Whole-Plant, Whole Business Papa and Barkley's Recipe for Cannabis Success

05/19/22 • 30 min

Papa & Barkley CEO Guy Rocourt is out to right the “outright wrongs” in cannabis, he tells host Chris Walsh in this episode of Seed to CEO.

The legacy market grower and processor has leveraged this ethos to build one of the cannabis industry’s most respected and successful companies. But it also took acquiring and implementing new business skills, something that Rocourt learned the hard way.

Rocourt, a U.S. Navy veteran who did submarine duty, takes listeners on a deep dive to explore:

How to leverage experimentation and observation for more effective cannabis therapy
Why whole-plant and solventless medicine are superior when it comes to cannabis formulations
Why you should be wary when investors throw money at you
Why great products need branding and marketing to reach the public
The importance of having first-mover advantage
Taking a long-term view to your company’s success in the cannabis industry

Who is Guy Rocourt?

Guy Rocourt is the co-founder and CEO of Papa & Barkley, a Los Angeles-based cannabis company specializing in topicals, edibles, ingesitbles, and transdermal products. The seven-year-old company sells CBD products nationwide and THC products in California. A former legacy operator, Rocourt in 2009 started Black Diamond Vapes, a vape cartridge company he is still president of today, and in 2012 he co-founded and built NEOS, on of Denver’s first light hydrocarbon extraction facilities. The extraction pioneer is also a U.S. Navy veteran and erstwhile filmmaker whose passion and insight makes him one of the cannabis industry’s most sought-after speakers.

Papa & Barkley CEO Guy Rocourt is out to right the “outright wrongs” in cannabis, he tells host Chris Walsh in this episode of Seed to CEO.

Rocourt, a U.S. Navy veteran who did submarine duty, takes listeners on a deep dive to explore:

How to leverage experimentation and observation for more effective cannabis therapy
Why whole-plant and solventless medicine are superior when it comes to cannabis formulations
Why you should be wary when investors throw money at you
Why great products need branding and marketing to reach the public
The importance of having first-mover advantage
Taking a long-term view to your company’s success in the cannabis industry

Who is Guy Rocourt?

Previous Episode

Be Smokey the Bear: How one cannabis CEO stops fires before they start

Scott Kenyon brought decades of tech company and board experience when he joined the board of Würk, a Denver-based payroll and human resources software company serving the cannabis industry. But when Kenyon was suddenly thrust into the CEO role a year-and-a-half ago, he had to switch gears from being an interested advisor to the company pilot. Being a tech industry veteran, Kenyon was somewhat in familiar territory, but this was cannabis, unlike any other industry he’d been in.

What did Scott do?

Recognized that Würk could longer act like a growing company that could outgrow its problems and had to become a company that confronted its problems.
Changed processes so the company could go from fighting fires to preventing fires before they happen in the first place.
Improved documentation and record keeping.
Don’t hesitate to let go of employees who don’t fit.

Who is Scott Kenyon?

Since February 2021, Scott Kenyon has been the CEO of Würk, a Denver-based payroll and human resources company focused on the cannabis industry. Kenyon broke into the cannabis industry by joining Würk’s board in 2018 and serving as its executive chairman. Before cannabis, Kenyon was a tech industry veteran who spent nearly 14 years in senior managerial positions at Dell, and as COO of Phunware Inc., a mobile device screen company. Kenyon also launched and ran his own sports apparel and footwear business.

Next Episode

How to speak at MJBizCon + Jim Belushi

MJBizCon conference organizer Stacy Putt gives the inside scoop on how to score a coveted speaking role at MJBizCon.

Plus, a rebroadcast of our conversation with actor-turned-cannabis business owner Jim Belushi. Belushi shares his story on how he pivoted from stage and screen to farm and field. He’ll share insights about launching a cannabis operation, converting an outdoor grow into a greenhouse grow, and switching from conventional lights to LED lights, as well as farming mistakes, firing growers, selecting strains and branding.

Who is Jim Belushi?

Jim Belushi is best known as an actor and comedian but nowadays spends at least half his time at Belushi’s Farm, his cannabis cultivation site in southern Oregon. He bought 93 acres land because he thought the area was beautiful, and when Oregon legalized recreational cannabis, he jumped into it. Today, Belushi’s farm sells flower, pre-rolls, cartridges, and soon edibles, and has also expanded into or looking to expand into other states, including California, Massachusetts, and Maryland.