Legacy Cannabis Lows & Highs: How an Oregon Operator Overcame a Roller Coaster of Regulations

02/17/22 • 42 min

An eviction notice on 4/20. That’s how Jesce Horton’s first foray into state-licensed cannabis cultivation ended in 2017. Part of it had to do with a one-in-a-million regulatory quirk that forced him to shut down a successful grow, and part of it was not being “passionate” about a not-so-successful retail arm. But Jesce remained confident in his process and product while never losing his love for the craft, so he tried again. The result is Lowd, Horton’s “dream company” that “embodies the art of urban craft cultivation.”

In this episode of Seed to CEO, Jesce shares:

How his education and experience in industrial engineering helped elevate his operations.
The importance of authenticity in creating loyalty and differentiating your brand in saturated markets.
Lessons he learned from his first foray into the regulated cannabis market.
How to raise capital for a second company after your first one fails.

Who is Jesce Horton?

Jesce Horton, CEO at Portland, Oregon-based Lowd, is a professional engineer specializing in automation and energy management. He started his cannabis cultivation journey growing medical marijuana in his basement for two elderly cancer patients. Jesce is the co-founder of the Minority Cannabis Business Association and a former chair and current member of the board of directors at the Resource Innovation Institute. He also sits on the Oregon Cannabis Association’s board and is an advisory board member for MJBizDaily. Jesce and his wife, Jeannette Ward Horton, founded the nonprofit organization Nu Project, which supports Black and brown cannabis entrepreneurs.

In this episode of Seed to CEO, Jesce shares:

How his education and experience in industrial engineering helped elevate his operations.
The importance of authenticity in creating loyalty and differentiating your brand in saturated markets.
Lessons he learned from his first foray into the regulated cannabis market.
How to raise capital for a second company after your first one fails.

Who is Jesce Horton?

Previous Episode

Gridiron to Ganja: How Lessons Learned on the Field Shaped the Highsman Strategy

When Ricky Williams retired from the NFL in 2004, the headlines were overwhelmingly negative: “Famous football player gives up everything for pot.” But instead of becoming a story of downfall, the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner went on to study herbology and create his opportunity in the cannabis industry – after returning to terrorize NFL defenses for six more seasons. In this episode of Seed to CEO, Ricky and CEO Eric Hammond share insights on how they’re building a community with their Highsman brand. Ricky and Eric talk about:

How they tap the intersection of sports and cannabis.
How sentiment in professional sports is changing.
Why building a strong team with varied skill sets is critical.
How to pitch your story without pitching.

Who are Ricky Williams and Eric Hammond?

In the sports world, Ricky Williams is perhaps best known as a bruising running back who tore through NFL defenses for a dozen years. But in the cannabis industry, he’s known as the longtime advocate who put his professional sports career on the line for the plant. Ricky has founded an herbal medicine company and a software business, and today he’s busy running his newest cannabis venture, Highsman, which he founded with Eric Hammond, a brand specialist. Eric cut his teeth on cannabis while at Greenlane Holdings, a cannabis distribution and supply company. Before cannabis, Eric specialized in business development in the audio industry as well as having founded his own scrap-metal recycling company.

Next Episode

From Pioneer to Public Exchange: How a Cannabis Tech Company Created a Road Map for Others

Jessica Billingsley's first foray into the cannabis industry was a direct investment in one of the first licensed marijuana companies in Colorado. But when she was tasked with identifying software to support the endeavor, she failed to find anything. So Jessica turned that vacuum into an opportunity and developed a seed-to-sale software, known as MJ Freeway, for the new industry. In this episode, Jessica talks about her journey from interested investor to CEO of a publicly traded cannabis firm, Akerna.

Jessica shares:

Why she left her own IT services company to work with cannabis.
The differences between heading a private firm and a publicly traded one.
How the cannabis industry has evolved over the past decade.
Where the next opportunities for the market might be.

Who is Jessica Billingsley?

Jessica Billingsley is an accomplished innovator, executive and board member in public and private international technology with more than 20 years of experience. She co-founded MJ Freeway in 2010, where she served as president until April 2018 and CEO until the company was acquired by MTech Acquisition Corp. to form Akerna. Shortly after that acquisition, Jessica led Akerna to become the first cannabis technology company listed on Nasdaq.