#011 Sa'ad Shah interview: finding your purpose with psychedelics

09/17/21 • 31 min

SO WHAT:
See why an experienced investor went all-in on psychedelics.
SUMMARY:
We talk with Sa'ad Shah, Managing Partner and cofounder of the Noetic Fund, about becoming grounded, finding purpose, and the transfer of knowledge vs wisdom. We discuss the profound personal psychedelic experience, pandemic silver linings, and the deep ineffable communication after years of marriage.
HIGHLIGHTS:
— THE NUGGET: the DEA increases research limits by 5000% (0:43)
— THE NOODLE: Psychedelic dispensaries (1:31)
— Deciding to launch a psychedelic VC fund (2:30)
— A big silver lining with COVID and "enforced Vipassana" (3:55)
— Psychedelics helping to find purpose (5:45)
— Twin flames and Sa'ad's Stan Grof interview bringing him to tears (8:30)
— Illness vs wellness; dental floss and "mental" floss (13:08)
— Psychedelics to feel better, more grounded, and dissolve fears (16:17)
— Psychedelics: the most profound subjective personal experience (21:32)
— Annihilation of the fear of death... and non-duality (22:55)
— SOUL SEARCH: Sa'ad's question for God, and a San Pedro callout (28:34)
— SLAP and a CLAP: the FDA and Compass Pathways (29:55)
SA'AD SHAH
He is the co-founder and managing partner of Noetic, a venture capital firm that seeks to invest in emerging and early-stage psychedelic-based wellness, therapeutic and pharmaceutical companies around the world.
Sa’ad has spent the last 22 years in capital markets and asset management industry with a
focus on alternative investment strategies. Prior to co-founding Noetic, Sa’ad was a managing director at The Carlyle Group.
Sa’ad is also the co-founder and managing partner at Grey House Partners, venture partner at Alpha Partners, an affiliate partner at Lindsay Goldberg LLC and a venture advisor to Learn Capital LLC.
He is also a filmmaker, scriptwriter and producer, and a board member of The Necessary Angel Theatre in Toronto and Council of Advisors for The Wende Museum in Los Angeles.
Sa’ad graduated with a BA Economics and Political Science from Columbia University. Sa’ad is the proud father of two daughters, and lives in Toronto.
Find Sa'ad here:
https://noeticfund.com/
See the inspiration behind the Psychedelic Diaries here:
https://www.textpert.ai/post/the-psychedelic-macrodose-diary-what-you-learn-when-you-journey-inward

Previous Episode

#010 Ben Lightburn interview: creating natural psilocybin for the masses

We talk with Benjamin Lightburn, CEO and cofounder of Filament Health, about blending natural psychedelics with novel technology. We discuss the "entourage effect," Vancouver dispensaries openly selling psychedelics, and Filament's mystery psychedelic compound coming soon.

Highlights

— THE NUGGET: Toronto and Michigan with new psychedelic legalization bills (0:32)

— THE NOODLE: How to compare MDMA, LSD and psilocybin applications (0:53)

— Why they chose natural psilocybin and their approach to IP (1:28)

— Does the "entourage effect" work, and how to prove it (6:49)

— Psychedelic "suggestion bias" (8:12)

— The path for healthy people to pursue legal psychedelics (11:30)

— The case for legalization (13:23)

— Dispensaries in Vancouver are openly selling magic mushrooms (16:24)

— The first pharmaceutical grade natural psychedelic product (17:55)

— SOUL SEARCH: Ben's preferred mind-altering substance on a desert island (21:20)

— SLAP and a CLAP: Eleusis and Novamind (24:53)

Ben Lightburn

He is a proven entrepreneur and leader specializing in the research, development and commercialization of novel extraction technologies.

He is applying this experience to the delivery of psychedelic medicines as CEO and Co-Founder of Filament Health

Find Ben here:

https://filament.health/

See the inspiration behind the Psychedelic Diaries here.

Next Episode

#012 Madison Margolin: removing the lens of anxiety

So what:

See why a reporter went all-in on psychedelics and deciding to teach people how to grow magic mushrooms.

Summary:

We talk with Madison Margolin, cofounder and editorial director of DoubleBlind, about psychedelics-as-a-muse, experiencing complete presence. We discuss her profound personal psychedelic experience, seeing the dimensions of the stars and feeling the concept of God.
Highlights:

— THE NUGGET: Detroit to vote on psychedelic decriminalization (0:45)

— THE NOODLE: what would full legalization look like? (1:13)

— Deciding to teach people to grow mushrooms (2:27)

— What a world with widespread legal psychedelics looks like (6:20)

— 3 of Madison's profound mystical experiences, and complete presence (10:15)

— Stripping anxiety away from the lens of your consciousness (14:06)

— SOUL SEARCH: a message from future-Madison and her favorite mind altering substance (18:46)

— SLAP and a CLAP: California legislators and Decriminalize Nature (21:57)

Madison Margolin:

She is the co-founder and editorial director of DoubleBlind, a media company and education platform at the forefront of the rapidly growing psychedelic movement.

As a working journalist based between New York and Los Angeles, Margolin has covered psychedelics, cannabis, drug policy, Jewish culture, and spirituality for a variety of publications including Playboy Magazine, Rolling Stone, Nylon, VICE, LA Weekly, High Times, Tablet, and others.

A graduate of Columbia Journalism School and UC Berkeley, Margolin has traveled everywhere from pot farms in the Emerald Triangle to the shores of the Ganges River, and all over Israel-Palestine, exploring the role of plant medicine in religion, mental health, and conflict resolution.

She got her start in journalism with a column on cannabis at the Village Voice, after having lived in south Tel Aviv working with Eritrean refugees.

With more than 6 years of experience covering cannabis and psychedelics, Madison has spoken on topics like social equity, cannabis feminism, and drug journalism at conferences like SXSW, Horizons: Perspectives in Psychedelics, Digital Hollywood, the Association of Alternative New Media, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Pepperdine's Cannabis Law Symposium, and more.

Find Madison here:

IG — @madisonmargolin

https://www.doubleblindmag.com

https://www.madisonmargolin.com