Ian Shaw

Cannabis entrepreneur & operator. Building across manufacturing, distribution, brands & tech. Sharing lessons from one of America’s hardest industries.

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

I’ve spent the last decade building businesses in cannabis.

Manufacturing. Distribution. Brands. Packaging. Teams. Facilities. Systems.

Along the way, I learned something:

Cannabis doesn’t have a lack of good products.

It has an infrastructure problem.

A lot of the systems needed to operate and scale a real cannabis company are still immature, fragmented, or built by people who have never actually operated one.

We got tired of working around those problems, so we started building our own systems — and eventually our own software.

I’m going to share more of what I’ve learned here:

What works. What doesn’t. Where operators lose money. How we’re using technology. And where I think this industry is going.

Still learning. Still building.

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

Vertical integration in cannabis sounds great on a pitch deck.

In reality, every additional vertical is another business you have to become good at.

Cultivation.
Manufacturing.
Distribution.
Branding.
Packaging.
Retail.

The advantage isn’t owning everything.

The advantage is making everything you own work together.

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

Cannabis manufacturing gets interesting when you stop thinking like a cannabis company and start thinking like a manufacturer.

Throughput.
Downtime.
Yield.
Labor per unit.
Scrap.
QC.
COGS.

A machine isn’t valuable because it’s automated.

It’s valuable if it improves the economics of the operation.

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

One of the biggest mistakes in cannabis is confusing revenue with a good business.

You can sell a lot of weed and still have a terrible company.

Margin, inventory turns, labor efficiency, cash conversion and operational discipline matter.

Cannabis is becoming a real industry.

Eventually it will demand real businesses.

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

@XMoney How do I get an invite?

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

@GrantCardone Assuming it did not have a human operator I absolutely would. 15-35K seems fair!

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

Adult Use/Recreational catching no relief 👀

[Marijuana Moment @MarijuanaMoment]

White House Drug Czar Clarifies That Marijuana Is 'Still Illegal' Following Trump Administration's Rescheduling Move: "Executive level Schedule III allows for doctors and research and for medicine, for medicinal purposes."

https://t.co/HVJYBKw9GD

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

@imThomasMorales System

[TaraBull @TaraBull]

Top 10 headlines the media didn't tell you this week, Retweet & Follow for more.

10. Ray Epps to be criminally charged, and arrested for his actions on Jan 6.

9. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promises to prosecute Fauci if elected.

8. Whistleblower accuses the Biden administration of being involved in an international child sex trafficking operation.

7. Unsealed court documents in the Trump Indictment case reveal Mar-a-Lago boxes did NOT contain State Secrets.

6. New study finds Amish Children rarely diagnosed with Cancer, Diabetes or Autism despite not being vaccinated/medicated.

5. BBC responsible for contributing to the death of two million people due to censoring the dangers of the mRNA COVID vaccines.

4. Elon Musk launched new company xAI and Twitter began revolutionary Creator Ad Revenue Sharing program.

3. DNA contaminate SV40 found in Pfizer's COVID vaccines proven to cause cancer, according to National Library of Medicine.

2. Lawmakers introduced legislation to disarm the IRS.

1. Biden ordering Military Reserves to Europe, requests the removal of Ukraine Aid oversight.

If you appreciate this Top 10 recap, remember to Retweet and Follow me for another week in a clown world 🤡🌎

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

@TheFabulousOne Most cannabis businesses actually have bank accounts and debit cards 😊

[Clint Murphy @IAmClintMurphy]

I've spent 23+ years studying Finance and became a multi-millionaire in my 30s.

I'll teach you everything you need to know about Personal Financial in the next 7 minutes:

[Dave Kline @dklineii]

If you want to delegate effectively,

Learn to conquer these 5 common fears:

[The Cannabis Farmer 🌱 🇺🇸 @PLegalization]

Do drug cartels leaders have American politicians on their payroll?

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

A lot of people forget at the core of every business is people. This is great 👏👍😊

[Maarten VdA @maartenvda]

A Dutch supermarket chain introduced slow checkouts for people who enjoy chatting, helping many people, especially the elderly, deal with loneliness.
The move has proven so successful that they installed the slow checkouts in 200 stores.

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

If you’re not learning to integrate the utility of AI into your business, then you will fail. People aren’t ready for what’s coming over the next 10 years as AI takes a larger place in society and economy. #AI #CEOThoughts #tech #marijuanabiz

[Tommy Chong @tommychong]

You would think after all the hefty taxes we continue to pay in the industry, the politicians would do the bare minimum like get us banking and reschedule the plant! Broken Government! #cannabisindustry #LegalizeIt

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

@TwoStoned PGRs 100%

[Senator John Hickenlooper @SenatorHick]

RT if you think marijuana should be legal 🤗

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

Facts. If the government is going to pillage cannabis businesses on their taxes, then at least give access to traditional banking. This would be a huge step forward.

[Marijuana Moment @MarijuanaMoment]

Major Financial Association And 44 State Partners Demand Marijuana Banking Vote In The Senate Before Year's End: "The SAFE Banking Act is essential for the ongoing ability of community banks to effectively serve their communities." https://t.co/UtW9lPruzu

[Ian Shaw @holistic_ian]

This is obscene. Dirty lobbying at its finest.

[Marijuana Moment @MarijuanaMoment]

Feds publish new cannabis banking details (Newsletter: November 24, 2022)

DEA legalizes cocaine derivative & pushes back on marijuana descheduling; Latest on SAFE Plus negotiations; Poll: Americans back legal cannabis https://t.co/snI6wj66ee