When Adam Bierman began his journey within the hashish business in 2008, he was a California child with a brash persona and ambitions to destigmatize the plant and promote its advantages, each medicinal and leisure. By the point he co-founded MedMen with Andrew Modlin simply two years later, the pair had created a enterprise pitch spectacular sufficient to land Bierman on the helm of what would turn into probably the most high-profile—and most controversial—hashish firm in the USA.
Bierman is blessed with considerable self-confidence and simple charisma that tends towards audaciousness. Each traits helped propel MedMen not solely with suppliers, companions, and the monetary markets, but in addition with mainstream media. On the similar time, old-school activists and legacy operators noticed him as simply one other beginner—and a really younger one, at that—climbing into the inexperienced rush to use the plant for revenue. However, MedMen’s rise was nothing wanting spectacular, owing largely to a brand new kind of in-store expertise that earned the corporate the nickname “Apple Retailer of weed.”
As Beirman and Modlin raised tens of millions of {dollars} in funding, MedMen grew to become one of many fastest-growing nationwide retail chains within the U.S., with dozens of places throughout the nation. At its peak, the corporate was valued at $2 billion. When MedMen went public on the Canadian Securities Change in 2018, its inventory rapidly shot as much as $6.50 per share. Nonetheless, as rumors unfold about exorbitant money burn and questionable enterprise practices, the inventory began a gradual slide. By January 2020, shares had been buying and selling at fifty cents. Immediately, with a market cap of solely $25 million, the corporate is value simply pennies a share.
In 2020, Bierman stepped down as chief govt officer amid allegations of monetary improprieties, mismanagement of funds, and a TMZ-worthy lawsuit filed by the corporate’s former chief monetary officer. MedMen got here out on high in that court docket battle the following 12 months, however by then Bierman additionally had filed swimsuit in opposition to the corporate, alleging fraud and failure to honor the phrases of his separation settlement. In December 2022, an arbitrator ordered the corporate he co-founded to pay him $3.1 million in reparations—a fraction of what he sought, however sufficient to depart him feeling vindicated.
After his departure from MedMen, Bierman took a hiatus from the business to spend high quality time together with his household at their dwelling in Costa Rica. Of late, he has been engaged on a e-book and gearing up for his return to an business nonetheless burdened with most of the similar challenges he confronted a decade in the past.
“I feel it’s vital to know that I didn’t actually depart the area for that lengthy. My course of took a few 12 months, 12 months and a half,” he stated. “And that was the longest I might maintain out on transferring ahead with a few of the individuals who believed in me earlier than I believed in myself once more. I’m extra passionate immediately than when MedMen was the tip of the spear and [I was] a spokesperson for the business.
“I’m enthusiastic about publicly reemerging, as a result of I can inform the story,” he continued. “I used to be by no means interviewed as Adam Bierman earlier than. I used to be at all times interviewed because the CEO of MedMen.”
Bierman and his backers not too long ago debuted what he calls a completely new retail idea: Megabud, a series of “hashish comfort shops.” With two outlets open within the San Francisco Bay Space and a number of other extra there and in southern California “coming quickly,” Bierman goals to rework the procuring expertise and provides each new and legacy customers a purpose to turn into loyal prospects. He additionally has taken the position of “chief expertise officer” for a brand new life-style model, Bombotta, which is “delivering the most recent and biggest from the world of exotics and placing it in a package deal with a clear label of the precise genetics inside, then charging mid-tier pricing,” he stated.
The time is ripe for innovation, particularly in California, he believes. In his opinion, too many firms are resting on their laurels, hesitant to introduce new concepts or rock the boat in a market the place most firms nonetheless battle to show a revenue seven years after adult-use legalization.
MedMen’s meteoric rise and fall is probably the most well-documented story within the trendy U.S. business, full with allegations of malfeasance, betrayal, and reckless conduct that led to the meltdown of probably the most extremely valued hashish firms within the U.S. Bierman was entrance and middle in that story, and if he has regrets about his first shot at constructing an empire, he retains them to himself. As he readily factors out, MedMen was one thing of an object lesson in early-stage startups and the inevitable hazards of being a first-mover paving the way in which in a precarious new business.
Whether or not he has realized sufficient classes from his expertise to construct profitable new ventures is an open query. One factor is indisputably clear: He hasn’t misplaced any of the boldness or bravado that introduced him to the business within the first place.
MedMen skilled a dramatic rise and fall between 2017 and 2019. What do you suppose had been probably the most important elements that led to its collapse?
I definitely don’t need to reply to that query and play the sufferer or make excuses, however I can definitely share the details of what occurred, and I need to discuss concerning the MedMen journey. In actual fact, I’ve spent the previous eighteen months engaged on the e-book, and we’d want ten hours simply to start out chapter one. However with the reality, we will give attention to all the teachings and the way they hopefully translate to the business immediately.
I can consider three issues that went unsuitable main as much as my departure. In that timeframe, the very first thing that occurred was the Gotham Inexperienced debt, and the second factor was the Invoice Barr [Department of Justice] interference within the PharmaCann transaction. The third factor was that the capital markets froze. These three issues, inside twelve months, had been the backdrop for all the things else occurring with the dynamic of the corporate.
[In 2019, MedMen obligated itself for up to $285 million in convertible debt and warrants held by Gotham Green Partners (GGP). The arrangement could have left GGP owning 66–78 percent of the company, to the detriment of original investors. At about the same time, MedMen and Pharmacann mutually agreed to abandon the former’s planned $682-million all-stock acquisition of the vertically integrated multistate operator for reasons neither ever fully explained. —Ed.]
Once you look again at that interval, I think about there was loads of blame to go round. Which elements of that downward spiral would you personally take possession of, if any?
I’d take full accountability for the fact that I didn’t have the expertise to attract from in reacting to or dealing with any a type of three gadgets. At that time limit, I used to be the CEO of a public firm that had had the good thing about being the primary firm out in a booming, brand-new, thrilling, fast-growing business. My solely expertise as a public-company CEO was that of an organization working inside the context of a booming capital market. The primary time these capital markets froze throughout my tenure, I had by no means had the expertise dealing with, reacting to, and even predicting that scenario. That lack of expertise is most definitely one thing I’m accountable and answerable for.
Over a ten-year span at MedMen, extra issues went proper than unsuitable as we performed our position in creating permanence for the business whereas additionally constructing a dynamic public firm that started off of my residence and nonetheless offers authorized hashish to customers throughout the nation immediately. At a sure time limit, and in historical past, we had been the tip of the spear. We gained all of the experiences—good and unhealthy—that come on account of being in that place.
Once you have a look at my tenure at MedMen, it’s distinctive nevertheless it’s not. It’s distinctive apart from in sure industries like on line casino gaming. And while you have a look at how I used to be making these selections, there was no expertise obtainable. This had by no means been carried out earlier than. There weren’t any books to attract from.
Wanting again, is there something you’ll have carried out otherwise for those who had the prospect?
At MedMen, we made 100 selections a day, and if I obtained fifty-one of them proper, that’s like a excessive 5. There’s nothing excellent, particularly when there isn’t a historical past to attract from. So if I had a time machine and all the data I’ve immediately, after all I’d have constructed all the things otherwise, as a result of I’d have had a complete totally different set of details from which to construct. However I constructed MedMen from ardour, and there’s a necessity on this business for ardour, as a result of ardour results in plans. However plans imply charting a journey, and typically journeys take us by and to locations we’ve by no means been earlier than.
My ardour was for the truth that marijuana must be destigmatized, accessible, and controlled. That led to us creating MedMen. That led to us altering state legal guidelines and serving to to create a complete new group of lawmakers who discuss marijuana after they’re campaigning for workplace. The fervour that led to all these issues unlocked a possibility. As I look again, I by no means would have modified how a lot ardour I had in the beginning. And I definitely have extra ardour immediately than I did fifteen years in the past.
Do you count on traders and business leaders to see you as somebody who realized from his errors and now is aware of higher, or do you suppose you’ll really feel warmth about MedMen’s failures?
My first response is to say MedMen isn’t a failure. My work and my time for greater than ten years was the alternative of failure. MedMen and its inventory value at the moment are tremendous depressed, so if I had invested in it a 12 months and a half in the past, it might really feel prefer it’s at the moment a failure. However the true query is twenty years from now, what is going to MedMen’s place in all of this be? With a few of the most strategic retail property in the USA—a very powerful marijuana market on planet Earth—I consider MedMen will probably be part of the way forward for hashish in a method or one other.
Sadly, my departure from MedMen wasn’t precisely roses. Because of this, it’s been a few years the place there was litigation, and there was stuff floating backwards and forwards, the company drama that occurs when one thing goes down like that. So I’ve been quiet, nevertheless it’s over now, and I prevailed. I feel there are classes and experiences, however I’ve been flattered and humbled over the previous couple of years. It’s a really humbling expertise to depart an organization you constructed with each ounce of your being. So after that, I positively took time to regroup, suppose, and verify in with myself and my household.
The investor facet of the world immediately isn’t the identical because it was in 2015 and 2018. If an investor goes to spend money on one thing, they need to see a transparent path to returns, and so they don’t need to see a path to creating returns with a bunch of if/then statements.
So, even with its present difficulties, you suppose MedMen will survive.
I’m not there, so it’s troublesome for me to know what’s occurring behind the scenes. A number of firms are struggling, and those that survive are those that will probably be round for the lengthy haul, whether or not they’re unbiased or a part of some bigger conglomerate. I simply know these that can survive are going to must get up in some unspecified time in the future very, very quickly. They’re going to must snap out of it. They’re going to must innovate and create, transfer and shake, or they’re going to die.
Now that you’re getting again into the business, what tasks and different pursuits have your consideration?
Because it pertains to precise industrial pursuits, I’m obsessed with manufacturers, I’m obsessed with retail, and I’m as passionate as I’ve ever been about California. So my focus professionally proper now’s these three classes. I’ve been serving to California manufacturers plan to scale, not solely throughout the nation however internationally, and serving to manufacturers exterior California determine easy methods to create a enterprise mannequin that can maintain retail particular to California but in addition be relevant to the business at massive.
The best way you’ll have a look at me proper now’s as an advocate, activist, and investor-operator. Day by day I’m passionately interested by easy methods to take part and make sure the finish of prohibition. Relating to retail ideas, I’ve an idea known as Megabud. There are two shops open in northern California, in San Francisco and Daly Metropolis, and people are a proof of idea for me. We’ve a system we name a “convenience-store mannequin,” the place we have now developed the MedMen playbook and discovered one of the simplest ways to ship prospects an expertise the place they’re curious however would possibly already know what merchandise they need. How can we ship traders whereas on the similar time making a enterprise that’s standalone, sustainable, and thrilling in and of itself? The place they find yourself down the highway, I don’t know, however these are shops I personal and management.
Is there something specifically about Megabud you suppose is distinctly totally different from different dispensaries?
It’s not totally different. It’s like one other world—the following evolution of issues. The best way the shop is operated from a enterprise standpoint is essentially totally different from what has existed prior to now, and the shop is operated backward from our goal KPIs [key performance indicators] to the shelf and to the ground. So versus “that is what we expect we want for staffing, and these are the merchandise we expect the neighborhood desires us to hold,” the staffing is aligned with a KPI or in opposition to a KPI. So after we know the way a lot income that retailer does day-after-day, it’s mechanically staffed precisely to that income, which permits it to earn a living and in addition produces zero waste.
These are smaller-footprint shops which are constructed to stream otherwise. The best way we’ve laid out these footprints permits individuals to maneuver very simply and permits us to cope with them far more effectively. From a enterprise standpoint, I feel the KPIs are going to be one thing individuals aren’t used to seeing at a California retailer. Nevertheless it’s additionally about persevering with to show to folks that, with ardour, you possibly can create plans and do issues no one has seen earlier than.
I feel the Megabud idea and me having these numbers and the shoppers with the ability to have that have helps transfer retail ahead. Finally, if retail can encourage the business to maneuver ahead, it’s not simply retail. All people has to get up, proper? The place’s the iteration on the manufacturers? The place’s the iteration on persistently delivering these manufacturers and constructing for the long run in an actual, everlasting method? The place’s the creativity bridging mainstream enterprise to marijuana?
Wherein different segments of the market do you see probably the most alternative? What different areas are you trying into?
The largest alternative proper now, whoever you occur to be, is to have an edge. In case you’re an investor, which suggests you could have entry to capital, that’s an edge. Whether or not you could have an edge since you’re an operator and also you’re the most effective cultivator in your total state or your edge occurs to be fifteen years of expertise doing this and constructing a playbook—no matter your edge is, I feel that’s the alternative immediately.
There are two arbitrage alternatives on the similar time which are in power right here. The primary arbitrage is simply between marijuana being an unlawful and authorized enterprise. In case you consider there may be an final finish to prohibition and these companies will probably be authorized in some unspecified time in the future, then they’re undervalued immediately. However the second alternative immediately didn’t exist once I left MedMen: When all people else is sitting on their palms, if the enterprise itself is value one thing, the chance is so, a lot better for many who are stepping up and grinding throughout these occasions versus the occasions when all people’s stepping up.
The second alternative for getting concerned and getting disproportionate potential, or upside, no matter you need to name it, is for those who consider in retail in your state, you’re an amazing operator or cultivator, and also you’re keen to take a look at the expertise of the previous ten years—not simply MedMen, however all of those firms—and begin your basis from a playbook that now exists. I’m right here to take it to the place it’s subsequent. There are so few individuals doing that, particularly with any ardour. It doesn’t matter what a part of the provision chain you’re in. There’s this large alternative.
Do you see any huge shifts within the business on the horizon?
Sure, I do see lots of alternatives for the retail expertise to evolve, significantly the idea of hashish retail. I don’t have a look at issues like consumption lounges as evolution. I feel it’s nice, nevertheless it’s not evolutionary. I nonetheless have but to see any define or any precise financials that make any sense, the place it’s an fascinating enterprise mannequin. So I have a look at evolution and I take into consideration issues like the way it’s getting delivered to your door. What sort of loyalty are you part of? How does that loyalty cross over to different elements of your life? How are you shopping for hashish alongside different issues? How are you buying your hashish by different distributors? How are hashish firms partnering with these organizations or locations the place individuals keep—for instance, the resorts—or leisure venues? I have a look at the evolution of the way in which individuals entry hashish, name it retail, however I’m considering exterior of the shop.
I do suppose there’s a spot for hashish shops sooner or later, however I additionally suppose most of them will resemble extra of what we’re doing at Megabud than what we did in West Hollywood—and even a few of these megastores that exist immediately.
So, what do operators have to do to shake issues up in a method that can preserve the business transferring ahead?
Once you’re innovating, you’re not asking permission. Once you’re innovating, you might be creating one thing that didn’t exist earlier than, after which you might be believing in the truth that the world or your viewers will develop the understanding within the perception you have already got. The inventors, the creators, they take a step ahead earlier than everybody else and step into what’s subsequent. They usually simply consider all people else will see it. However I don’t see that taking place on the regulatory facet. I don’t see innovation that’s forcing their hand. I don’t see marijuana changing into extra mainstream, extra accessible, extra identical to every other product. I don’t see these issues occurring immediately.
How have client habits modified over the previous few years, and the way do you suppose customers will evolve?
We now are in a spot the place prospects are extra educated and wish to have the ability to management their very own expertise. They not need to sit in a line en masse, going one on one the place they really feel a duty to trade niceties and spend an additional couple minutes in the event that they already know the product they’re going to pick. The backdrop immediately is customers are extra knowledgeable than ever, but they nonetheless stay curious. So how do you ship a retail idea to customers who’re knowledgeable but curious?
In 2009, after we began engaged on the Treehouse—which might be our first retailer in 2010—the mentality of the marijuana consumer was “stoners didn’t discuss weed to non-stoners.” In case you smoked weed, you solely talked about it with your pals who smoked weed. However now we’ve began changing into extra outspoken about it on tv, it’s extra built-in into popular culture, and it’s extra mainstream. Individuals who had been utilizing hashish began to realize a way of pleasure or at the very least not exit of their method to disguise it.
The patron immediately has a stable, primary understanding of hashish, so I feel it’s about catering to a client who’s okay with and even pleased with the actual fact they use hashish. Finally, the query will probably be easy methods to cater to that client and tie within the fairness mainstream manufacturers have already got with them. The very fact Financial institution of America or MasterCard or Marriott doesn’t have marijuana built-in into its system but isn’t as a result of they’re outdated, stale firms. It’s as a result of the leaders within the business immediately don’t have the imaginative and prescient to determine easy methods to put these offers collectively. However these offers will occur, and will probably be on account of the actual fact the buyer is prepared for it.
How shut do you consider the business is to federal legalization?
We’ve by no means been nearer to ending prohibition than we’re immediately. And what occurs with human beings is after they get near conducting a activity, they turn into complacent. That’s simply what occurs on the one-yard line. We’ve been sitting right here on the one-yard line with out innovation, with out ardour, with out the artistic planning it’s going to take to get this throughout the end line. And other people have labored for many years on this.
I had the chance for greater than ten years to spend all the things I had, each ounce of my being, on this. And now there are such a lot of others doing the identical. We’re so shut, but we’re to this point.