Marijuana Business Magazine February 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | February 2019 10 Q&A with the investor, chairman and CEO of Tidal Royalty Paul Rosen By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn A s Canada’s largest cannabis firms ink multibillion- dollar deals to expand globally, many of the companies’ original investors and founders are turning their sights to the opportunities unfolding south of the border, in the United States. One such investor is Paul Rosen, former co-founder, CEO and president of PharmaCan Capital, known today as Cronos Group. One of Canada’s most well-known marijuana companies, Cronos landed a $1.8 billion (CA$2.4 billion) investment from tobacco maker Altria at the end of 2018. Since exiting Cronos in 2016, Rosen has gone on to launch Tidal Royalty—a British Columbia company that has raised more than $29 million as it pursues U.S. investments in cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and retail operations. As Rosen pursues opportunities in the United States, he’s leveraging his experience as a suc- cessful early investor in Canada’s cannabis market. “If you don’t understand the industry and the stocks you’re investing in, you’re not really investing, you’re gambling,” he said. Rosen shared his top investment strategies and insights with Marijuana Business Magazine. What’s the best cannabis investment you’ve made and why? The best investment I’ve made was the decision to invest my own time and professional reputation by entering the Canadian cannabis industry in 2012, when I founded and became the CEO and president of PharmaCan Capital. The big investment was for me to put not only my own capital, but also my time and my energy, toward helping build an entirely new industry from scratch. Not only did this affect me economically, but very much on a personal level, as I have witnessed the incredible benefits this amazing plant offers to both patients and wellness enthusiasts. What attracted you most to this opportunity? I’m a career entrepreneur, and by 2012 I had noticed a significant uptick in the quality and volume of main- stream media covering efforts being made toward sen- sible cannabis reform. Around the same time in Canada, our regulators began consultations regarding birthing a commercial licensing program for the delivery of medical cannabis. When I first read that the Canadian govern- ment was contemplating issuing commercial licenses to private companies to grow and sell medical cannabis to eligible Canadians, I had a complete epiphany of a future that was not yet clear or certain. So, I did what entrepre- neurs do when they sense the next big thing: I jumped in headfirst. This still-emerging cannabis industry struck me as a generational opportunity. What’s your biggest investment mistake and how did you overcome it? I am a big believer in not categorizing missteps as mis- takes, as long as there are learning lessons. With that Money Matters | Investing & Finance Insight Paul Rosen Courtesy Photo