In episode 24 of the Investing in Cannabis Podcast, Brandon David interviews Carter Laren and Ben Larson of Gateway, an early stage accelerator program for cannabis companies. Gateway is a full immersion business accelerator and seed investment program located in the birthplace of the cannabis industry, Oakland, CA.

SUMMARY

• 4-month program, $30K investment (for 5%), direct or ancillary focus
• Many of the entrepreneurs haven’t been involved in scalable businesses
• Neither Carter nor Ben have a strong personal cannabis connection, but Carter has strong libertarian leanings
• MJIC is a major backer, eventually will let in other limited partners (looking for good mix of tech-focused and cannabis-focused)
• Looking for founders that can be great leaders
• Defensiveness is a key red flag
• See themselves as cross between Y Combinator (little structure, strong network) and Founder Institute (high structure)
• Companies stay for four months with option to stay extra month
• Expecting few “direct” cannabis companies, but getting inquiry from infused products companies
• Ben and Carter will be involved extensively, but there will be lots of mentors, who get equity in class in which they help (1% of companies go to mentors)
• 2 cohorts of ten in 2016, with first class in March
• Doesn’t expect to open additional offices
• Sees CanopyBoulder as a trailblazer and wants them to succeed as well
• First-mover advantage is highly regarded in the cannabis industry but may not prove valuable
• Legal landscape uncertainty is a risk for delivery companies
• Extraction technologies are a promising area
• Software can address permanent needs, like tracking, but investors need to be careful about short-term needs, like banking and payments

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