Jim Makoso is a veteran in the cannabis industry, and he attended mjbizcon 2021 in Las Vegas where we caught up with him for an interview. In this episode we discuss his background in the finance industry and the transition to the cannabis industry.
Jim is the CEO of Flowe Technology and Director of Lucid Lab Group. Jim holds board seats in several organizations including Marijuana Business Daily and Biomedican while also serving as Vice Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee with the National Cannabis Industry Association. Jim is the go-to person for flow technology involving cannabis oil extraction and distillation.
Flowe is the first to combine microcrystalline cannabinoids and ingredients within a water-based solution. Infused product manufacturing will never be the same.
Learn more about Jim & Flowe Technology:
https://www.flowetech.com/
https://www.instagram.com/flowetech/
Be sure to subscribe to be notified of our next episode. Like & Share... Visit our website to learn about our Cannabis PR Solutions.
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Episode Transcript
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Ronjini Joshua (00:04):
In this next episode, we talked to Jim
Makoso, the director at Lucidlab group and CEO of Flow
technology. We caught up withJim at mjbizcon. And we talk
about the future of CPG in thecannabis industry. Now let's get
into the green room.
Hello, we are here with JimMakoso. So we're here at
(00:25):
mjbizcon. And we are talkingabout lots of things the
conference, the state ofcannabis, and then also about
Jim here. So, Jim, I alwaysstart the podcast with a little
bit of background, the person sowe talk about the journey of
your cannabis journey, and thenyour business journey. So tell
(00:47):
us a little bit about how youfound cannabis.
Jim Makoso (00:50):
Um, well, you know, I wasn't always a cannabis
consumer. In fact, you know, Iwas a jock in high school. And
so, you know, I used to make funof the cannabis guy who smokes
weed, you know, it wasn't reallymy thing. You know, and because,
you know, I was on the footballteam and the basketball team and
the track team and, you know,smoking anything at all, you
(01:13):
know, wasn't my thing. You know,you're
Ronjini Joshua (01:15):
irresponsible.
Jim Makoso (01:16):
I was very irresponsible with the boys. I
just, you know, smoking. For me.
It was like, Well, you know,especially with football, I was
like, it'll ruin my performance.
But after my senior year offootball, you know, I didn't
play I didn't do any sports. Therest of the year, I was going to
be lazy and wait for college andfriend of mine from a football
team was like, You need to smokeweed. And I was like, no, like,
(01:39):
I don't want to be old dumb andDopey. He's like, trust me, you
need it. I was like, All right.
So we cut school, went to hishouse, parents were working. I
smoked weed for the first timereally smoked weed and got high
for the first time with him. Iwas just before my 18th
birthday. So 17. And I rememberthe first time I hit the bomb,
you know, I like inhaled. Butlike exhale really quickly, like
(02:02):
I didn't really breathe it in.
And he was like, Nah, you got todo it again. Like, gotta hit the
bar, like breathe into yourbelly. And I remember like, so,
you know, I ripped it, you know,like, not knowing what was about
to happen. reppin this bar islike a foot and a half old
school bog bowl this bottom. Youknow, it had like, all these
colors on it. Never rookiemistake. Yeah, so I ripped it
(02:25):
and I got, like, super hot,like, I held it in. I cough. It
could have been an hour I wascoughing, because I kept
coughing and coughing. But Iremember like, when I first got
the euphoria, it completely, youknow, like, changed my
perspective on on, you know,weed at the time. You know, we
call the weed we call the ChibaLong Island where I grew up and,
(02:48):
you know, that kind of began myinterest in cannabis. And then,
you know, when I went tocollege, is when I really
started to, you know, learnabout like, the medicinal
aspects of it, and keep mine inNew York was very illegal. Yeah,
I graduated from high school in2002. It's very illegal. You if
you had a joint you can becharged with a misdemeanor and
some people were especially ifyou had a prior conviction, they
(03:12):
could get a felony for drugpossession of a schedule one
substance and they were puttingpeople in jail for years for
roach clips for shake. And, youknow, I knew a friend of mine
who got a misdemeanor for aroach in his ashtray got pulled
over at roaches ashtray. Theytried him in the misdemeanor
possession of a controlledsubstance schedule. And and so,
(03:32):
you know, when I started toeducate myself about what was
going on, you know, always, youknow, the first kind of studies
that I learned about were CBDrelated. And people using it to
treat you know, epilepsy. Yeah.
CBDs and anti spasmodic. And,you know, there were a couple
papers out there, this is backin my 2000 60,000 70,008 A lot
of the scientific work wascoming out of Israel, you know,
(03:55):
groups like Rafeal mushrooms.
You know, they were putting outresearch, but very little
research here in the States.
And, you know, even less of it,could you find, right, the
internet wasn't as prolific backin oh seven as it is now. Yeah.
In terms of aggregating datathat people want. And so, you
know,I consume cannabis, basically
(04:16):
frequently from my 18thbirthday, you know, right before
my 18th birthday, all the waythrough until now, and I would
say now, I smoke, the leastamount I have in the last 20
years of my life found yourbalance. I did and it's probably
because I'm busy and I got a loton the line because I'm making
you know, but and especially nowthe wheat is so good. And you
(04:37):
know, edibles are so powerfulthat, you know, if you consume
too much and I'm definitelysensitive to cannabinoids, you
know, you can you can gooverboard, but that was like
kind of my journey with likediscovering cannabis, but really
professionally. I didn't getinvolved professionally in the
industry, officially and untilthe end of 2013. And, you know,
at the time I was living inMiami, I wasn't doing anything
(04:58):
except for spending money I'dearned as a finance professional
and, you know, just being, youknow, unemployed and living my
best life and not doing verymuch going to the beach, going
out, you know, hanging out withmy friends traveling, and not
doing much just spending moneyand being irresponsible as a,
you know, mid 20s. Guy. Andfriend of mine, he worked for a
(05:21):
magazine called NorthwestNorthwest leaf out of Seattle.
And he was a writer, and he wasthe person that would test
cannabis products and doreviews. And he was like, Man,
you got to come out here and seewhat's going on like, so, you
know, long story short, I cameto Washington in 2013. And, you
know, Seattle, Washington, andhe took me to, you know, meet
(05:46):
all these people. And I rememberI'll never forget, I walked into
what was the essentiallyabandoned warehouse where there
was an extraction setup ofhydrocarbon extractors. And they
were doing what looked like tome was like, Breaking Bad.
Science illegal, I was like, Manwith the cops can come in at any
second, you know, keep in mind,this was still extremely
(06:08):
federally illegal, right. Andthey were still raiding people
in California for doing thisexact thing. So I felt sketchy,
but the one thing I noticed iswhen I saw them, taking the
plant, packing these tubes, andout was coming this beautiful
golden oil. And then he handedme a vape cartridge. This was,
you know, mid 2013, I was likethis, is it the process? Yeah,
(06:28):
this is the this is the futureof at the time, we, you know,
now obviously professionallycalled cannabis, because that's
its scientific name. And we wantto normalize it, because you
know, it's a plant, and peopleshould have access to herbs.
But, but, you know, I gotinvolved in the industry in that
way. And I invested in avaporizer company at that time
(06:50):
called Uber Technologies. Andthat was one of the few
investors didn't have a businessplan. So I got really favorable
terms. And, you know, the caveatof me investing was, I would
write the business plan, but youknow, they'd have to hire me, as
a salesperson, not as anexecutive, just let me come and
sell. And for me, the law therewas, you know, as a salesperson,
I'm getting to meet the people,learn the industry, you know,
(07:13):
get my feet wet, and understandthat this is something that I
want to really be committed to.
And, you know, it didn't take mevery long for it to really take
hold. And so, you know, gotinvolved in that company, we, me
and my current business partner,we sold our stake in that
company, and subsequentfinancing. We invested that in a
processing company. And that'sreally what we're known for
(07:34):
lucid lab group. We started thatin 2015. We, we do consulting on
other people's extractionfacilities, we redesign some
capital equipment that becameindustry standard and and built
a consumer brand called lucidoils. And that's kind of how
we're, we're Known throughoutthe industry.
Ronjini Joshua (07:52):
So we don't have I don't think we have a lot of
time now to ask all thequestions I want to ask. But I
want to talk about like whatlike, you know, right now is
obviously really, like exciting.
A lot of things are happening.
There's a pandemic, which kindof, I don't know, I think some
would argue would acceleratedthe cannabis industry, some
would argue, it just put adamper on everyone's mood. So
(08:14):
what do you think is like themost exciting thing that is
coming in the future? And like,how do you think it's gonna pan
out? And like maybe the nextyear?
Jim Makoso (08:22):
Well, you know, what, when we look at the
industry, and specifically ourbusinesses, and how, you know,
we're going to navigate theindustry, what type of strategy
we're going to take, we alwayslook short term, intermediate,
long term, right? Short term,you know, what decisions are we
going to make in the next, youknow, two to four quarters? You
know, intermediate term, what'sthat three year plan look like?
(08:43):
And long term is five years outand longer. Right. So for us in
the short term in the next year,what we're seeing and I think
we've seen this even this lastweek, with with the canopy deal
that went off with one is, youknow, there's consolidation is
starting to re accelerate in theindustry. Companies that are
well capitalized are coming backand purchasing really good value
(09:04):
plays in either. And there's anumber of reasons, right. One is
because there may be value thereanother could be to get
investors excited about theirstocks that have been stagnating
for the last year and a half.
But there's value there. Sowe're seeing capital within the
industry get reallocated, right.
So if you have a good companythat's earning revenue, creating
alpha, or let's say you havegood technology, or maybe you
(09:27):
don't have a lot of revenue, butyour technology is exceptionally
attractive to people who alreadyhave really robust distribution
networks, you know, you're goingto be an acquisition target. So
make sure you clean up yourcompany, make sure your books
look good, so that you'reprepared for that offer if and
when it comes. So I thinkthat's, that's what's exciting
now for us, you know, we're notin that position. You know, for
(09:48):
us, what we're really excitedabout is what's happening on the
research front. You know, yeah,we're at a stage in the industry
now where companies that aredeveloping products specifically
outside of flour, where I'mtalking about the other 40 45%
of the market, which is the CPGsector, you know, edibles,
(10:09):
beverages, cosmetic supplements,that part of the of the market
is really going to grow. Andthere's so much potential in
that area right now, especiallywith companies with the big CPG
companies that are circling andstarting to make small
investments, partnerships, youknow, Nestle, Nestle brought a
company accompanies capsules CBDcapsules out to Europe, and are
(10:31):
distributing it through one oftheir subsidiaries. You know,
Pepsi through its monsteracquisition, they're doing a
heavy CBD hemp oil, energy.
Yeah, but think about it, thisis a low risk opportunity. So,
you know, for us, you know, withFlow technology, we're excited
about that space. And that'swhere a lot of our technology
(10:52):
and a lot of art, a lot offocuses is looking for
opportunities to, to work inthat space to build partnerships
and work with good brands andoffer them solutions.
Ronjini Joshua (11:05):
Do you think it's going to be more of
existing brands, in thosespaces? Adopting this new stuff?
Or? Because I find it hard? It'sso crowded right now. So like,
how are I mean, there are somebrands like can and like, you
know, you see some of thesebeverage brands coming out? And
(11:25):
I'm just using beverages as afirst example. But, um, are you
going to see are we gonna seethat other brands that are
legacy brands are really justgonna dive in and maybe kick
some of these smaller guys out?
Jim Makoso (11:40):
But it's possible.
But you know, today, and one ofthe interesting things I saw
today, or at least I heardtoday, in the finance forum at
mjbizcon, was just one of thelast speakers before the last
panel. And what he showed was agraph of the growth in the
industry. And what was reallyinteresting about it is what you
know, he showed kind of thedecline in illicit sales or
(12:02):
black market sales and theincrease in you know, regulated
sales. But what you know, whatstuck out to me the most is net
net, more people are buyingcannabis this year than they are
last year, right? The regulatedmarket Yeah, took a damper on
the so called illicit market,which, you know, I still buy,
you know, buy weed from my homiein, in Oregon, who says to grows
(12:24):
fire, and he he grows fire forhis personal garden, and he
grows fire for his, hisregulated garden, but I still
buy it from him because it'sgood. And there's a market for
it. But you know, what it showedme is that more people are
consuming cannabis. And whatthat means is, the more people
that consume cannabis, certainlythe big players are gonna be the
first in line for that piece.
(12:47):
But that means that there'sstill plenty of opportunity for
companies that are coming in, ifyou got a good story, if you're
well capitalized, you got a goodproduct, and you know how to
tell that story to the rightconsumers, you can earn a place
in this market, it's wide open,there's still so much
opportunity, just make sure youknow, if you're coming into this
business like any other, this isnot a free for all, you got to
(13:07):
still have a good business plan,you got a good team, you got to
be well capitalized. And thenyou got to execute, you got to
be able to perform. And and so Iwould encourage everybody who's
thinking about coming into thisindustry, be it on the ancillary
side, anywhere on the supplychain, consulting, this industry
is growing, and it will continueto grow for the foreseeable
future. So you know, now's the
Ronjini Joshua (13:29):
time, for sure.
Now's the time. So we dosometimes do some few few tips.
Like your business tips forKansas, people coming into the
stream, because people who arelistening to this are typically
folks that are in the industrywant to get into the industry,
or just want to hear otherpeople in the industry talk.
What would you say is like yournumber one thing that you've
(13:49):
learned in the last like decadeof you being there?
Jim Makoso (13:54):
For sure, uh, probably the most important
things for me, when it when itcame to, you know, being in this
industry, any industry, butdefinitely in this industry is,
you know, make sure if you'regoing to come into this
industry, you have a businessplan, like that's applicable to
(14:15):
any industry, but I think peopleassume, just because there are
people, you know, they heartheir stories of people selling
their company for 300 million orgetting bought out for a billion
or, you know, so and so companyworth 10 billion. Those
companies even get there byguessing and hoping and wishing
they put together great plans,they were well capitalized and
they executed, you know, some ofits timing, which is why some of
(14:36):
these companies have ridiculousmultiples, but, you know, the
majority of the successfulcompanies got there by having a
plan and then executing it. So,you know, that was that's one of
the key things I would say isyou know, make sure you have a
plan. The second thing I wouldsay is make sure you have the
grit to see it through. You knowwhat is it Seven out of 10
(15:00):
businesses are going to failmiserably within the first
couple of years. That's thestatistic. And once you go out
to like five to seven years,nine out of 10 businesses fail.
So I'm not saying you will fail,I'm saying most of you will
fail. But you know what? MichaelJordan says, he says it all the
time, part of succeeding isfailing, right? The companies
(15:23):
that make it, they're notcompanies that didn't fail.
They're companies that failedand got back exactly. Again, and
again. And again. And again,until you hear the success
story, you don't hear about thelate nights, you don't hear
about being broke, you don'thear about the problems and the
fights, you hear about thesuccess story. But every person
that was successful, I promiseyou, they felt multiple times,
they hit multiple walls beforethey made it through. So have
(15:44):
grit, have determination. And,you know, don't be afraid to get
your, your hands a little dirty,and you can make it you can make
a living, whether or not you'llbe the billion dollar company,
that's up to you, but you canmake a living, and you can have
fun doing it. This is an amazingindustry filled with amazing
people, you know, even this, youknow, this conversation we're
having now, you know, it's,there's so many amazing people
(16:05):
doing amazing things, and theenergy is so positive, that I
encourage everyone if they wantto be involved, get involved.
Ronjini Joshua (16:11):
Yeah, that's the one thing that I have
appreciated about doing thispodcast, and I'm sure Ben will
agree that like, we've justheard a lot of positivity,
everyone's like ready to go. Butthe people that are in it are
like, like, if you're going tobe in it, be in it, don't be
half assed, like, do what you'rehere to do. And, like, have a
little bit of a backbone, whenyou're getting into it. And, and
(16:33):
you'll, you'll have a good time.
And people are pretty respectfuland, you know, collaborative
when it comes down to for sure.
Jim Makoso (16:40):
And you know, I would even say, you know, even
beyond that one of the things Inoticed in this industry,
because it's still so new, is,you know, and relatively
speaking, right, seven, youknow, we're seven years in from
federal legalization a littleover seven years, or excuse me,
from state legalization, inWashington and Colorado, but
states are still turning on allthe time, right? Because it's
(17:03):
still so new, you have access topeople who did sell their
company for $300 million, orinvested 100 million, like you
can walk up to them and have aconversation and get their
contact information. Yeah. Andyou know, they might not give
you 40 hours a week, but they'llgive you an hour a month to help
you out. Because that's what Ifound in this industry. People
are willing to help, you know,you go to other mature
(17:25):
industries, good luck getting aconversation with the mover or
shaker. Good luck getting pasttheir Secretary Secretary
because they've set up walls sopeople can access them, right?
Because time is so valuable. Sothere are people in this
industry that will are willingto help and willing to give you
a hand and willing to give yousome advice. And and you know,
(17:46):
that's what's unique right now.
So yeah, they're
Ronjini Joshua (17:48):
advocating so for sure, absolutely. For sure.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us. It was great to meet
you here. And I think, hopefullywe can have you back. Talk about
the next thing that you guys aredoing. But
Jim Makoso (17:59):
well, you know, if I come back, one of the things I'd
love to discuss because you're aperson of color is as a snippet.
There's a lot going on on thesocial equity front right now.
Yeah, I'm a part of a socialequity and cannabis taskforce in
Washington, we got a lot of workto do up there. But I would say
now is a very important time to,you know, really push, push,
(18:20):
what, what a lot of people wouldconsider is one of the most
important kind of transitionsthat's happening in our society
in culture now, and that is, youknow, what is equity? And how do
we make sure at least in ourindustry, that's still so new,
and generating still so much newwealth? How do we make sure that
that is being appropriated in anappropriate way? Yeah. And And
(18:42):
certainly, I think that's aconversation worth having.
Ronjini Joshua (18:45):
Yeah, I think that's gonna be a big
conversation this week. So yeah,absolutely. Thanks for having
me. Awesome. Thanks. The GreenRoom podcast is brought to life
by green seed PR, a cannabisgreen tech focus PR agency, and
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be well
In this next episode, we talked to Jim
Makoso, the director at Lucidlab group and CEO of Flow
technology. We caught up withJim at mjbizcon. And we talk
about the future of CPG in thecannabis industry. Now let's get
into the green room.
Hello, we are here with JimMakoso. So we're here at
(00:25):
mjbizcon. And we are talkingabout lots of things the
conference, the state ofcannabis, and then also about
Jim here. So, Jim, I alwaysstart the podcast with a little
bit of background, the person sowe talk about the journey of
your cannabis journey, and thenyour business journey. So tell
(00:47):
us a little bit about how youfound cannabis.
Jim Makoso (00:50):
Um, well, you know, I wasn't always a cannabis
consumer. In fact, you know, Iwas a jock in high school. And
so, you know, I used to make funof the cannabis guy who smokes
weed, you know, it wasn't reallymy thing. You know, and because,
you know, I was on the footballteam and the basketball team and
the track team and, you know,smoking anything at all, you
(01:13):
know, wasn't my thing. You know,you're
Ronjini Joshua (01:15):
irresponsible.
Jim Makoso (01:16):
I was very irresponsible with the boys. I
just, you know, smoking. For me.
It was like, Well, you know,especially with football, I was
like, it'll ruin my performance.
But after my senior year offootball, you know, I didn't
play I didn't do any sports. Therest of the year, I was going to
be lazy and wait for college andfriend of mine from a football
team was like, You need to smokeweed. And I was like, no, like,
(01:39):
I don't want to be old dumb andDopey. He's like, trust me, you
need it. I was like, All right.
So we cut school, went to hishouse, parents were working. I
smoked weed for the first timereally smoked weed and got high
for the first time with him. Iwas just before my 18th
birthday. So 17. And I rememberthe first time I hit the bomb,
you know, I like inhaled. Butlike exhale really quickly, like
(02:02):
I didn't really breathe it in.
And he was like, Nah, you got todo it again. Like, gotta hit the
bar, like breathe into yourbelly. And I remember like, so,
you know, I ripped it, you know,like, not knowing what was about
to happen. reppin this bar islike a foot and a half old
school bog bowl this bottom. Youknow, it had like, all these
colors on it. Never rookiemistake. Yeah, so I ripped it
(02:25):
and I got, like, super hot,like, I held it in. I cough. It
could have been an hour I wascoughing, because I kept
coughing and coughing. But Iremember like, when I first got
the euphoria, it completely, youknow, like, changed my
perspective on on, you know,weed at the time. You know, we
call the weed we call the ChibaLong Island where I grew up and,
(02:48):
you know, that kind of began myinterest in cannabis. And then,
you know, when I went tocollege, is when I really
started to, you know, learnabout like, the medicinal
aspects of it, and keep mine inNew York was very illegal. Yeah,
I graduated from high school in2002. It's very illegal. You if
you had a joint you can becharged with a misdemeanor and
some people were especially ifyou had a prior conviction, they
(03:12):
could get a felony for drugpossession of a schedule one
substance and they were puttingpeople in jail for years for
roach clips for shake. And, youknow, I knew a friend of mine
who got a misdemeanor for aroach in his ashtray got pulled
over at roaches ashtray. Theytried him in the misdemeanor
possession of a controlledsubstance schedule. And and so,
(03:32):
you know, when I started toeducate myself about what was
going on, you know, always, youknow, the first kind of studies
that I learned about were CBDrelated. And people using it to
treat you know, epilepsy. Yeah.
CBDs and anti spasmodic. And,you know, there were a couple
papers out there, this is backin my 2000 60,000 70,008 A lot
of the scientific work wascoming out of Israel, you know,
(03:55):
groups like Rafeal mushrooms.
You know, they were putting outresearch, but very little
research here in the States.
And, you know, even less of it,could you find, right, the
internet wasn't as prolific backin oh seven as it is now. Yeah.
In terms of aggregating datathat people want. And so, you
know,I consume cannabis, basically
(04:16):
frequently from my 18thbirthday, you know, right before
my 18th birthday, all the waythrough until now, and I would
say now, I smoke, the leastamount I have in the last 20
years of my life found yourbalance. I did and it's probably
because I'm busy and I got a loton the line because I'm making
you know, but and especially nowthe wheat is so good. And you
(04:37):
know, edibles are so powerfulthat, you know, if you consume
too much and I'm definitelysensitive to cannabinoids, you
know, you can you can gooverboard, but that was like
kind of my journey with likediscovering cannabis, but really
professionally. I didn't getinvolved professionally in the
industry, officially and untilthe end of 2013. And, you know,
at the time I was living inMiami, I wasn't doing anything
(04:58):
except for spending money I'dearned as a finance professional
and, you know, just being, youknow, unemployed and living my
best life and not doing verymuch going to the beach, going
out, you know, hanging out withmy friends traveling, and not
doing much just spending moneyand being irresponsible as a,
you know, mid 20s. Guy. Andfriend of mine, he worked for a
(05:21):
magazine called NorthwestNorthwest leaf out of Seattle.
And he was a writer, and he wasthe person that would test
cannabis products and doreviews. And he was like, Man,
you got to come out here and seewhat's going on like, so, you
know, long story short, I cameto Washington in 2013. And, you
know, Seattle, Washington, andhe took me to, you know, meet
(05:46):
all these people. And I rememberI'll never forget, I walked into
what was the essentiallyabandoned warehouse where there
was an extraction setup ofhydrocarbon extractors. And they
were doing what looked like tome was like, Breaking Bad.
Science illegal, I was like, Manwith the cops can come in at any
second, you know, keep in mind,this was still extremely
(06:08):
federally illegal, right. Andthey were still raiding people
in California for doing thisexact thing. So I felt sketchy,
but the one thing I noticed iswhen I saw them, taking the
plant, packing these tubes, andout was coming this beautiful
golden oil. And then he handedme a vape cartridge. This was,
you know, mid 2013, I was likethis, is it the process? Yeah,
(06:28):
this is the this is the futureof at the time, we, you know,
now obviously professionallycalled cannabis, because that's
its scientific name. And we wantto normalize it, because you
know, it's a plant, and peopleshould have access to herbs.
But, but, you know, I gotinvolved in the industry in that
way. And I invested in avaporizer company at that time
(06:50):
called Uber Technologies. Andthat was one of the few
investors didn't have a businessplan. So I got really favorable
terms. And, you know, the caveatof me investing was, I would
write the business plan, but youknow, they'd have to hire me, as
a salesperson, not as anexecutive, just let me come and
sell. And for me, the law therewas, you know, as a salesperson,
I'm getting to meet the people,learn the industry, you know,
(07:13):
get my feet wet, and understandthat this is something that I
want to really be committed to.
And, you know, it didn't take mevery long for it to really take
hold. And so, you know, gotinvolved in that company, we, me
and my current business partner,we sold our stake in that
company, and subsequentfinancing. We invested that in a
processing company. And that'sreally what we're known for
(07:34):
lucid lab group. We started thatin 2015. We, we do consulting on
other people's extractionfacilities, we redesign some
capital equipment that becameindustry standard and and built
a consumer brand called lucidoils. And that's kind of how
we're, we're Known throughoutthe industry.
Ronjini Joshua (07:52):
So we don't have I don't think we have a lot of
time now to ask all thequestions I want to ask. But I
want to talk about like whatlike, you know, right now is
obviously really, like exciting.
A lot of things are happening.
There's a pandemic, which kindof, I don't know, I think some
would argue would acceleratedthe cannabis industry, some
would argue, it just put adamper on everyone's mood. So
(08:14):
what do you think is like themost exciting thing that is
coming in the future? And like,how do you think it's gonna pan
out? And like maybe the nextyear?
Jim Makoso (08:22):
Well, you know, what, when we look at the
industry, and specifically ourbusinesses, and how, you know,
we're going to navigate theindustry, what type of strategy
we're going to take, we alwayslook short term, intermediate,
long term, right? Short term,you know, what decisions are we
going to make in the next, youknow, two to four quarters? You
know, intermediate term, what'sthat three year plan look like?
(08:43):
And long term is five years outand longer. Right. So for us in
the short term in the next year,what we're seeing and I think
we've seen this even this lastweek, with with the canopy deal
that went off with one is, youknow, there's consolidation is
starting to re accelerate in theindustry. Companies that are
well capitalized are coming backand purchasing really good value
(09:04):
plays in either. And there's anumber of reasons, right. One is
because there may be value thereanother could be to get
investors excited about theirstocks that have been stagnating
for the last year and a half.
But there's value there. Sowe're seeing capital within the
industry get reallocated, right.
So if you have a good companythat's earning revenue, creating
alpha, or let's say you havegood technology, or maybe you
(09:27):
don't have a lot of revenue, butyour technology is exceptionally
attractive to people who alreadyhave really robust distribution
networks, you know, you're goingto be an acquisition target. So
make sure you clean up yourcompany, make sure your books
look good, so that you'reprepared for that offer if and
when it comes. So I thinkthat's, that's what's exciting
now for us, you know, we're notin that position. You know, for
(09:48):
us, what we're really excitedabout is what's happening on the
research front. You know, yeah,we're at a stage in the industry
now where companies that aredeveloping products specifically
outside of flour, where I'mtalking about the other 40 45%
of the market, which is the CPGsector, you know, edibles,
(10:09):
beverages, cosmetic supplements,that part of the of the market
is really going to grow. Andthere's so much potential in
that area right now, especiallywith companies with the big CPG
companies that are circling andstarting to make small
investments, partnerships, youknow, Nestle, Nestle brought a
company accompanies capsules CBDcapsules out to Europe, and are
(10:31):
distributing it through one oftheir subsidiaries. You know,
Pepsi through its monsteracquisition, they're doing a
heavy CBD hemp oil, energy.
Yeah, but think about it, thisis a low risk opportunity. So,
you know, for us, you know, withFlow technology, we're excited
about that space. And that'swhere a lot of our technology
(10:52):
and a lot of art, a lot offocuses is looking for
opportunities to, to work inthat space to build partnerships
and work with good brands andoffer them solutions.
Ronjini Joshua (11:05):
Do you think it's going to be more of
existing brands, in thosespaces? Adopting this new stuff?
Or? Because I find it hard? It'sso crowded right now. So like,
how are I mean, there are somebrands like can and like, you
know, you see some of thesebeverage brands coming out? And
(11:25):
I'm just using beverages as afirst example. But, um, are you
going to see are we gonna seethat other brands that are
legacy brands are really justgonna dive in and maybe kick
some of these smaller guys out?
Jim Makoso (11:40):
But it's possible.
But you know, today, and one ofthe interesting things I saw
today, or at least I heardtoday, in the finance forum at
mjbizcon, was just one of thelast speakers before the last
panel. And what he showed was agraph of the growth in the
industry. And what was reallyinteresting about it is what you
know, he showed kind of thedecline in illicit sales or
(12:02):
black market sales and theincrease in you know, regulated
sales. But what you know, whatstuck out to me the most is net
net, more people are buyingcannabis this year than they are
last year, right? The regulatedmarket Yeah, took a damper on
the so called illicit market,which, you know, I still buy,
you know, buy weed from my homiein, in Oregon, who says to grows
(12:24):
fire, and he he grows fire forhis personal garden, and he
grows fire for his, hisregulated garden, but I still
buy it from him because it'sgood. And there's a market for
it. But you know, what it showedme is that more people are
consuming cannabis. And whatthat means is, the more people
that consume cannabis, certainlythe big players are gonna be the
first in line for that piece.
(12:47):
But that means that there'sstill plenty of opportunity for
companies that are coming in, ifyou got a good story, if you're
well capitalized, you got a goodproduct, and you know how to
tell that story to the rightconsumers, you can earn a place
in this market, it's wide open,there's still so much
opportunity, just make sure youknow, if you're coming into this
business like any other, this isnot a free for all, you got to
(13:07):
still have a good business plan,you got a good team, you got to
be well capitalized. And thenyou got to execute, you got to
be able to perform. And and so Iwould encourage everybody who's
thinking about coming into thisindustry, be it on the ancillary
side, anywhere on the supplychain, consulting, this industry
is growing, and it will continueto grow for the foreseeable
future. So you know, now's the
Ronjini Joshua (13:29):
time, for sure.
Now's the time. So we dosometimes do some few few tips.
Like your business tips forKansas, people coming into the
stream, because people who arelistening to this are typically
folks that are in the industrywant to get into the industry,
or just want to hear otherpeople in the industry talk.
What would you say is like yournumber one thing that you've
(13:49):
learned in the last like decadeof you being there?
Jim Makoso (13:54):
For sure, uh, probably the most important
things for me, when it when itcame to, you know, being in this
industry, any industry, butdefinitely in this industry is,
you know, make sure if you'regoing to come into this
industry, you have a businessplan, like that's applicable to
(14:15):
any industry, but I think peopleassume, just because there are
people, you know, they heartheir stories of people selling
their company for 300 million orgetting bought out for a billion
or, you know, so and so companyworth 10 billion. Those
companies even get there byguessing and hoping and wishing
they put together great plans,they were well capitalized and
they executed, you know, some ofits timing, which is why some of
(14:36):
these companies have ridiculousmultiples, but, you know, the
majority of the successfulcompanies got there by having a
plan and then executing it. So,you know, that was that's one of
the key things I would say isyou know, make sure you have a
plan. The second thing I wouldsay is make sure you have the
grit to see it through. You knowwhat is it Seven out of 10
(15:00):
businesses are going to failmiserably within the first
couple of years. That's thestatistic. And once you go out
to like five to seven years,nine out of 10 businesses fail.
So I'm not saying you will fail,I'm saying most of you will
fail. But you know what? MichaelJordan says, he says it all the
time, part of succeeding isfailing, right? The companies
(15:23):
that make it, they're notcompanies that didn't fail.
They're companies that failedand got back exactly. Again, and
again. And again. And again,until you hear the success
story, you don't hear about thelate nights, you don't hear
about being broke, you don'thear about the problems and the
fights, you hear about thesuccess story. But every person
that was successful, I promiseyou, they felt multiple times,
they hit multiple walls beforethey made it through. So have
(15:44):
grit, have determination. And,you know, don't be afraid to get
your, your hands a little dirty,and you can make it you can make
a living, whether or not you'llbe the billion dollar company,
that's up to you, but you canmake a living, and you can have
fun doing it. This is an amazingindustry filled with amazing
people, you know, even this, youknow, this conversation we're
having now, you know, it's,there's so many amazing people
(16:05):
doing amazing things, and theenergy is so positive, that I
encourage everyone if they wantto be involved, get involved.
Ronjini Joshua (16:11):
Yeah, that's the one thing that I have
appreciated about doing thispodcast, and I'm sure Ben will
agree that like, we've justheard a lot of positivity,
everyone's like ready to go. Butthe people that are in it are
like, like, if you're going tobe in it, be in it, don't be
half assed, like, do what you'rehere to do. And, like, have a
little bit of a backbone, whenyou're getting into it. And, and
(16:33):
you'll, you'll have a good time.
And people are pretty respectfuland, you know, collaborative
when it comes down to for sure.
Jim Makoso (16:40):
And you know, I would even say, you know, even
beyond that one of the things Inoticed in this industry,
because it's still so new, is,you know, and relatively
speaking, right, seven, youknow, we're seven years in from
federal legalization a littleover seven years, or excuse me,
from state legalization, inWashington and Colorado, but
states are still turning on allthe time, right? Because it's
(17:03):
still so new, you have access topeople who did sell their
company for $300 million, orinvested 100 million, like you
can walk up to them and have aconversation and get their
contact information. Yeah. Andyou know, they might not give
you 40 hours a week, but they'llgive you an hour a month to help
you out. Because that's what Ifound in this industry. People
are willing to help, you know,you go to other mature
(17:25):
industries, good luck getting aconversation with the mover or
shaker. Good luck getting pasttheir Secretary Secretary
because they've set up walls sopeople can access them, right?
Because time is so valuable. Sothere are people in this
industry that will are willingto help and willing to give you
a hand and willing to give yousome advice. And and you know,
(17:46):
that's what's unique right now.
So yeah, they're
Ronjini Joshua (17:48):
advocating so for sure, absolutely. For sure.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us. It was great to meet
you here. And I think, hopefullywe can have you back. Talk about
the next thing that you guys aredoing. But
Jim Makoso (17:59):
well, you know, if I come back, one of the things I'd
love to discuss because you're aperson of color is as a snippet.
There's a lot going on on thesocial equity front right now.
Yeah, I'm a part of a socialequity and cannabis taskforce in
Washington, we got a lot of workto do up there. But I would say
now is a very important time to,you know, really push, push,
(18:20):
what, what a lot of people wouldconsider is one of the most
important kind of transitionsthat's happening in our society
in culture now, and that is, youknow, what is equity? And how do
we make sure at least in ourindustry, that's still so new,
and generating still so much newwealth? How do we make sure that
that is being appropriated in anappropriate way? Yeah. And And
(18:42):
certainly, I think that's aconversation worth having.
Ronjini Joshua (18:45):
Yeah, I think that's gonna be a big
conversation this week. So yeah,absolutely. Thanks for having
me. Awesome. Thanks. The GreenRoom podcast is brought to life
by green seed PR, a cannabisgreen tech focus PR agency, and
a dedicated production team ofeditors mixers and show
Booker's. A huge thank you tothe vessel team for providing
their studio for our recordings.
Don't forget to subscribe andshare the green room podcast
(19:08):
with friends, colleagues, andfamily. That way you'll never
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(19:30):
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