grow quality cannabis. That’s where I met my wife,
Karen, who’s also a Trym co-founder. After studying engineering, we moved to
California in 2007 and I started working in the Solar Industry. We also started
the first of many home grows together and we’ve been growing ever since.
A lot of my friends worked in the cannabis
industry and when Prop 64 passed, the timing felt right for me to make the
move. In 2017, I started going to tradeshows to check out the scene. I wanted
to work with growers, and with my engineering and product development
background, it seemed like I could build software to help them succeed in the
regulated industry.
That’s when we decided to start Trym. At
first, we had more passion than direction but we spent as much time as possible
meeting with growers and learning about their challenges. Eventually we started
building the product, launched a super rough beta with a great California brand
in July of 2018, and everything grew from there.
2. Please tell me about your
company? What do you do that’s different, therefore better than your
competition? What stigmas do you face?
Our software helps large-scale
commercial cultivators get organized, be more productive, and scale their
businesses. Running a cultivation business in the regulated cannabis industry
isn’t easy, and many companies are trying to scale and establish themselves.
Labor accounts for nearly half of cannabis production costs, so there’s real
value in helping growers become more productive.
Our customers love Trym’s task management and
compliance reporting capabilities. Running a large team and maintaining
compliance are two of the biggest headaches for cultivators. We’re helping them
overcome those challenges with user-friendly software and excellent customer
support.
We’re passionate about helping growers
succeed because we love cannabis and want this industry to thrive. One key differentiator,
versus many of the other cannabis software providers, is that we’re entirely focused on cultivation. We dive deep into the
specific needs of cultivators and pride ourselves on building software that
brings them significant value. We give growers full transparency into
everything happening in their facility, from what their team is doing and the
conditions their plants are exposed to, all the way to automating the
compliance review process and reducing errors.
The biggest stigma we face as a tech company
is that we’re a cannabis tech
company. Even though we don’t directly touch the plant, we still face many of
the same banking and operational challenges that plant touching businesses
have.
3. What is your six and twelve
month plan? What obstacles exist in your professional world? How do you
anticipate removing them?
We recently closed our seed round and we’re
planning to use that capital to keep building the platform and growing market
share. Since we’re based in California, we’ve focused on expanding our presence
here but we’re also quickly growing beyond the 15 states where we currently
operate.
In the next six months, we’re focusing on
several strategic partnerships with hardware and software companies that will
enable us to build a smart and impactful ecosystem for the cultivation space.
In the next 12 months, we’re planning to
launch more advanced analytics reporting that will help growers really dig into
the factors that matter. To scale up to our industry’s potential, growers need
to be able to optimize yields and quality, while decreasing their costs. And
then, ultimately replicate their successes. Our roadmap supports these goals,
so stay tuned!
Like so many others, our biggest challenge is
trying to find some level of normalcy, enjoyment, and success in the midst of a
global pandemic. To overcome this, we’re staying flexible and adapting as
needed. Luckily for Trym, our family, and our customers, cannabis is an
essential service and we’ve seen a major increase in sales in recent months.
As a team, we actively encourage our
employees to take time off for whatever reasons they need. We’ve worked hard to
foster a culture of openness and empathy, and in these trying times, it’s what
will carry us through.
Overall, we’re excited about our company’s
growth and by the great feedback we consistently get from our customers about
how much we’re helping their businesses thrive.
4. What is your favorite food
memory from childhood? What does your favorite (birthday) meal look like
now? Favorite food?
My favorite childhood food memory is probably
from when I was 7 or 8. I played on a little league baseball team that was
named after a burger joint in town called Hap’s Grill. After the games, the
whole team would go to the restaurant, which was this super small hole in the
wall place with no tables, and we’d eat hotdogs and cheeseburgers and drink
sodas out of glass bottles while sitting on the sidewalk.
For my favorite birthday meal, I have to go
with sushi. Some tuna sashimi, some kind of a spicy roll, and inari.
It’s hard to pick one “favorite food” but I’d
say a California burrito with pollo asada instead of carne asada is what I
crave often. If you live on the West Coast, you’ve probably heard of a
California Burrito, which is a burrito with carne asada, french fries,
guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. I don’t eat much beef, so I swap it out for
grilled chicken. When I’m on a long run, this is usually what I start dreaming
of as a post-run meal.
5. What is your passion?
I’m obsessed with the outdoors. Mostly trail
running, snowboarding, and camping, but I enjoy almost anything that gets me
outside. My love for nature helped shape me into an environmentalist, and
that’s why I ended up working in solar for several years.
Live music has also been a huge part of my
life. My twenties were filled with seeing bands like Phish, STS9, and
Widespread Panic. My wife Karen and I met at a Widespread show in college and
we’ve traveled all over the country together for music and adventuring. Even
though we’re startup founders and parents, we’ve still been able to make it to
shows and festivals or, at least, we used to pre-COVID.
Of course, I’m also very passionate about
cannabis. The health benefits are clear from a medical perspective, but also as
a healthy alternative to alcohol. Cannabis goes perfectly with outdoor
activities and live music, so it’s played a big part in my life as well.
If the name Warren Bobrow rings a bell, we wouldn’t be surprised. Warren is a multi-published author of six books, Forbes contributor, chef, mixologist and cannabis professional. He basically does it all! We had to get the scoop on his life, work, and what he has coming up next! Hint: it involves a gnome named Klaus.
First off, how are you doing and how are you coping during this pandemic?
I had a mild form of the virus in Boston. I was there during the Biogen time, and I stayed at the Marriott. I had a 102 fever, and I lost my sense of taste and smell and slept for two days in a pool of sweat wearing a down jacket. It was like I was on acid—a bad trip, not a good one. I feel MUCH better now! I’m accustomed to working from home. I have for nearly five years. It’s cathartic, and I can smoke as much weed as I want.
Tell us about yourself! How did you get where you are today?
That’s a good question. I was originally in TV/film starting in my teens, and I had dreams of making movies. I got my degree in film and worked in TV for several years. I also worked at the famed NYC club, Danceteria, in their video booth. But nightlife and I aren’t perfect together. So I found myself with a substance abuse problem and no job.
Warren Bobrow!
I moved up to Maine, where I spent the next few years really poor, working as a dishwasher. I wanted to become a chef, but I didn’t know how until I moved to Portland—before it was chic. I worked my way up the culinary line, finally landing a job with the late Jim Ledue, who taught me the value of soups, stocks, and sauces.
My path took me to culinary school at Johnson & Wales in Charleston, South Carolina. While I was there, I founded a fresh pasta corporation, which should have been a dream but was a nightmare. My first failure of many to follow.
I bounced around for a while, working nights and weekends in wine stores and gourmet food shops. Finally, in 2009, I started writing, and the words just flowed from deep inside me. It became my therapy and passion. I was writing restaurant reviews for NJ Monthly, and I happened upon a brilliant, young, hot-headed chef named Anthony Bucco. He was the toughest boss I’d ever had, and his beverage guy, Chris James, taught me everything I know about the business. I had forty years of experience, but knew nothing! They’re so important because they gave me my first opportunity to really make something of myself. On my 50th birthday, I started working as a bar back at the Ryland Inn, in New Jersey. That was the hardest job of my life, and it defined my future.
If I was going to write about spirits, I needed authenticity. Very few spirits writers ever got behind the stick. I had the stick bashed (metaphorically) over my head. Now, I’m a master mixologist, who coincidentally has smoked weed since I was twelve!
My first book of six, Apothecary Cocktails, was nominated for a spirited award at Tales of the Cocktail. But I quit drinking in 2018, and started working in cannabis full time. Forbes followed, and I recreated myself, yet again. This time for real.
Opening up a bottle of wine, and that would be ______?
Biodynamic, organic, or, at least, sustainable from the Languedoc region.
Guests are arriving in 15 minutes, can you share an easy go-to cocktail recipe?
For an easy cocktail, I’d make a punch. You should always have fresh juices on hand and Rhum Agricole. I’d make a Martinique Fruit Punch for ten or more. You’ll need:
Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl. Garnish with fresh citrus fruit rounds. Easy to drink and to enjoy no matter the season—especially in the winter.
What’s everyone drinking when they hang with you?
People are drinking non-alcoholic beverages from my THC-infused drink company, Klaus Apothicaire. Most don’t drink alcohol that much, but they love my well-crafted mocktails.
Music you’re listening to when you’re imbibing?
Ry Cooder—Jazz with a twist. He’s an American legend!
We’re serving cocktails for dessert, what should we make?
For dessert, it’s Chartreuse, straight up. Like horseradish…enlightening to say the least.
Take a frozen glass, preferably a tequila glass, rub the inside with lemon zest, pour very cold Chartreuse into it, and garnish with lemon twist.
Hoochie Coochie Man from Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics
One person you’d love to share a cocktail with?
Legendary mixologist, Gaz Regan, because he’s gone. He taught me so much, and I want another finger-stirred Negroni with him.
On pairing cannabis and cocktails, share your secrets and tips
Less is more. Like Thai food, don’t get too spicy the first time out. Never more than one cannabis cocktail per hour, because it can hit hard. Take some CBD if you get overwhelmed—I wish I knew about that when I wrote the book in 2015.
Talk to us about future cocktail trends
Future cocktail trends include lighter drinking, vermouth, and amaro. Bourbon will always be popular, like Scotch. Gin will come and go. Vodka? What’s that? I prefer Mezcal to Tequila. For rum, an Agricole with an AOC.
I want to write a book with Jamie Evans on THC/CBD cocktails and mocktails.
We also hear you’re coming out with a new THC-infused drink, share the details!
The infamous Klaus
Yes, I’m coming out with a new libation, unlike anything on the market. There are some contenders out there, but this one isn’t an insipid seltzer or a fake beer. It’s unique because it’s what we call in beverages an RTD, or Ready to Drink.
It’s called Klaus, and it’s my recipe, not one developed by a Madison Avenue Ad Agency. (I know all about this, more than you’d ever imagine. That worm in the Mezcal? Toss it down the drain. It’s the creation of an ad agency. And good ice, no cheater ice please.) My drink is named in honor of my 1800’s German drinking gnome, Klaus. He’s come with me all over the world.
Klaus is powered by the early Apothecary—the full name is Klaus Apothicaire (the French way of spelling ‘apothecary’). Klaus is live THC resin. It hits fast, and it tastes as delicious as my cocktails and mocktails.
When can we try Klaus?
It’s safe to say that we will have the brand launched and available for purchase in 2020.
Fill in the blank—I’m supporting ________ because ______
I support animal rescue efforts in Morris County, NJ, because my now three-year-old kittens, Isabella and Amabella, came to me this way.
Please tell me about where Natty Rems has gone since we spoke last? What kind of change have you activated?
Natty Rems since we last spoke has expanded its cultivation canopy, extraction operations, and overall square footage over 3x growing from 23,000sf to 83,000sf. We are on track to be in 300 doors statewide by end of Q1 2021 and plan on being in 400+ stores by the end of 2021. Natty has revamped all branding presentation, packaging, labeling, business plans, and overall messaging in line with our expansion. Our genetic library has been expanded and reinvigorated old heirlooms to start reintroducing them to the market that we feel is drowned with so called “exotics”. With us releasing the familial parents of these genetics back to market including our OG Line as well as a Long Flowering Line by the end of 2021 we feel this will uniquely separate our brand from the rest of the market. Both lines will be limited releases every 2-4 months we believe there’s still a lot of room for these REAL exotics to make a comeback in the market, we are one of the only companies in the country that I know of with a lot of these real OGs and unique Sativas. We have held some of them for over 11 years so the team knows how to properly revive and nurture these legacy cultivars through experience and true appreciation!
2. What are your six and twelve month goals now that you’ve expanded your business? What obstacles do you face how? How do you anticipate removing those obstacles?
Our overall goal is to showcase our hard work since 2009 to be able to continually produce consistent and highest quality cannabis products even on a large scale producing the most of the best. With all of our business expansion we have also focusing on being a responsible that sustainable company. Natty is very excited to announce that we plan on implementing fully recyclable or reusable packaging within the next 3 years. We plan on improving our overall water/energy use in both operating and new facilities once the technology is at a place where we feel it is truly effectively accomplishing it’s overall goal. We are currently testing multiple manufacturer’s LED fixtures not only in Colorado but all other markets we are working on entering. Our live resin cartridges have taken off as we’ve continued to automate and optimize all of our processes to be able to continue to focus on the quality of our products at scale and we want to use this success to be a responsible and sustainable company.
At Natty Rems the focus has always been elevating community, culture, and cannabis by blending artistic expression and applied sciences and it has been great to see this come to fruition especially with our upcoming sustainability and social equity plans. We plan on being a fully inclusive company with all current and future business initiatives being updated including reviewing our hiring and employment training/educational materials with a minority owned HR entity to ensure accurate, appropriate information and practices being utilized by donating to community movements; donating and supporting Last Prisoner Project and including educational materials about cannabis incarceration throughout all of Natty Rems’ clients/partners across the country! While the company continues to grow we hope to truly be responsible and humble partners to right the many wrongs that were created by the war on drugs especially for minority communities across this whole country.
Andrew Boyens, Founder of Natty Rems
The 6 month goal is to be in the aforementioned 400+ doors statewide while still maintaining the brand reputation we have built over 11 years in the industry. Our 12 month goal is to continue to expand our SKU set starting with ice water extracted products and several others that we believe are underserved SKUs on the market. We know this will make a lot of people in Colorado and beyond as excited as us because we plan on being able to apply our dialed expertise to these products to make them more scalable and affordable quality for the consumer with the same quality that Natty is known for!
3. Tell me about your company in the current day world? What do you do that’s better than your competition and how do you continue to raise the bar now that you are a much bigger company?
Natty Rems’ team as a whole is bigger and stronger than it has ever been and that scale is what we have been waiting for! I am personally very proud of our team and how they have shown the ability, knowledge and overall wisdom to effectively scale our quality product lines (both plant and extract). Now that we have been able to accomplish what we feel was the hardest part of building a scalable product line as well as a brand we plan on using it wisely, strategically, and pragmatically. The timing for the first time in my many years of being in this cannabis business has aligned and I plan on utilizing the consistency of our product, expanded production, new skus and experiential marketing style to our advantage to continue to build our brand presence to truly show how we are better than the competition. We want to educate consumers to show them that they can depend on Natty for the same experience every single time they purchase not only in Colorado but nationwide.
4. What’s your favorite food memory from childhood? What’s your favorite Saturday Night dinner consist of?
This one is easy, homemade-from-scratch southern chicken and dumplings or biscuits and gravy made by my mother, hands down this is still my favorite thing to indulge in. Saturday night usually consists of a nice meal ordered in or going out with the favorite still being a proper pizza(which I’m still searching for consistently in Denver).
5. What’s your passion?
My passion is truly family and business strategy in that order.
1. Please tell me about yourself. Why cannabis instead of law, medicine or science?
I was on track of becoming a doctor… . I was doing the pre-med courses, the long nights and sometimes all-nighters in the dorm room studying… but really this was more the vision my parents had loaded onto me (the classic immigrant parent story- “the way to be successful is to become a lawyer or a doctor!”). My parents immigrated from El Salvador during the civil war and I was born and raised in San Francisco CA. My parents are a big motivator and importance in my life. My father is a custodian and my mother a florist. Thankfully I had it within myself to challenge the family pressure and to drop the pre-med studies and to follow my true calling, entrepreneurialism.
2. Please tell me about your company. What is your goal?
Herbal Goods Co. is a Vancouver, BC-based company with startup roots in my hometown of San Francisco, CA. All we focus on is our wild foraged pre-roll cones we call Herbal Goods. We’re not trying to introduce new grinders, cone fillers, pipes, or anything like that. We are literally head down in making what we truly believe is the smoothest pre-roll cones in the game.
Each and every Herbal Goods pre-rolled cone is meticulously hand-rolled and tied. This allows us to completely eliminate toxic glues, bleach, paper, and additives while providing you with what we believe is the smoothest and cleanest smoke you’ll experience from a pre-roll.
Herbal Goods Company
We wild harvest our Ebony leaves in Bengal. This process enables a machine, pesticide, and monoculture free harvesting process. After harvest, our leaves are sun-dried for two weeks in preparation for rolling. Once dry, each Herbal Goods leaf is cut to size and shape by hand. Each of our cones is then carefully rolled and tied by hand to create our Herbal Goods cones.
Our unique filters are made from sun-dried corn husks that are rolled and tied by hand. No paper, no card stock, no glue. Finally, our cones undergo a curing process which sets the final Herbal Goods cone shape and removes all remaining moisture. This is done in an open flame clay oven.
What’s really lovely is that our cones are made by our amazing team of workers in India. We are proud to have a workforce made up of 85% women who would otherwise be without work given their rural location. By decentralizing the process of rolling our cones we are able to offer workers the freedom to earn a living while staying in their local communities. What this means is that rather than traveling to a local center for work, they are able to sustain normal rhythms and tasks by working from home. This is particularly important for female workers in rural India who are expected to care for the home and children.
Our goal here is to have Herbal Goods be a widely distributed accessory product within the space of cannabis as the best all-natural pre-roll option.
3. Our ‘elevator pitch’: A 100% natural wild forge ebony leaf pre-roll that eliminates toxic glues, bleach, paper, and additives and provides you with what we believe is the smoothest and cleanest smoke you’ll experience.
Herbal Goods Company
4. Favorite food memory?: My nickname my entire family (including distant family) calls me is Gordo (fat in Spanish). I was nearly 13 pounds when I was born. Yes, poor mama, indeed. Anyways… I loved mangos, still do! My earliest memory is chasing the mango with my mouth as it danced around the bowl my parents put it in. I’d be chasing it for hours… The result, a face that looked like a mango. Do you cook?: I love my breakfast. Two poached eggs over a bed of sunflower sprouts, organic farmers market sauerkraut, a cashew jalapeno spread on a lightly toasted olive sourdough bread. Favorite thing you prepare? Pupusas! A Salvadorian dish I highly recommend.
5. What is your passion? My passion is using my creativity to create things people love and enjoy. Since University I’ve been designing products and putting them out into the market. From meditation tools, water bottles, to plant-based shower sponges, Herbal Goods is just another one of my product creations made with a lot of love and creativity – that we hope everyone loves and enjoy when they try!
