Cannabis 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business, with Michael Steinmetz and Len Giancola Michael is the CEO and co-founder of Flow Kana, California’s largest seller of sun-grown cannabis. Working with more than 200 independent craft family farms, Steinmetz aims to transform cannabis into the world’s first fully sustainable agricultural product, thus ushering in a new era of farming, rooted in environmental stewardship, transparency, heritage, and shared equity. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Steinmetz and his wife, filmmaker and environmental activist Flavia Cassani, founded Flow Kana after touring Northern California’s famed Emerald Triangle in 2015. The Emerald Triangle is home to more than 53,000 independent, small-scale farmers, many of whom have lived off-grid for generations, practicing sustainable and regenerative farming methods that feed and cool the planet, while supplying organic fruits and vegetables to their communities. Flow Kana was born to help these farmers reach scale, while preserving their culture and bringing conscious consumers an unparalleled, premium sun-grown product. Over the past four years, Steinmetz has grown Flow Kana to become Mendocino’s second largest employer, and California’s number one selling flower brand. Inspired by the Sunkist model — which handles the processing, distribution, and packaging of citrus fruits but does not grow a single orange — Steinmetz sees his company as part of a new wave of ‘regenerative capitalism’ that keeps the land rich and the local economy thriving. In February 2019, Flow Kana secured a record $125M in funding — the largest raise of a U.S. privately-held cannabis company to date. Steinmetz calls the cash infusion ‘rocket fuel’ for the goal of creating an audacious infrastructure that empowers small-scale food and cannabis farmers to compete nationally.
Dai Truong's Cannabis Newsletter - Issue #32
Dai Truong's Cannabis Newsletter - Issue #32
Dai Truong's Cannabis Newsletter - Issue #32
Cannabis 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business, with Michael Steinmetz and Len Giancola Michael is the CEO and co-founder of Flow Kana, California’s largest seller of sun-grown cannabis. Working with more than 200 independent craft family farms, Steinmetz aims to transform cannabis into the world’s first fully sustainable agricultural product, thus ushering in a new era of farming, rooted in environmental stewardship, transparency, heritage, and shared equity. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Steinmetz and his wife, filmmaker and environmental activist Flavia Cassani, founded Flow Kana after touring Northern California’s famed Emerald Triangle in 2015. The Emerald Triangle is home to more than 53,000 independent, small-scale farmers, many of whom have lived off-grid for generations, practicing sustainable and regenerative farming methods that feed and cool the planet, while supplying organic fruits and vegetables to their communities. Flow Kana was born to help these farmers reach scale, while preserving their culture and bringing conscious consumers an unparalleled, premium sun-grown product. Over the past four years, Steinmetz has grown Flow Kana to become Mendocino’s second largest employer, and California’s number one selling flower brand. Inspired by the Sunkist model — which handles the processing, distribution, and packaging of citrus fruits but does not grow a single orange — Steinmetz sees his company as part of a new wave of ‘regenerative capitalism’ that keeps the land rich and the local economy thriving. In February 2019, Flow Kana secured a record $125M in funding — the largest raise of a U.S. privately-held cannabis company to date. Steinmetz calls the cash infusion ‘rocket fuel’ for the goal of creating an audacious infrastructure that empowers small-scale food and cannabis farmers to compete nationally.