#187: Colin Landforce - CTO of Unrivaled Brands - Cannabis Industry 101
12/16/21 • 59 min
1 Listener
Colin Landforce is an entrepreneur and tactical leader with more than 10 years of experience in regulated and emerging consumer product spaces. With deep experience at the intersection of recreational cannabis and CPG, Colin’s thought leadership is widely recognized both inside and out of the cannabis industry. At Unrivaled, Colin drives process and technology innovation, enabling teams and developing proprietary B2B tools and consumer experiences.
On this episode, Chris and Colin deep dive into Colin's career beginning with how he got into the Cannabis industry and his first acquisition. They discuss the ins and out of the Cannabis world including what makes a top-shelf Cannabis brand and risks in the industry.
(01:45) - Colin’s Career and Getting into the Cannabis Industry
(4:24) - What was your early team like as distributors?
(7:02) - Were you primarily selling bulk flower or did you convert them into edibles and oils?
(7:35) - What does it cost to make a pre-roll and then what does it wholesale and retail for?
(8:35) - What matters when you’re making deals with growers?
(10:36) - Do most growers grow outdoors or indoors?
(12:09) - Why is indoor growing harder to scale?
(13:32) - What checks and balances do growers go through in order to make sure the customer is getting the correct product?
(14:55) - How is THC measured?
(15:56) - Was there an inflection point where you wanted to grow the company and where did that happen?
(18:00) - What are ‘brands’ in cannabis?
(19:19) - What makes a top-shelf cannabis brand?
(20:35) - How did you finance the business early on?
(22:34) - Can you get lines of credit or traditional loans?
(23:10) - Is there anything on the horizon that will make the industry more bank-friendly?
(24:28) - How do you value cannabis companies when thinking about M&A?
(25:49) - Colin's First Acquisition
(26:41) - Cannabis Extraction
(27:47) - What does your line of products look like?
(28:47) - How do you get products you can’t make yourself?
(29:14) - Colin’s Latest Acquisition & ‘Going Public’
(30:48) - What are the different asset classes in Cannabis?
(32:15) - Licensing in Cannabis
(33:12) - Medicinal vs. Recreational
(35:02) - Non-plant touching companies being allowed on the NASDAQ
(35:42) - What is your role as CTO?
(37:46) - Creating a Brand Within a Culture vs. One in an Agency
(40:14) - Who is your typical customer?
(41:29) - What are your thoughts on the boomer generation and their relationship with cannabis?
(43:22) - Is there anything that keeps you up at night or risks in the industry?
(44:24) - Is there anything on the horizon that excites you in the next 12-24 months?
(46:45) - When do you predict federal legalization?
(47:06) - Is CBD a placebo?
(49:55) - Is there anything being created in the market that can get rid of someone’s high?
(50:56) - Colin’s Experience as a Music Manager
(53:47) - Colin’s Email Hack and How To Be Better At It
(56:16) - How can people find you?
The Fort is produced by Johnny Peterson & Straight Up Podcasts
Colin Landforce is an entrepreneur and tactical leader with more than 10 years of experience in regulated and emerging consumer product spaces. With deep experience at the intersection of recreational cannabis and CPG, Colin’s thought leadership is widely recognized both inside and out of the cannabis industry. At Unrivaled, Colin drives process and technology innovation, enabling teams and developing proprietary B2B tools and consumer experiences.
On this episode, Chris and Colin deep dive into Colin's career beginning with how he got into the Cannabis industry and his first acquisition. They discuss the ins and out of the Cannabis world including what makes a top-shelf Cannabis brand and risks in the industry.
(01:45) - Colin’s Career and Getting into the Cannabis Industry
(4:24) - What was your early team like as distributors?
(7:02) - Were you primarily selling bulk flower or did you convert them into edibles and oils?
(7:35) - What does it cost to make a pre-roll and then what does it wholesale and retail for?
(8:35) - What matters when you’re making deals with growers?
(10:36) - Do most growers grow outdoors or indoors?
(12:09) - Why is indoor growing harder to scale?
(13:32) - What checks and balances do growers go through in order to make sure the customer is getting the correct product?
(14:55) - How is THC measured?
(15:56) - Was there an inflection point where you wanted to grow the company and where did that happen?
(18:00) - What are ‘brands’ in cannabis?
(19:19) - What makes a top-shelf cannabis brand?
(20:35) - How did you finance the business early on?
(22:34) - Can you get lines of credit or traditional loans?
(23:10) - Is there anything on the horizon that will make the industry more bank-friendly?
(24:28) - How do you value cannabis companies when thinking about M&A?
(25:49) - Colin's First Acquisition
(26:41) - Cannabis Extraction
(27:47) - What does your line of products look like?
(28:47) - How do you get products you can’t make yourself?
(29:14) - Colin’s Latest Acquisition & ‘Going Public’
(30:48) - What are the different asset classes in Cannabis?
(32:15) - Licensing in Cannabis
(33:12) - Medicinal vs. Recreational
(35:02) - Non-plant touching companies being allowed on the NASDAQ
(35:42) - What is your role as CTO?
(37:46) - Creating a Brand Within a Culture vs. One in an Agency
(40:14) - Who is your typical customer?
(41:29) - What are your thoughts on the boomer generation and their relationship with cannabis?
(43:22) - Is there anything that keeps you up at night or risks in the industry?
(44:24) - Is there anything on the horizon that excites you in the next 12-24 months?
(46:45) - When do you predict federal legalization?
(47:06) - Is CBD a placebo?
(49:55) - Is there anything being created in the market that can get rid of someone’s high?
(50:56) - Colin’s Experience as a Music Manager
(53:47) - Colin’s Email Hack and How To Be Better At It
(56:16) - How can people find you?
The Fort is produced by Johnny Peterson & Straight Up Podcasts
Previous Episode
RE #186: Moses Kagan - Part 2 | On Value-Add MF, A New Core Strategy, ReConvene, Los Angeles, and How He's Looking at The World
Moses Kagan is the Co-Founder and Head of Adaptive Realty, a Los Angeles-based development, and property management group. Since 2018, Moses has overseen the repositioning of 80 properties in Los Angeles and grown Adaptive from $0 to $110M of property under management. Moses joins Chris for his third appearance on The FORT Podcast.
In this two-part episode, they discuss the decision to not deploy a fund he raised in early 2020 and his new core strategy. They also explore rent control vs non-rent control. How he talks to his family about wealth and potentially taking over his business, learnings from ReConvene, and where we go from here....
Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris
Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
(02:31) - A Discussion on Rent Control
(09:25) - Defining Moses’ New Buying Strategy
(20:36) - How have you thought about growing your business over the next decade?
(26:32) - How are you thinking about leaving the businesses to your kids? What if they don’t want to go into it?
(35:50) - Thoughts on Growing Third Party Property Management
(38:38) - Is there anything keeping you up at night?
(42:13) - The Slowing Rate of Development
(46:01) - Our Collective Tolerance for Emergency
(48:28) - If I gave you $1B to put to work by the end of the year where would it go?
The Fort is produced by Johnny Peterson & Straight Up Podcasts.
Next Episode
RE #188 BONUS: Chris Powers & Eric Jorgenson on Jorgenson's Soundbox
Happy Holidays! We wanted to co-launch a special episode where Chris was interviewed by Eric Jorgenson (guest on episode #152) on Eric's show: Jorgenson's Soundbox. Enjoy!
Links:
Chris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fortworthchris
The Fort Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4dLKPVTiXWmrFwd43iN2LZ
Chris Powers & Pete Chambers Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2X8vKyUIQaIxV5Mr9J5KMv
Owned and Operated Podcast w/ Chris Powers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/21-chris-powers-building-%24600mm-commercial-real-estate/id1560999545?i=1000527344852
Fort Ventures: https://www.fort-ventures.com/
Topics:
(3:52) - Who are your heroes?
(7:56) - Chris’ upbringing & his father’s impact on him
(20:47) - Chris starting his career in RE at age 17
(26:17) - Reflecting on the ’08 financial crisis
(35:02) - What was your next big inflection point after graduating college in 2008?
(41:02) - You can’t scale when you’re not clear on your path
(47:52) - The results of learning to focus
(59:22) - What’s role does Fort play in your investor’s portfolios?
(1:05:41) - How does an investor recoup their money?
(1:09:26) - Compounding business with online content and media
(1:13:20) - The divergence of focusing the mission of Fort Capital and the mission of Chris Powers
(1:19:31) - What is your day to day like now?
(1:25:00) - Chris’ VC investing exposure
(1:31:11) - What’s the end goal for you?
(1:42:27) - What is the most foundational principle you can offer all entrepreneurs?
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