Episode 25

025 Colton Griffin - Regulations, Optimizing Supply Chain & Sparking Innovations in the Cannabis Industry

Colton Griffin is the CEO of Flourish Software, a leading supply chain management and ERP system for the cannabis, CBD, and hemp verticals. In a highly regulated industry, Flourish Software tracks and optimizes the entire supply chain from seed to sale.

Today, Colton joins the show to talk about the cannabis industry, the challenges posed by operating in such a highly regulated industry and why the future could be forever impacted by the cannabis plant, hemp.

Episode Sponsor

Small Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’

Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/

Key Takeaways

01:16 – Jeff introduces today’s guest, Colton Griffin, who joins the show to discuss the evolution of the cannabis industry and the origin story of his company, Flourish Software

08:00 – Navigating the challenges of operating in a highly regulated industry

10:04 – How regulations have changed the way Colton thinks about software and business overall

14:25 – One thing Colton did not expect when he entered the industry and the medical science behind cannabis

19:56 – How regulations have led to innovations

24:17 – Jeff takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Champion Leadership Group

24:53 – Debunking a common misconception about the cannabis/CBD industry

26:57 – Social equity programs and the importance of giving back

31:51 – How Colton ensures his team is aligned with the mission and vision of Flourish

33:34 – Biggest challenges of building and sustaining a world-class team

39:29 – Colton speculates on what the future of software and machine learning holds

44:38 – Jeff thanks Colton for joining the show and lets listeners know where to learn more about Flourish Software

Tweetable Quotes

“The topic of supply chain management probably isn’t what people set out to focus on when building these businesses, but it’s the ‘how it all works’ behind it. It’s really where the business meets profitability.” (06:40) (Colton)

“Honestly, everything in this industry is twice as hard as it should be because there’s a lot of red tape. One of the big challenges is the number of regulations and the frequency with which they change and having to adapt to them very quickly.” (09:02) (Colton)

“So, our customers use our software to run their day-to-day. They’re just trying to ship orders out, understand how much they have on hand, understand what everything costs and where it is in the process. These are fairly proven concepts in the broader world. But, why we exist is there is a lot of vertical specificity that is required to just do that on a day-to-day basis.” (10:10) (Colton)

“Similar to the science of the plant and the science of making the product, the medical uses of the plant are really significant. And it actually positively affects millions of people’s lives, and gets them off of drugs and is sometimes the only thing that’s worked for pain management, inflammation, sleep, and things around certain cancers.” (17:42) (Colton)

“We all build a business to make money at the end of the day, right? We have stakeholders and shareholders and we have to make profit and grow and ensure everyone has a healthy paycheck. Past that though, I feel like there’s a big need to have a bigger ‘why,’ and a bigger purpose, and a bigger effect on society past just that next revenue target.” (27:26) (Colton)

“We’ve redone all of our processes generally every year, if not every two years - and sometimes more frequently if it’s a higher growth area or department - because you just have to do it. It’s not necessarily a challenge. It’s more of us looking at what is challenging about what we do and trying to eliminate that.” (36:46) (Colton)

“I think one of the most exciting things about working in this industry is not just the cannabis from a recreational perspective, the cannabis from a medicinal perspective transforming medicine and lowering our cost of healthcare and allowing people to have better health outcomes. I think hemp - the cannabis plant itself - has the power to transform industries in a way that goes far beyond what cannabis has.” (42:04) (Colton)