Jul 27, 2022
Cannabis Sales Secret Weapon - Pistil Data = Cannabis Tech w/ Jeff Graham
- BRT S03 EP34 (133) 7-24-2022
Things We Learned This Week
- Pistil Data gathers a vast amount of cannabis data across the industry w/ the goal of enabling cannabis businesses to make better business decisions, & enhance sales
- Salespeople can use mobile apps to identify business opps, stores that don’t carry their products, stores that need reorders & new stores opening.
- Co-founded by Jeffrey Graham, a former Director of Google, VP of Twitter, and the Managing Director of one of the largest investment firms in the world (Blackrock) - leader in analytics, data science & business intelligence
- Data Collection – how to use it, start with the Q, what products needs will the data answer
- Speed & Scale in Tech Growth – momentum creates excitement, get market share, better to building & expanding vs stuck in the mud
Guest: Jeffrey Graham - Founder-CEO Pistil Data
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreygraham1
https://twitter.com/jeffrigram
The Pistil Data Platform
Give your sales team a secret weapon. Pistil makes it easy for cannabis sales teams to prospect, upsell, and grow sales.
Pistil gathers a vast amount of cannabis data across the cannabis industry with the goal of enabling cannabis businesses to make better business decisions. The company has built technology to make sense of the data, which is complicated and messy in the cannabis industry, according to Graham.
Pistil has developed applications for brands to provide information that can be leveraged by sales teams. Salespeople can use mobile applications to identify business opportunities, such as stores that don’t carry their products, stores that are ready for reorders and new stores opening. Pistil helps salespeople use data to make it easier to sell cannabis into retail stores, & target competition.
Pistil Data.
Co-founded by Jeffrey Graham, a former Director of Google, VP of Twitter, and the Managing Director of one of the largest investment firms in the world (Blackrock)
Jeffrey Graham is a Proven leader
in analytics, data science and business intelligence. Jeffrey
Graham is a blues musician, weed connoisseur and data nerd. As the
former head of data analytics and research at Twitter, Google and
the New York Times, Jeffrey saw firsthand the potential and
power of harnessing data for business intelligence. Three years
ago, he made the leap into cannabis to found Pistil Data, becoming
a first-time entrepreneur at the age of 50. Pistils’ data
intelligence platform is now powering market intelligence at 1,000+
companies including some of the fastest-growing brands in the
cannabis industry (CannaLeaf, Dosist, HERBL etc), and the
company recently landed $6MM in investment from Snoop Dogg’s
VC, Casa Verde Capital.
Notes:
Jeffrey background in tech, worked in tech for NYT, Google & Twitter, also Blackrock
Tech, Media, Finance – lots of data
NYT – worked on data for subscription model study, what products people want, what stories people engage - Ad Revenue – research for sales.
Data Collection - how to use, Start with Q – what product needs?, Will data answer the Q?
Power of data, Big Data – get Data, overwhelming, how to use and decipher & use
Influence of FAANG co’s and Netflix, Twitter etc. on all business
AI impact on all industries
Cannabis embrace of tech – need for data , to get Scaling possibilities for Cannabis market
Pistil Data started in 2020 & serves Cannabis Brands, specifically sales teams winning shelf space and expanding, help to pitch a store to carry a product.
Cannabis is a business in motion, so data needs to be updated often – stores changing ownership or products
Pistil operates in 7 states – CA, CO, AZ, NV, MA, MD, etc.
Adding 5 more in Q2/2022 - WA, OR, etc.
Then expand into Canada by 2023, a mature Cannabis market
Germany and Mexico are emerging markets for cannabis
Core data – product tracking in all retail stores in U.S. & Canada, plus price to keep it organized on Pistil Data APP for easy use.
1000 sales reps as users in 1 yr.
Pistil helps the sales reps, What’s it worth to find a new store? Or Re-order opps
CA - test state for Pistil, 44 million population
Took 1 year, then 6 months for next state, then 3 months to add 5 states
Speed and scale in tech growth momentum creates excitement internally.
Lots of competition to get market share, better to be building and expanding vs. stuck in mud.
Same Pistil Data tech (SaaS) in ALL states
IP has fixed costs, little extra cost when add new users and states subscription model.
Scales well, no extra costs for Pistil with new clients.
Push out new features to clients.
Acquire clients via organic and cold calling.
No paid marketing, no advertising. Know the brands
Get on phone, push to demo product for prospect, 80% close rate if they see the demo
Music – Jeff plays jazz guitar and bass. Improvisational music, continuous flow of creativity puts Jeff ‘in the moment’ – plays daily if possible.
Work and life balance – get back to even.
Life is a Marathon, not a sprint.
La La Land – movie about love, jazz and LA, and Jeff likes it
Fund raising – Angel rounds, Seed round
There should be a data company in cannabis, crossover from tech to cannabis.
Founder Story – keep telling your story to the right people to get investors
Create Investor Urgency – time constraints to get in, rounds end.
VC’s act as advisors, and board help
Talk with VCs monthly or 2x times a month, VC’s act as sounding board
Tech Topic:
https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Tech-Startup-VC-Cybersecurity-Energy-Science
Cannabis Topic:
https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Cannabis-Hemp-Marijuana
Investing Topic:
https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Investing-Stocks-Bonds-Retirement
Business Roundtable with Matt Battaglia
The show where Entrepreneurs, High Level Executives, Business Owners, and Investors come to share insight and ideas about the future of business. BRT 2.0 looks at the new trends in business, and how classic industries are evolving.
Common Topics Discussed: Business, Entrepreneurship, Investing, Stocks, Cannabis, Tech, Blockchain / Crypto, Real Estate, Legal, Sales, Charity, and more…
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