Hello. Everyone welcome. To pram vision group broadcast i'm stas barbecue and this, is a series of interviews, with key opinion leaders in, cannabis industry today, our guest is Sean Dellinger a president, and CEO of NamUs, City Colleges Sean. Welcome and thank you for joining thanks, so much for having us on stass. I, know that you're a very busy. Person like I suppose everyone in this industry at the moment so, let's get down to business first of all congratulations. On, closing the, 40 million baht deal hi handsome hey, thank you so much I know we ran into something a couple weeks ago we tried getting the Sun but you. Know it's amazing we worked hard in getting that done and really, happy that closed yesterday. So. I I, know that you have a diverse. Background in, numerous, disciplines like, including. Internet, and digital media the product development retail operations, and, international. Business development how, come the, cute and they, end. Up in cannabis, industry, yeah. So great question 17. Years of dot-com. Experience. And, I had five, different coms this, being the fifth you. Know for us it was always important, on the e-commerce side of things to have a product that one was in high demand and then, to that the margins were there so when I started this company three years ago with Cory's, outs and who co-founded the company with me, we, thought this would be actually a small side business. I was just shipping out a few a day for us we. Have a very, large cell. Phone reception company, at the time and, that's. What led us to to. This industry just the product that we started selling a few and turned into hundreds, and today we sell over, a thousand, units every single day so that's. Wha that's how we ended up here there's. Pretty much, anything. Else that you were doing before the, cannabis, business, yeah. So like I said Dom's. Been the way that we've done it from, 17. Years ago I started, a company in, communications. Back, then and have, had. A whole different line of businesses, online and, today we're now nameste. Technology, is the largest. See ecommerce company, in the world. Cannabis. Vaporizers. What. Do you think about legalization, of cannabis, yeah. I think it's a amazing. Right what's, gonna be really exciting, is to see, what. Cannabis could do on the medical side of things obviously. On the REC I believe, people are gonna smoke, regardless, so whether. They're doing it illegally from, the, corner, of their bedroom what's the difference if we legalize it or allow. It to be. Where. It where it's at right now so I'm definitely. For, an in favor of legalization. And. How, your opinion will cannabis, industry, look like in five to ten years. I've. I, get asked that question quite, often I don't even know what it'll look like in a few months from now so I believe. That we'll see some big players enter, into the game like we saw, Constellation. Brands stepped in a few months ago and that had a very. Large. Amazing. Effect on the industry and I think we're gonna continue to see that as cannabis. Legalizes. And continues, its movement. Alright. So please tell us about your company name mr. technologists like I, said we started in three years ago just, a small ecommerce store that quickly became, hundreds. Of units, a day we actually got, offered two times to be bought out in our first year due, to our international. Distribution. That we had for our products, and. When. We told somebody, Cory. Was actually walking on the beach in the Bahamas and said you know we're looking, to be bought out the. Gentleman said why in the world with, your e-commerce background. What you've created and the hottest space, in the world why in the world would, you go and want, to get out of this and, he. Took, us to the right parties to do a reverse takeover and our tio out of BC. A company, called next-gen they. Ended up we. Ended up purchasing, them obviously we had more value so, we we're the controlling, party and since. Then we've made a few, acquisitions. One of them being the largest vaporizer. Company, in Australia, called Australian, vaporizers which, really brought us to the level, and. Recently. We purchased. An LP, license, which was a late-stage African, a licensed producer, which in, the next couple weeks here will, be announced, that we are actually, licensed. And, we. Also most, recently launched, our clinical, network called namaste, MD, and it's a revolutionary. Piece of technology, that connects. Patients, looking for cannabis with nurse practitioners. And creates. A. Amazing. Funnel. Into, being able to help, them get that and then continue their shopping experience so. That's. Where we're at right now. So. I believe, this is truly, very helpful for for. Patients, to, have a possibility to. Visit. The doctor, not. Actually, visiting him. Distantly. And to, have a prescription, this simply and order, and get. The cannabis, right. Through to the door is is that what actually you are doing, doing anymore correct.
So 19, years growing up in Montreal Quebec is, my hometown, and we, get three, months of amazing, weather and about nine months of super. Chilly weather and the. Thought of leaving your home during those months to perhaps go wait in a line go. To wait in a doctor's. Office or a clinic. Doesn't. Sound that exciting so just imagine from the comfort of your own home and one of the coldest climates, in the world you, get to be connected, with a doctor, do, all your shopping online, and, some. People say we deliver, even quicker than Amazon in Canada so we'll keep working towards, that. And. You. Were speaking about the. Process of acquiring a sales, only license. I believe for your Ken mark. Yeah. Definitely, you've been doing the research on our company pretty good so it's a sales only license, which differentiates. Us from our competitors and I don't even refer to them as competitors I'd refer to them as partners, the. Way our platform. Will work is the, more. Products. We could bring in the more. Selection. We could give customers, and 2018. I believe that. Is the, biggest advantage you. Know how much. Selection. And you give the, buyers. And customers you, want to be able to give them a great selection so, the, more partners we have the, larger our platform, becomes and then we could be able to get this product out we don't have a conflict, we're not growing their own cannabis, and only wanting to sell our own cannabis. We're not telling anybody ours is the best not, as good as the others for, us each. Company. Has their advantages, and, we. Would like to give a customer. Whether, they want the least expensive, the most expensive the. Least quality, the best quality, who, are we to decide what a customer wants. Company. In the, market. Any. Exact, date. When you will, be awarded, with this license that you can I've, been told no more same dates Sean so, let's. Just say we're, in the last stage, here of sending. Over our evidence, package, and from. Here on out we'll it'll. Be relatively, quick. Okay. We're looking forward to it I, recently. Read somewhere that your. Online sales will be permitted only through government. Retailers, what, does that mean exactly, yeah. I'm not sure where you might have read that but nama stays approach for cannabis, is all, through. E-commerce and. We know what the laws permit, now which, is on the medical side so that's why we focused, and invested, so heavily and nameste MD, since. We know what the laws are on e-commerce and if we can make the medical process so, easy we're. Not that concerned on the REC side as the. REC side shapes up and as we understand, the laws a little bit better we'll, see what the opportunity, is but we're aiming for thousands. Upon thousands, of patients and, really. Focus, on vets and, bringing, quality product. To veterans, across Canada, that's, what it will focus on for the moment. Right. Some. Personal, question, I suppose. What, do you, especially. Like, the most, in your business. Um. I think it's making people happy, you know that's. What. It's all about is, about connections, in life and, life. Is very short and you, know you got to enjoy what you're doing and, love. What you're doing and I have to say some. Days I worked 20-hour days, mostly. A lot of days I worked 20-hour days so I better, enjoy what. I'm doing that I'm helping people and, that I believe that I'm making the world a better place and that's. Uh that's. What I really enjoy. Nice. To hear that and are. There any difficulties. That you might be facing yourself or, your company. Difficulties. In, which regard. In. Regard. To the status of marijuana. Well, especially it relates to the United States where you do not have great currently, as far as I know but. Still. Probably. Some. Some. Attitudes. For, people towards marijuana, of. Course there's always challenges in each country and believe it or not that's what I see namaste, is advantage, being we're not just a Canadian, LP right out of the 95, or so licensed.
Producers, In Canada who. Knows maybe let's, go. Out there and say 85. Of them are just tenth Canadian, based and interests. In Canada maybe even higher maybe, even higher than 80%, of those companies are. Namaste. Is in 20 plus countries we're selling vaporizers. Remember, at the end of the day our vaporizers. Can be sold as aromatherapy. Devices, we, have exposure. Globally. We. I'd, say it's safe to say, have. The most exposure, of any LP, in the world to countries, all around the world whether cannabis, is legal or illegal in those countries so we're. A decision. For example from, Canada. Perhaps, they come out and for some reason they rule were not going legal on wreck even, though that would be very hard to imagine but. If that were to happen, namasté. Would, continue, on and actually grow more, than any company out there in the, space due to the infrastructure. That we've created. So. It's, gonna be exciting right like, Australia, looks like it's next on the list we, have an amazing presence in Australia, our next, step, strategically. Would be to partner with a licensed, producer, in Australia, and we're extremely close to making something like that happen, as. Far as I know there are some difficulties, for cannabis, companies. For obtaining. Like. Insurances. Or yet. Entrant, in. Injury. I wonder. If your. Company, has entrances. Against. Wildfire robberies. If that relates to you so. You're talking about like insurance, in our space like in our LP, and our licensed producer, like and the, facility, you, cannabis, industry, on the whole we. We have proper, insurance in place we haven't ran. Into that problem as of yet. What. What, in, your opinion are the directions of the, industry. Which. Have, the the, most potentially. I mean, except, for medical. And recreational. Division. Whether. It be oils, edibles. Personal. Items. Whatever, you name it we've. Been really close with the US market, for years now where we've seen a, cannabis. Go legal in Colorado for example. And originally. We saw 80%, of sales being. Dry. Flower. And. Over. The course of a few years we've seen it really move into oils. Shatter. Etc. So. Canada. Right now the, difficulties, there are the oil that. They allow is not quite as potent, to this the u.s. it's not quite the same so, I believe in Canada till things, shift, which eventually they will shift as the market, is understood, and the effects are understood, I think, that we could still see flour. Being 80 percent of sales, in Canada for the next year or two. And. How, does cannabis. Legalization, affect. About the businesses. And creation, of new. Jobs do people who never worked in cannabis. Industry, industry. Joining, will and we, so. It's funny I just had somebody in our office background. In special, ops for the US military and, his. Background, doing, research. For Microsoft. Legal, background, the, last person. You would think would, be interested, in a job in in, cannabis, and, we. See that maybe a couple years ago where, you'd go to a party, and somebody, brought cannabis, and everybody was kind of like oh whoa, that's an illegal substance where, now. You see, everybody. Being a lot more open to it you. Know some of our shareholders, are much. Older. You. Know older population. Where, again and they, they're, their children are like I can't believe that they're investing, in cannabis, you know and we. Just see this open, willingness, to accept, the the plant. Instead, of fighting against, it and that's just gonna benefit everybody you know we're gonna have amazing talent, come into the space that might, have not originally. Had. Any interest and we'll see investors, who will, have lots of available. Capital to invest into the space and they'll, eventually enter. Into it so I think we'll keep seeing that move. You. Know I have a, couple of questions which, are applicable to the United States only since you did not do business there, but. Still. I wonder, your. We'd. Like to know your opinion. What. How do you what. Attitude in your opinion do Americans, the. American cannabis. Companies. Have. Towards industry, development, in Canada in, Canada in Europe Australia, where, you operate as well where, cannabis, is being legalized, already, and local. Companies, are building international. Businesses, already I mean, the dual American, companies, in your opinion, realized that they might have lost.
Their Time and. That the Canadian, companies, will cover the major, part, of the global. Cannabis, market. So. Obviously. American companies, have been sitting on the sidelines, we see Amazon, and Google and all these different companies sitting on the sidelines. They. Definitely the, federal, US government, has definitely given an opportunity, to companies, globally, to take their stake which is quite interesting. Normally the US is pretty aggressive and, they want to really look after their, own people, and in this. Situation they've, really opened the door to, global. Kind you know companies, stepping, in and creating, unbelievable, billion-dollar. Market, caps where it just wouldn't have been possible if if. America, had opened up the door to their own companies. So we do, need to look at the end of the day though that, these pharmaceutical. Companies, you know just take one of them has, billions, upon billions, of dollars, in market cap so the day it does legalize, in the US it's. Not gonna be hard for a US company to step, in and take out a Canadian. Company for example even if you take one of the larger Canadian companies at a five billion dollar market cap five. Billion dollars as peanuts to, massive. Industrial. Companies. So I think. For. Now it opens, opportunities to, people who it wouldn't have been open to but at the end of the day the US could. Still step in and dominate. This business when the time comes okay. And speaking. Of critical, companies, as well as alcohol. Beverage, companies, and ibaka tobacco. Companies, now, do you think when they will, start. Joining, it, in. A major, in, the. Scale. What. Will be their strategy. I mean will, they be your. Opinion, creating. Their subsidiary, companies, were, really pursue, an M&A. Acquisition. Strategy. Yeah. I think we'll see a little bit of both just, like we just saw constellation. Brand step in and take a piece of canopy, and they have an option, I, believe to buy an extra 10 percent of them at the price that they originally, agreed at so yeah. There'll be I. Think. A mixture of both. Last. Question, about the United States how, do you believe how much time can it take for, them to have the marijuana. Legalized, at a better level yeah. I have absolutely, no idea but probably in the next few years I don't. Think it'll happen in the next year. Or the, year after you, know so I think he could begin to start looking at it in 3 to 5 years. Okay. Are you aware of any practical, examples, of spending. Cannabis, industry, money example, for, building schools Hospital, etc. No. I haven't heard of anybody doing anything like that as of yet no. Masti, has a program, called veep's, for vets which. Jessie. Love law was somebody that I met a year ago he was a. Experiencing. PTSD. And. What. I saw him going through was shocking. And then when I saw him used cannabis and, the, recovery from that it was just amazing and, ever. Since that day I've. Become. A believer and cannabis. Being able to help, help. Veterans and, help people who are, suffering out, there and namaste. Has, went ahead and stepped. Behind him under a program called veep's for vets where he, goes ahead and, shares his experience, speaks to other veterans, who suffer and their experiences, so I think. That it's, amazing. That. Was actually, my next mission but. I guess you've just answered. It now, it was about critical, cases of substitution, of both opioids.
Were. Marijuana, yeah. Exactly oh just like I said I saw it firsthand I'm a believer right. Actually. The the, last question, what would you like to wish to invest, there is interested, in legalized, cannabis. So. What, do you mean by that question I just want to make sure we end off on a powerful, note over here, well. I'm. Talking about those people who look. Pretty close on the evolving, industry, world wild especially in Canada and who. Might, be looking toward. The middle, of this year when the recreational. Everyone, is to be legalized and who. Are also. Looking closely at the American. Companies. And. Looking. Forward to have it legalized, there. So. Yeah. So in regards, to. For. Investors, looking, I guess you mean to come into the space is that what you mean like to invest in the space what they should look for or you, know I think with namaste as I said a little bit earlier we're, very well divested. And if you look at our market cap versus, other companies market caps it's pretty minut, compared, to, some. Of those companies out there and, I think. That as, well. What we've seen and I've seen it twice now since going public is money seems to flow into the space and then. You'll, see people, taking profits, and then, a big nether influx, so I think, as, as. The. Markets allow for investment. From people. All around the world and as that moves. On there's. Only a certain amount of our companies out there and then, you look for the the top. Brands. And that's. Where you see the money flowing so I think that you. Know I think that it's an unbelievable, space to invest in I think there's still, amazing. Upside, to be had and. The. Companies that we've spent time with like your aura these guys are real guys, you know they're they're, running, an amazing company just like we, are and, I'm. Really excited to see what the future holds as. Well. As we are so. Shawn. Thank you very much for your time today for doing this interview and I. Really. Wish you good luck with all that you're doing and we're looking for with you more, of your successes, yeah. Of course thank you any time you need an update you know where to find us and thank, you very much for everything.
2018-03-11