Marijuana Business Magazine May-June 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | May-June 2019 144 By Omar Sacirbey The business class that’s proved most useful to me in the cannabis industry is “Structuring the Startup” with Dr. Ellen Farrell (at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia). We had to start a real business and couldn’t use more than $10 of our own money. I sold calendars, and it became a Nasdaq- listed company. That is what really led me down the path of starting Nextleaf Solutions and listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Pick: Structuring the Startup PAUL PEDERSEN Founder and CEO, Nextleaf Solutions— Vancouver, British Columbia MBA: Michigan State University (East Lansing) Each month, we survey a group of marijuana industry executives and ask them to share a favorite item— such as a strain, top-selling product or edibles ingredient. Since it’s graduation season, this month we asked executives with MBAs which business school course has proved most useful in the marijuana industry. We welcome your suggestions for topics. Email us at magazine@mjbizdaily.com . Hands down, Jim Collins’ course on entrepreneurship was the most useful class I took at Stanford Business School. It is relevant not only to my current work in cannabis but also for my entire career working with startups. Even more instructive, however, is Jim’s more recent research on how companies flourish, or fail, in times of chaos. I highly recommend the framework Jim laid out in his book, “Great by Choice.” Cannabis is, by far, the most challenging and chaotic industry I have ever participated in, and the research is highly relevant and instructive for any entrepreneur in this space. Pick: Entrepreneurship KIM RAEL President and CEO, Azuca—Albuquerque, New Mexico MBA: Stanford University (Palo Alto, California) This is probably a strange answer from someone who considers herself to be primarily a marketer and brand builder, but I think that my most useful course was managerial accounting. It gave me a framework for analyzing information, including costs and margins, that has been key in building a highly profitable company. Pick: Managerial Accounting NANCYWHITEMAN Founder and CEO, Wana Brands—Boulder, Colorado MBA: University of Massachusetts Amherst My Favorite Things | Business School Course