"Greatness is slow-cooked." Most of the traits found in successful athletes can also be found in successful entrepreneurs. Rachael Rapinoe, former professional soccer star, trainer and health scientist, and the co-founder of Mendi, joins co-hosts Ross O'Brien and Maggie Kelly from Bonaventure Equity to talk about CBD and why a "better recovery means a better you." As Rachael succinctly explains it, "CBD is not an MVP, but it's a great teammate" and is most effective when used with other recovery methods. This interview also reveals how Mendi is doing the work to build a more diverse company and that includes making their cap table reflective of their values, great advice for any founders out there. Episode sponsored by Jesse Grillo Marketing Produced by PodConX Cannabis Capital - https://podconx.com/podcasts/cannabis-capital Ross O'Brien - https://podconx.com/guests/ross-obrien Maggie Kelly - https://podconx.com/guests/maggie-kelly Bonaventure Equity - https://www.bvequity.com/ Mendi - https://themendico.com/ Rachael Rapinoe - https://podconx.com/guests/rachael-rapinoe
"Greatness is slow-cooked."
Most of the traits found in successful athletes can also be found in successful entrepreneurs. Rachael Rapinoe, former professional soccer star, trainer and health scientist, and the co-founder of Mendi, joins co-hosts Ross O'Brien and Maggie Kelly from Bonaventure Equity to talk about CBD and why a "better recovery means a better you". As Rachael succinctly explains it, "CBD is not an MVP, but it's a great teammate" and is most effective when used with other recovery methods. This interview also reveals how Mendi is doing the work to build a more diverse company and that includes making their cap table reflective of their values, great advice for any founders out there. Episode sponsored by Jesse Grillo Marketing
Cannabis Capital - https://podconx.com/podcasts/cannabis-capital
Ross O'Brien - https://podconx.com/guests/ross-obrien
Maggie Kelly - https://podconx.com/guests/maggie-kelly
Bonaventure Equity - https://www.bvequity.com/
Mendi - https://themendico.com/
Rachael Rapinoe - https://podconx.com/guests/rachael-rapinoe
Maggie Kelly: [00:00:00] Hello listeners, and welcome to cannabis capital. The podcast, where we dig into the business and finance of the cannabis economy. I'm Maggie Kelly co-host with the one and only Rosseau Bryan venture, capitalists and author of the book, cannabis capital Ross. How you doing today?
Ross O'Brien: Maggie. I'm great as always keen believe this is our 10th episode.
Maggie Kelly: Wow, the big 10
Ross O'Brien: The pig's head is flying by. I know.
Maggie Kelly: Fifth grade. All right.
Ross O'Brien: So Maggie here we are 10 episodes in, I am going to steer clear of the hyperbole. We're pleased to have everybody back with us and our guests today needs no introduction. But I think it's time for our cannabis economy and I'm currently undefeated and new listeners out there.
We have a challenge at the top of every episode. We believe that cannabis is a global macro economy. It's a trend and it's here to stay with any. Global economy. There are some sectors and industries within it. So we don't refer to the cannabis industry. We refer to the cannabis economy. And so we have a challenge [00:01:00] for any of the listeners out there to identify an incumbent industry or a sector or some vertical that they think is otherwise not being impacted by cannabis legalization.
I'm hoping to defend my undefeated track record today. I could go 10 and oh today. Maggie. This is exciting. And it's our belief that cannabis has reached the boardroom of every company. And every sector everywhere. So I'm nervous but excited to get the double digits in the wind column. What do you got for me today?
Maggie Kelly: Well, I know that some of those streaming right now are hoping that you will be proved wrong, but let's see if you can do it. Today's challenge comes from Bryson in New Jersey and his submission is.
Ross O'Brien: Well, all right. Thank you, Bryson. That's a pretty broad one app. I did spend some time in the music industry when I was younger, as Maggie. And what I can tell you is going back decades, that consumption was always something that was prevalent and. Yeah, all the [00:02:00] companies that I worked for had pretty robust, clear, or otherwise opaque drug consumption policies.
But I think about not just on the artistic side and all of the creation that's going on, but I also think about what the access to cannabis is doing to broader that the music economy. So I actually just saw something a couple of weeks ago that Celeste Gian, the speaker. It's actually making a series of speakers that has in it, a hemp compound to build the speaker components with.
So I thought that was super interesting that, they're actually looking to new materials in the creation of their speaker technology. So that's the first one that comes to mind and I'd hope that's enough to check a victory against.
Maggie Kelly: Well, there you have it. Listeners Ross remains undefeated. If you have a submission to the cannabis economy challenge, please visit cannabis capital podcasts.com to submit your challenge. And it could wind up on a future episode now onto our show [00:03:00] featuring the amazing.
Professional soccer player, sports scientist, a trainer who advocates for the health of athletes. She is none other than co-founder of Mindy, the one and only Rachel Rapinoe.
Rachael Rapinoe: Hello. My name is Rachel Arpino. I'm the CEO and co-founder of Mindy and my blunt truth on the cannabis economy is. It is a incredibly difficult market to operate in and we still have a ways to go if we want it to be a progressive and forward thinking industry.
Maggie Kelly: well, Rachel, we are so happy you've joined us today. It's not everyday that you get to interview a professional athlete. Who's accomplished so much in a relatively short amount of time. Would you mind getting us started and give our listeners a little background on yourself and also on.
Rachael Rapinoe: Yes. I'd love to thank you again for having me. I always love sharing my story and just connecting with wonderful like-minded people. My story has sort of been 10 [00:04:00] years in the making. Working my body of work for the past 10 years has really been in the health and wellness and fitness industry.
I have my undergrad in biology, my master's of science and health and exercise. I was a performance coach for several years and built a training business here in Portland and national event business. So I've been working closely with athletes in the world of performance and recovery for quite some time.
And I was a professional athlete myself. I had a lot of injuries, Ross. I know all about the knee stuff. The knee injuries had several surgeries myself on my knees and my ankles. So, pre being a performance coach, I was prescribed a lot of opiates, a lot of pain sleeping over the counter med anti-inflammatories.
I saw a lot of other athletes struggling with that as well. And during the course of my previous business, as a performance coach, I had a lot of athletes that were using hemp and cannabis products and it was an interesting dichotomy because I grew up being very afraid of drugs and cannabis in particular, right?
Like that's the gateway drug to bigger and harsher and worse things. But on [00:05:00] the other hand, I had taken a lot of opiates and because, it was prescribed by a doctor and I thought it was safe. And looking back, I definitely abused them and it was way over prescribed opiates from the age of 21 to 26.
So my athletes were using cannabis products. I at least had the wherewithal that it was better for you than synthetic medication, but I still didn't know much about it. And in surveying the market, this was like probably six years ago, realized very quickly there was no brand that. Really speaking to athletes and active minded lifestyles in a way that felt trusting transparent just clear in terms of the education and dosage and application and all that.
So that was sort of my aha moment. And I started connecting the dots and I met my other co-founder Brett Schweiger. Who's our chief creative officer and our mission from day one has to build a trusted brand that speaks to athletes and active minded lifestyle. That's very sensible, kind of no bullshit, just the truth, just transparent products and what they do for you and how to use them.
And hopefully we'll be [00:06:00] one of the most trusted cannabis and hemp sports brands in the market.
Maggie Kelly: So when you kicked off with your blunt truth, talking about , the difficulty in the cannabis economy in particular could you. Give your perspective on why you think that is. And what do you think that most founders may misunderstand about trying to start a business in the cannabis space?
Rachael Rapinoe: Yeah, I think what I mean by that. And again, this is my second business. I worked in corporate pre. Roy Pino se, which is my first business. We know the world, there are systems set up that don't make it easy for people to operate particularly people of color, particularly our queer community. If you're a woman, there are just certain systems that are around us and we can only do as much as the systems will hold us back.
Right. But in the cannabis industry in particular, I would say it's, it's still not the friendly. Place to operate. If you're in one of those groups, I still think we have a [00:07:00] ways to go. Particularly when it comes to financing startups, whether you're, a female founder, queer founder, BiPAP, founder, I think that we need to do a better job of dispersing capital to make sure that it's a level playing field and everyone has an equal opportunity.
To grow a sustainable business. And that's something that hopefully one day I can help to be part of the solution. I certainly don't have the pockets to do it now, but that's definitely core ethos of Mindy is one day. We hope to be a company that can maybe finance other startups that are like-minded and have the same values. And just again, do our part to level the playing field in the cannabis industry, as well as in the sports landscape as well.
Ross O'Brien: And so Rachel, as our focus is the finance side of the equation, and that's a lot, what we talk about in this podcast, would you mind, maybe going deeper, dive into, how you formed the entity. I formed the company, what the financing was like for you. And I'd really like to understand, like, what do you see as the solutions [00:08:00] out there in terms of leveling the playing field and the.
Barriers that are already or may exist in place in terms of access to capital.
Rachael Rapinoe: It's interesting Russ. So we did a business accelerator program in 2019. So we, we just celebrated two years in market. We've been contracting than you for a couple years, but we're still relatively young, but basically. For five months of 2019, we did a business accelerator program and that program helped us put the nuts and bolts of the business together.
But for me as a CEO, it really helped me learn how to raise money. I had never raised capital before, and I found it incredibly uncomfortable to ask people for money. So it's been a journey. Now I'm like, give me your money, help me build this company now again. But so that business accelerator program, I would say one of the key takeaways that I learned is.
When a woman, when a female founder or I guess anyone on the outgroup really, is trying to raise money. The, the space that they're speaking from. And the questions that they're asked is really more. You have to tell everyone all the reasons why you're [00:09:00] not going to fail, whereas when a man is raising money typically and again, , these are, just broader perspectives.
They get to talk about all the reasons why they're going to be successful. And that was a big takeaway for me and something that I've really had to think about and carry with me anytime I'm pitching my idea, and it really has held true. And so when you're starting from your back heel like that, it does make the conversation a little bit difficult.
It makes the barriers a little bit difficult in terms of getting that funding. We all know that, 2% or maybe less always it less, it might be less than 3% of startups get funding. If you're a female, if you're a person of color, obviously is much less than that. So, it's no different in the cannabis industry, particularly in the last two years that we've had.
So we've had to go about it creatively. We have, fortunately we have nine athletes that have invested in us. We have some wonderful angel investors. We don't have, we have not gotten institutional capital. at this point. It hasn't tended to be favorable in terms of the high level terms and where we're at right now with [00:10:00] it, with our company's maturity.
So we've just had to kind of be a little bit scrappier, be a little bit more creative in terms of who we get on our cap table. It's, it's important to us also to have a diverse cap table, right? Like we want to make sure that. Building equitable wealth in, in that we have that that's being evenly dispersed on our cap table.
It's not just the same people getting wealthy. So I think I'm, I'm in a very long-winded way. Hopefully I'm answering your question, Ross.
Ross O'Brien: Oh, you are for sure. And I think this is something that's really interesting. We have in our firm and we put it publicly on our website. We have a set of guiding principles that we adhere to and we expect all of our companies to adhere to them as well when we invest. And one of our core principles is that we believe in access to entrepreneurship for all of our community.
Full-stop and so out of the nine companies we have, I think we've got four or five female founders. We have three African-American founders have an Asian American founder. And what's interesting, Rachel is I love having this conversation because for us, what you're talking about of, of, it sounds like a lot of investors have a preconceived notion of [00:11:00] you needing to defend why something is otherwise perceived as.
To your company, as opposed to why you're going to be successful for us as investors, we look at it as this is the complete opposite. Now having spent a lot of my career in healthcare, the founders that we're seeing and investing in our look and behave and are different and more diverse than we see in other sectors.
And for us, that means there are just more opportunities to be successful as entrepreneurs and as investors. So I think this is a really important conversation in your experience and anecdotes, I think will go a long way for people that are out there. , it sounds like you tackle those things head on.
So what, what was the approach to saying? Look, if this is the landscape, how do you still succeed?
Rachael Rapinoe: Yeah. I mean, I think it's twofold. I think being an athlete you're used to failing, right. So just going into it, knowing that that you're gonna fail you fail all the time as an athlete and that's something that I can't be afraid of, but we, I mean, obviously so many people have said no to us, right.
For every a hundred, hundred 50 investors, I pitched you. I might get one. Yes. So I think it's, it's just having that thick skin, having that [00:12:00] resiliency. And I do, I never thought of myself. An athlete, entrepreneur and once I retired and I went into the working world, I had heard from a lot of businesses that they want to hire athletes.
And I never really understood why, because I think everyone brings something unique to the table. Now, as an entrepreneur though, and 10 years into this, my entrepreneurial journey. Now I understand now I think I have a much better perspective and understanding of how my athletic background really has helped shape me.
If nothing else, I'm not afraid to fail. It's just, I know that I'm going to pick myself up and I'm going to keep going. So I think it's that. And then I obviously have a great support group too. And my sister, Megan she's wonderful. She's also has skin in the game with Mindy, her and Sue, and she told me early on.
She got the advice from a fashion designer who's who's queer and in has struggled in his own. Right. And he told her a long time ago, you can't convince scared people like don't waste time, [00:13:00] convincing, scare people of your. that was really interesting to me. I, I think being a female and a queer founder and just in 2019, us just coming to markets, launching our brand and our entire, our brand fight, which is to level the playing field equal inequality in the cannabis and sports landscape.
It didn't stick then it's sticking much more now, especially after 2020. But I think we just have to understand that, we see a future in this industry. We're sort of like, our, our brand fight. Our core ethos might be a little radical for like where the industry is at. But we have a deep passion and belief that we're heading in the right direction.
So I think it's the resiliency. And then I think as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, you have to believe deeply in what you're building. And we do. And even through all of the ups and downs and all the failures, we still believe wholeheartedly that we're on the right track and that we're building something special and unique.
And I think it really, it takes kind of those two things. [00:14:00]
Ross O'Brien: Well, I'm really enjoying this, Rachel, because what you're talking about to us really encapsulates a lot of the core principles that we believe are intrinsic to entrepreneurship. And we've been fortunate to start to meet. A lot of successful athletes that are under their second careers in this segment of the sector, this economy is wildly attracted to them for a lot of the reasons you said up front, even just managing your own physical wellbeing.
I'd like to just double click on one of the topics for a moment before we get back to the cannabis specifically experience of a professional athlete and how that translates to entrepreneurship. We're fascinated with the correlation to some of the things that we see in successful entrepreneurs. For example discipline long-term focus understanding there's a hierarchy being able to work within hierarchies.
What are you seeing? That's given you an advantage that was immediately translatable from your experience as an athlete.
Rachael Rapinoe: I think to your point, Ross discipline, I think discipline and diligence our, two of like the key characteristics [00:15:00] and attributes. I think that you need to have, if you want to build a great company, now, listen, there's some, sometimes people, you can build something, it can be a short journey, build it to sell, build it, to make some quick money.
So everyone has different goals. I think to your point as an athlete, you do not become great overnight. You become great by the decisions that you make every single day to sleep fright, drink, right. Eat, right. Train, right. Recover. Right. And then you just do it all. You do it every day. To be honest, the life of a pro athletes kind of boring.
People think that it's like all this glitz and glam and at times it can be, but like this day to day, The inner workings of, of that life requires so much sacrifice, so much discipline and diligence, a lot of hard work, and it's heartbreaking, right? I mean, being a pro athlete and losing and striking out and or air balling, if you're honest, who's one of the greatest athletes in the world.
And for some reason he still air balls free throws, which I have no idea how that's happening. But it can be really [00:16:00] heartbreaking being an actor. And very emotional. And I think all those things translate to being an entrepreneur. You're putting yourself out there. There's so much risk and uncertainty, you have everything in it, right.
I mean, most of the time your whole heart and soul is dumped into this thing that you don't really know for sure. If it's gonna work out, it's a lot of ups and downs. And I just, yeah, I guess, reflecting now 10 years into this journey, Man it's, it's just so transferrable the skillsets and the feelings that I had as a player growing up in college and pros and all that.
Ross O'Brien: And would you have any advice based on all of those experiences for young aspiring entrepreneurs who maybe haven't had that kind of experience?
Rachael Rapinoe: I do have advice. I don't know if it's very sexy advice, but , I would say. It is going to be harder and take longer than you want it to. And then that you could ever plan. I mean, it's just at the end of the day, it's, nothing's going to [00:17:00] go 100% according to plan. So plan for that and just know that it is going to be so difficult.
And take, take a while because again, greatness is slow cooked. It's not something that's built over night. You can't do it all alone. You have to have help. You have to know when to bring the right people in how to put the right people in the right places, surround yourself with people that are smarter than you surround yourself with kind people that, have the same values as you do.
You want to protect it. It's your baby, it's your company. So you don't, you got to make sure that you have the discernment to bring the right people in that fit your, your core ethos. And then the last thing I would say Is, it don't wait for it to be perfect. You definitely want to be thoughtful and you definitely want to be detailed.
But if you wait for perfection, you might miss your opportunity. Just know that mistakes are going to happen, but that's, that's part of it. You have to data collect for the first two years, you have to try and test certain channels and certain, certain strategies. And some of them are going to stick and some of them aren't.
So [00:18:00] just, don't be afraid to test and fail. Pivot and move quickly and do the things that you know are working and do them better.
Maggie Kelly: So I think I'm going to save this interview and just play back that response rate there. Anytime I need a little bit of motivation or a little friendly reminder. So I'm Ross and I, we met in higher education. We actually started an accelerator program at a university. That's still going to this day.
So you having spent time at an accelerator program. We have that in common. So we were familiar with that, but also. I'm a co-founder myself and so much of what you say just rings so true. But before we move on from the topic of inclusivity because I think that that's something where you said initially that was a fundamental of your startup is making sure that you are building a brand that is inclusive and that, that didn't.
Two years ago, let's just say, but as sticking more [00:19:00] now, and I would say from my perspective as well, that is a big component of what we're trying to incorporate into our build out. So if maybe you could just discuss what you did to incorporate inclusivity, what steps you took, what does that mean? What does that look like for founders who are also now thinking, okay, this is something that I haven't been.
Spent a lot of time on, but it's something that I need to be spending time on.
Rachael Rapinoe: Well, the first thing we did. And the F the first way that we felt like we could really put our money where our mouth is. Because again, I mean, at the end of the day, if you say you care about equity and quality quality, it really does come back to the money, right? Because money is power. So we felt like if we really championed this and believed in this and want to build true equity in this space, then let's get.
Female athletes and females on the cap table first in our first round, because we were giving the way the most [00:20:00] equity and it was a much lower minimum than it is now. So that was the first thing that we did. We went around to six of the nine NWSL teams or national women's soccer league. And we pitched Monday, we did focus groups and we, to collect data off, based off their comfortability with hemp products and their experience with them.
And would they, want to have a public relationship with a company like man, just getting feedback. But then we also. As an investment opportunity as well. And , we ended up getting nine women's professional soccer players, three of them on the us women's national team to invest in us.
And so that was the first thing we did. They are, they were the first people on our cap table. And sorta the first sign-offs. And we ended up getting I would say, I think 50% of our cap table now are females. We have a lot of people of the LGBTQ community on our cap table, BiPAP investors on our cap table.
So, I mean, that was like to us. First thing that we could do was to build a diverse cap table. We called the modern cap table since sort of our modern cap table project. [00:21:00] And it's taken time a movie Def we've said no to money. I mean, you guys know there's good money and there's bad money.
And for us, we want to make sure that if we're going to give people the opportunity to have skin in the game of what we're building. That there's there's alignment and that it's mutually beneficial. Right? So that was, that was number one was to just pitch Mindy, get women's pro athletes on the cap table because historically, we all know about the pay disparities.
And so we want to give them an opportunity to, to build wealth and to grow. And then outside of that, it really, I mean, aside from just building a culture, right, that champions, equity and equality and diversity, it's about, we felt like our partners to the athletes that we're bringing in and signing the partners that we're partnering with our manufacturing partners, just making sure that we are being thoughtful. In every aspect of the business, both consumer facing and not consumer facing. And again, making sure that , we're giving our money and kind of dispersing the wealth in a way that's fair to everyone , and growing businesses throughout this [00:22:00] industry. That really. Creates a level playing field in terms of operating in this industry.
So I would say those, those were the two biggest things. Partnerships, both athlete partnerships, as well as, manufacturers and just the different local partners and collabs that we do. And then our cap table we felt like were the two most immediate things that we could do.
Maggie Kelly: I think that's meaningful is making sure that the parts that people don't see also align with your values. Because that's when you know that it's a real value, even if people can't see it, it's still happening behind the scenes and it's still meaningful. if we can sort of make a, a switch over to just in terms of sports medicine as a market huge market was valued at around 8,000,000,002 years ago as forecast to nearly double by 2027 So given that that is such a broad market where do you see many playing a role in this market?
And, and mainly I'm thinking, because when I think of CBD, I think [00:23:00] of there's a lot of untapped potential, and there's a lot of potential to address injury. In a way that has, is non-traditional or at least. Not socially accepted as much. Like for example, in some of the research, it was, in terms of sports medicine, surgeries made up 20 to 30% of dealing with an injury.
And I know in many cases that's necessary in many cases, it's a last resort. So there've been many therapies on the way to that, to that outcome. So where does money play a role in terms of the therapies it provides and the role that it will play in this.
Rachael Rapinoe: Okay. Where I hope to see CBD. And this is where we're going with product development is not being in its own site. But rather being a product in a bundle of a solution in whether it's pain management, massage therapy protein and recovery physio, [00:24:00] sleep, I see CBD being a role player in each silo of sportsman.
Particularly, as it pertains to optimizing recovery to increase performance, right? CBD is not an MVP play. And sports medicine, but it's a wonderful teammate. I mean, now I'm just going to go down this rabbit hole of sports analogies, it's a great teammate. It's a great additive to things that you're already doing.
We say this all the time. I mean, you can't take a Mindy gun. And then sit on the couch all day and eat pizza and drink beer and expect to feel better, right? Like it has to be part of a holistic approach to health and wellness. It's definitely not an MVP. And we know it's not snake oil, but it's a wonderful additive , to an already healthy and kind of, holistic way of living.
And so I would like to see. [00:25:00] Hemp products and cannabis products, getting out of their individual market and into each of these sports medicine silos as role-players, that's where we believe CBD fits best.
Ross O'Brien: So Rachel, would you see things like specific protocols being developed by practitioners physiotherapists, or it might be taking, combining a holistic approach and saying here's a few things. And within that now CBD is all sort of table stakes in terms of like, it's just one of the great tools that we have.
Rachael Rapinoe: Yeah, I see it. And, instead of popping an Advil, you're popping in a Mindy pain, gel cap, instead of popping in sleeping, prescripted, sleeping medication, or even melatonin, honestly, melatonin. I go back and forth melatonin. I mean, there's, there's a lot of research. It can put you to sleep, but then oftentimes you'll wake up 30 minutes later and you're kind of up all night.
So I see CBD , [00:26:00] being part of a sleep regimen or a pain regimen or massage therapy regimen or soaking regimen. Right. So like hot and cold therapies pre and post training. So I see it more as being part of each of those regimens versus just one comprehensive CBD plan, because it really does affect a lot of different areas. It affects, we, we know from head to toe, it can help with a lot of different systems.
Maggie Kelly: So if we're talking then about market potential, then, , if it were to be a more holistic approach when people consider CBD and what it can do, I mean, really we're getting far outside of what would people would consider traditional sports, medicine, cures, and treatments,
Rachael Rapinoe: Definitely.
Ross O'Brien: Rachel lives. I think that's really interesting. So in followup to the place that CBD has clearly established and everything like you said, from sleep to inflammation, et cetera. Talk to us a little bit about how you think about quality in the market. So for us as investors, what are the things that, [00:27:00] that we look for is, is.
Companies are differentiated and access to CBD and CBD as an ingredient is not novel anymore. So how do you approach and differentiate and how has that informed your brand strategy?
Rachael Rapinoe: Well in the beginning, for us, it was really about sourcing from quality farmers and sustainable farmers. And then using all natural ingredients, I think at the time in 2019, Well, we came to market and Ross and Maggie, correct me if I'm wrong, we couldn't find a farmer that could have certified organic, but now we can so that, so the landscape is obviously changing underneath our feet.
It feels like every few months or so, but certified organic, or at least all natural sourcing from sustainable farms here in the us. There are, wonderful areas of, of our country where you can buy the best hemp in the world, in my opinion. , if you're using other ingredients, just making sure that you're working with formulators and with chemists and really making sure that the there's been [00:28:00] enough science to vet these products and so that the formulations and the dosage and the amounts of, of each.
Plant compound and the ingredients. I think more and more, especially if you're marketing it to athletes and active people, efficacy is everything. And having , that medical stamp of approval is going to be really important as well. I mean, third-party testing at this point, if you're not testing your products, it's I, as a consumer, I would not ingest or use anything that isn't, at least third-party tested.
Maggie Kelly: Yeah.
Rachael Rapinoe: dosages, I would say doses is still quite a big gray area. There needs to be more research by our medical community, which does requires for the FDA. But I would say that still is, is a big grayer. I'm curious to hear you guys' thoughts, but in my opinion, I think that's like a really big nut to crack it, to help educate consumers on how much to use and when to use.
Ross O'Brien: Yeah, we actually have one of our portfolio companies that was founded by Asian-American founder. He was helping one of his family members. She was [00:29:00] medicating for her Parkinson's symptoms self-medicating and was having to spend her whole weekend preparing her own, whether it was brownies or gummies and things.
So she was making it home and some weekends. It would be out for days and the other weekends should be an excruciating pain and it wasn't working. So he developed a handheld spectrometer, cause he's an engineer in order to test her for potency testing. So we're, we're seeing some of these innovations coming out of necessity because it's now part of all of our communities and lifestyle wise and you're speaking exactly to what is our next prediction is that the institutions like the FDA are more malleable than ever.
And we think that the science is just at the beginning stages. That the research and the data, I love that you've talked a lot about data, whether it's doing focus groups and things throughout this conversation, we're very data-driven as well, obviously. So, we, we think we're about to enter a golden era of high quality.
Well, two things actually, before we even get to the product, I think we're going to enter an era of smart business friendly [00:30:00] regulations. And I, we certainly feel more regulation, not less regulation is going to be needed in order to ensure quality. , and that there is that efficacy and people know what they're getting and that with the coming innovations, from just the scientific research, it's only now just starting.
We think we're going to enter a golden era for the applications and what's in this plant that we don't fully understand yet because of.
Rachael Rapinoe: Do you do you have any insight Ross on rules and regulations that might trickle down from a big governing body?
Ross O'Brien: I think I think I'm going to steer clear of giving investment advice. but
look, we.
Maggie Kelly: council.
Rachael Rapinoe: Yeah, it was in Texas.
Ross O'Brien: I think it's a great question though. , and I would say this, if we're very public about some of the predictions and things that we make going back to our belief that the public markets in particular Canadian public markets were overly exuberant and irrationally priced to, we do believe that the, the near term regulations that we're now seeing are two things, largely [00:31:00] bi-partisan Cannabis legalization is actually one of the only bipartisan issues that exist in government today.
And secondly, that the regulations that are moving forward quickly now are very, very focused on the business opportunity, right? And the commercial opportunity which done right will then I think create a cascade and a momentum for more of the social justice issues that we, we, especially in this sector pay close attention.
Rachael Rapinoe: Yes. Yes. And hopefully just more protection for the public because ultimately, I mean, we want to protect the public and make sure that. All the products on the market are transparent, are quality there. They have in them. What's on the labels. So I'm excited for that as well. I think that we just generally need to make sure as brands, as, as organizations, as well as our governing bodies, That we, are, are doing everything we can to protect the people.
Maggie Kelly:
So many thanks to the fabulous Rachel Repino of Mindy for joining us today. Details covered in this episode can be found [00:32:00] in the show notes to learn more about Rachel Mindy and CBD recovery. Please visit the Mindy co com. And remember, if you have a cannabis economy challenge, please visit cannabis capital podcasts.com.
Thanks so much for streaming. We'll see you next time on cannabis capital the podcast.