Ross OBrien - Cannabis Capital: How to Get Your Business Funded in the Cannabis Economy

CANNABIS capital

HOW TO GET YOUR BUSINESS FUNDED IN THE CANNABIS ECONOMY

ROSS OBRIEN

FOUNDER OF BONAVENTURE EQUITY, LLC

Entrepreneur Press

Entrepreneur Press, Publisher

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Production and Composition: Eliot House Productions

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ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-418-2

CONTENTS

by Vicente Fox Quesada

by David T. Mangone

by Michael Schwamm

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T here are countless people who have influenced me over my career and have been instrumental as I pursued a very nontraditional career path. I have been fortunate to receive mentorship and guidance, be challenged by, and receive help from an extraordinary group of friends, family, and contacts since I entered the workforce at 14 and started my first business at 19. I have also discovered the hard way that not everyone has good intentions. But what has become clear is that you simply cannot be successful without a support system of great people who will be instrumental in shepherding you through the difficult times, of which there will be many if you also choose to be an entrepreneur.

No one in my life bas been more important and supportive on this journey than my parents. They are not entrepreneurs per se and certainly dont share my tolerance for risk and uncertainty. Time after time, I found myself going to the Bank of Mum and Dad to make a withdrawal for my next pursuit. This book would not be possible without their unwavering support. Without them, none of this would be possible. Many times during the sleepless nights of writing this book and building a successful business I would use them as my compass to ensure that I was always trying to be the best I can be and bring value to others.

This book started as a finance book. But it really became about entrepreneurship and how starting and running a private company intersects with finance. I consider myself fortunate to have years upon years of failures, all of which have contributed to the experiences that this book is founded on. And without the unwavering support of my Mum and Dad, none of this would have been possible.

I launched Bonaventure Equity as the next chapter in my personal lifelong ambition to be a leading financier of best-in-class entrepreneurs. When we embraced cannabis as our core investment thesis, it became clear that by working with fellow entrepreneurs as true financial partners, we could have a massive impact with what we do. Our mission is to create $1 billion in value and to positively impact 1 billion lives. This means that we need to be global in our scope. We are grateful to Mexicos former president Vicente Fox for anchoring our advisory board to help us realize this mission and for his considerate and inspiring forward.

This book is part of the foundation we are building to deliver on our ambitious plan. I am committed to personally helping create no less than 100 millionaires (or 10 percent of our value creation goal) from the entrepreneurs and business partners we work with every day in support of. This book may be the catalyst for you to be one of those people.

I have intentionally used the term we a lot in this book, as everything I do is empowered by my wonderful family, friends, colleagues, advisors and mentors. I cannot possibly thank everyone who has had an impact on me, but the following people truly stand out in my life and this project.

My best friends, Todd and Tracey Walters and Jarrett and Kristina Bostwick: Your belief in me and support of our mission humbles me every day and although we may not technically be family, you are the extended family that I fight for every day. Our wonderful core team at BVE: Tara Waglow, Bill Kehoe, Mike Elion, Ryan Michaels, and Cody Hughes. To Bryson Nobles, Mike McKenna and Mark Sluiter for friendship and always pointing out when I could use a little humility! Thanks to our partners and friends Hal, Shirley & Jason Eis, Nick Leibham (everyone needs a super lawyer as a friend) and Diane Newburg. And thanks to advisors Greg Shugar, Peter Sheptak, and Ricky Williams.

Many thanks to all the contributors: Joe Mimran, Brett Finklestein, Tyler Beuerlien, Mitch Baruchowitz, Troy Dayton, Jon Traubin, Tahira Rematullah, Emily Paxhia, Scott Greiper, Giadha Aguierre de Carcer, David Mangone, Lori Ferrara, Ryan Ansin, Sara Presler, and Michael Schwamm. And to all friends and colleagues I owe a thank you to: Saphira Galoob, Skyler Baab, George J Von Burgh, Jon Barden, Bimal Kapoor, Brian Dooley, Jim Dullum, Ralph Manaker, Jay Lopez, Juan Garcia, Darcy Gramm, Paul Lambert, Greg Whelan, Paul Kasnetz, David Wesner, Ray Hennessey, Maggie Kelly, Scott Cantini, Jennifer Dorsey, Vanessa Campos, Randall Harper, Patty Schreiber, Michael Hilf, Adam and Dawn Weil, Evan and Rachel Dash, Michael Swackhamer, Colin Conway, Ian McCormack, Dan Klein, and my godparents Len and Avis Bruton and the whole Bruton family, my Bulldog family Bob Paganelli and Brian VH Van Horn. Finally, I owe a huge thank you to Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Congressman Ed Perlmutter, Ted Chung, Jim Baudino, Keith Bonnici, and the incomparable Cheech Marin for being early icons and contributing to establishing this Cannabis Economy.

Ross OBrien, Parksville British Columbia, July 2019

FOREWORD

by Vicente Fox Quesada former President of Mexico

A phrase I use often is that the path to happiness simple; all you have to do is give back to others. This lifetime focus of service to the people of my country and to the citizens of the world brought me directly to the issue of decriminalizing marijuana and the establishment of the legal cannabis economy. When I left office, my wife, Martha, and I spent considerable time thinking about how we wanted to use our influence for good through our philanthropies, Centro Fox (my presidential library), and our global connections with leading business experts and fellow former heads of state. Most important to us was identifying opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneurs and the youth of our communities.