How decriminalization led to an explosion in cannabis startups (Feat. Ford Smith, Andrew Duffy, and Socrates Rosenfeld) | E2241

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.2 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

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Guest links:

Andrew Duffy, Founder and CEO, http://sparkplug.app — Retail incentives and brand partnerships platform

Ford Smith, Founder of http://Ultranative.com — Investing in transformative startups

Socrates Rosenfeld, Founder and CEO of http://iheartjane.com — One stop shop for cannabis products

Today’s show:

On TWiST’s first Cannabis Roundtable, Jason is joined by three top Cannabis founders and investors: Ford Smith of Ultranative, Andrew Duffy of Sparkplug, and Socrates Rosenfeld of Jane.

How will the regulatory environment and the move to Schedule III change the industry? Are those regulations shaping consumption? How are investors thinking about cannabis startups given the difficulty with exits? Most importantly, what’s the deal with the increasing potency of cannabis?

Each guest has their own perspective, Andrew sees it as a natural reaction from CPG brands to power users, Ford points to “flyover” operators unconcerned with long-term health of the industry, while Socrates refers to moonshine drinking during the prohibition to say that regulations create these problems.

Speaking of moonshine, alcohol consumption is dropping dramatically among Gen-Z, with many pointing to cannabis consumption as a substitute. Some perceive cannabis as healthier and lacking caloric nature of alcohol, which could explain why there are now more daily smokers than daily drinkers!

Timestamps:

(0:00) Guest Introductions for the Cannabis Roundtable!

(2:50) Why Jason invested in Sparkplug

(6:44) How Ford Smith got into Cannabis investing — is it Cannabis a good investment?

(11:40) Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at http://Gusto.com/twist.

(12:46) Socrates breaks down building a major cannabis marketplace

(18:13) Canadian legalization and tailwinds for cannabis.

(20:25) How Cannabis startups are pivoting to deal with high competition and regulatory pressure

(21:47) Zite - Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI. Go to http://zite.com/twist to get started.

(27:07) Who benefits from legalization of cannabis? Healthcare? Retail? Banking?

(28:03) How the alcohol industry is getting crushed by cannabis usage

(31:27) Circle.so - The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off Circle’s Professional Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

(32:47) Is new cannabis too potent? Is high potency cannabis a result of illegal rules.

(42:05) Why heavy consumers are driving CPG startups to high doses

(44:14) Cannabis psychosis and the problem with brands selling potency items.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The way to look at this is it's going to force the best companies to emerge.
0:05.0	We're going to have to think creatively and resourcefully like this industry has for decades.
0:11.0	People will find a way to this plant.
0:13.0	People will find a way to sell this plant, whether it's legal or not, whether the financial
0:18.0	markets are backing it or not, because this plan helps millions
0:21.9	and millions of people.
0:23.8	I think this is the next great American industry, period.
0:29.0	Cannabis is a scheduled drug, but hemp is not a scheduled drug.
0:32.2	It is a federally legal product.
0:33.7	So when you jump into the federal hemp market and you can start shipping D to C and you can hack your way around, you know, meta and Snapchat to start running, you know, normal CPG-type focused ads, it's a much more efficient business. It's true consumer packaged goods at that point. And so we decided to not go into that space because we thought it was a little too risky. We had a conservative investor base. It felt a little gray area at the time. In hindsight, I wish we had done it because there's
0:58.7	been a lot of brands that have done really well and quickly grabbed a lot of market share nationally.
1:02.9	There's an insane amount of these brands on the shelves now.
1:09.3	This week in startups is brought to you by Circle.
1:11.9	Circle gives you everything you need to build and scale your community-led business.
1:16.2	Twist listeners get $1,000 off Circle's professional plan at circle.s slash twist.
1:21.9	Zite.
1:22.4	Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI.
1:25.8	Build apps, forms, websites, and portals that connect to the
1:29.6	tools that you already use. Go to zite.com slash twist and get 50% off your first project.
1:35.7	Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for
1:41.2	small businesses and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months free
1:45.6	at gusto.com slash twist. All right, everybody, welcome back to Twist. Today is Wednesday, January 28th.
	...

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