Thursday, January 18, 2018
Joe Jornadal
The Wharton Club of Seattle invites you to attend a panel discussion with industry leaders from:
- Viridian Capital Advisors - a NYC-based advisory firm focused on the cannabis market
- Dorsey & Whitney, LLP - an international law firm with a cannabis practice group located in Colorado, Washington, and Toronto
- The Goodship Company - a Seattle-based artisan bakery and chocolatier of cannabis-infused edibles
- Empower Clinics - a network of physician-staffed pain management clinics focused on enabling patients to improve and protect their health
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have currently legalized cannabis and medical marijuana in some form. With a $5.7 billion adult use and medicinal cannabis market, the growing investments, returns, and value this industry represents both medically and culturally are undeniable. In a world filled with challenges to maintain consumer interest and sales, this is one of the few markets with close to continuous 100% product sales.
Please join Scott Greiper, President & Founder of Viridian Capital Advisors, Christopher Barry, Chair of Dorsey's Canada Practice Group and advisor to clients in the cannabis industry, Jody Hall, Founder of The Goodship Company, and Craig Snyder, President & CEO of Empower Clinics, in a panel discussion led by Julie Weed, Author, Writer, and Creator of the Forbes.com blog covering the legal cannabis industry.
Agenda:
5:30p - Arrive and Network
6:00p - Panel Discussion including Q&A from the Audience
7:30p - Stay for Networking and Drinks/Appetizers
8:30p - Event ends
About Scott Greiper:
Mr. Greiper has had a highly successful 30-year career on Wall Street and in his own businesses, with a focus on helping to back and build emerging growth companies. He is the Founder and President of Viridian Capital Advisors, LLC, a financial and strategic advisory firm dedicated to the medicinal and legal cannabis market. Viridian provides market intelligence, investment banking, and corporate development services to emerging growth companies in the cannabis sector. Its banking practice, through broker-dealer Pickwick Capital Partners, provides capital and M&A to fund the growth of Viridian's clients, while its advisory practice helps to position and build their businesses. Leveraging the team’s decades of high level operating and transactional experience on Wall Street and in the commercial and government sectors, Viridian provides comprehensive strategic and financial solutions that assist cannabis enterprises in realizing their full potential.
Scott has been involved in raising more than $400 million in capital for emerging growth companies and has completed a range of M&A transactions. He attended the Executive MBA program at Columbia University and received his B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
About Christopher Barry:
Chris Barry is Of Counsel in the Seattle office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, an international law firm with over 550 lawyers across 20 offices in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He has over 30 years of experience in public and private securities offerings, stock exchange listings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, proxy contests, contests for corporate control and shareholder disputes, corporate governance and general business counseling, new business formation and venture capital transactions. Chris has served as legal advisor and trusted counselor to a variety of U.S. and non-U.S. companies, assisting them in managing their general legal affairs, corporate governance and long-term strategic planning. He is an internationally recognized expert in cross-border financings and acquisitions and serves as Chair of the firm’s Canada Practice Group.
Chris is also active in Dorsey’s Cannabis Industry group, which represents companies and investors in the cannabis industry in a variety of transactional matters – debt and equity raises, commercial contracts, corporate governance, and intellectual property protection. The group routinely works with operating licensed companies, investors, and ancillary services businesses in the United States and Canada to help them navigate the cannabis industry’s complex legal landscape.
About Jody Hall:
Jody Hall is the founder of The Goodship Company, a premium brand of cannabis edibles based in beautiful Washington state. A seasoned entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience in the food and beverage space, Hall is passionate about building businesses that inspire human connection, ignite creativity, give back to the community, and help make a difference in our world. A true industry pioneer, Hall is also the founder and owner of Seattle’s Cupcake Royale, one of the nation’s first-ever cupcake bakeries, and began her career at Starbucks as one of the marketing team’s earliest hires. Today, Goodship cookies, brownies, chocolates, and other infused confections are a fixture at more than 100 Washington cannabis retailers from Seattle to Spokane, with plans to expand to California, Nevada, and other U.S. legal cannabis markets in the coming year.
About Craig Snyder:
Craig is a senior leader with over 20 years of success in driving growth and development of high tech and emerging technology organizations. He has significant experience leading disruptive strategies in new markets and building corporate reputation on a national scale. He has held senior leadership positions at two Fortune 100 companies (Pepsi Cola & Citibank) combined with executive leadership experience in two Nasdaq startup to IPO success stories (Go2Net & Marchex). He has deep experience in M&A and P&L Management with experience in over 20 acquisitions and most recently had direct responsibility for two successful company sales as CEO (SnapNames & Moniker). He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former Naval Officer.
About Julie Weed:
Julie Weed has written 100+ articles for the New York Times business section, and in 2015 began covering the legal marijuana industry for Forbes online. She has also written articles and cover stories for Inc. magazine, Entrepreneur magazine, Fast Company, The Seattle Times and others. Her first book, All I Really Need to Know in Business I Learned at Microsoft, was a national best seller and published in fourteen languages. Julie graduated from Cornell University with a degree in economics and received her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
