[00:00:00]
Tommy Truong: I'm part of two industries. I'm part of the cannabis industry and the restaurant industry. And in the restaurant industry there's a million restaurants, but the degree of separation is like three.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah.
Tommy Truong: The cannabis industry, it's probably like one
Jake Kuczeruk: It's like one.
Tommy Truong: you know.
Jake Kuczeruk: It's nuts. It is. But that's the beauty of, of, you know, of this opportunity right now is to go out there and to befriend a bunch of different people. Not just through Grow Club and other events like that, but just being active on, on LinkedIn, on you know, I, I have some friends that are also buddists who've built their career, just doing product reviews.
Intro: Welcome to Kaya Cast the podcast for cannabis businesses looking to launch, grow, and scale their operations.
Tommy Truong: Jake, thank you so much for joining me today.
Jake Kuczeruk: Thank you for having me honored to be here.
Tommy Truong: I, I don't know if I've talked to anybody that has more breadth of experience in the cannabis industry than you.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah. I'd say when it [00:01:00] comes to, uh, how many different hats I've worn in the industry, I think I am kind of on a, a, you know, an island by myself. But certainly, I mean, I gotta pay my deference to all those who've, who've come before and, you know, built of course this big, beautiful legacy industry.
The growers, you know, the. Uh, every operator who's been at it for, for decades. But I am, you know, definitely somebody who's learned a little bit, a little bit about a lot of different things.
Tommy Truong: So tell me what led you to helping home growers?
Jake Kuczeruk: Sure. You know, for me, I think home grow is just a, an inherent human right. You know, if, if this is such a beautiful plant and the way it's able to help people, you know, with mental health struggles or, you know, even just socializing, um, you know, to me it. It's just the pure essence of the cannabis industry.
It's immune immune from all the, the drama of regulatory changes or infighting between brands and, you know, it's just the true essence of what makes 🍃🍃🍃 special. It's the personal relationship between the [00:02:00] individual and the plant. So,
Tommy Truong: Yeah, I've, it's funny when you say that, 'cause I, I have a friend that grows at home and every time he has a batch, he gives me his batch. And
Jake Kuczeruk: It's a good friend.
Tommy Truong: it is a really good friend and the fact that I know that it's homegrown, that it's grown outside, it's, you know, with the rhythm of, of sunlight and all those things.
I feel, even though I didn't grow it and I consume it, there's something magical there.
Jake Kuczeruk: It is true. I think there's always kind of a, an extra specialness to anything where, you know, you, you put your hands in the soil, you help grow it yourself, or you know, your friend did as well. I mean, it's, it's like raising a kid, you know? I mean, it's, every one of them's gonna be different. You're gonna screw up along the way, but ultimately the screw ups are what makes it special.
You know, it, you, you put in the work, you get something beautiful out of it.
Tommy Truong: So if I was at home and I, I'm a consumer and I thought, I'm thinking to myself, I wanna grow at home, but man, that looks hard. [00:03:00] It looks, where do I start? What do I do?
Jake Kuczeruk: That's why ILGM brought me in to really start this whole Grow Club push. After doing our Road show, which was basically a series of home grower workshops that went from California to New York at the start of last year there was just such a positive response to it that it just became really apparent that there's a huge.
gap. You know, in all of the genetics companies, all of the breeders, all of the marketplaces, they're focusing on solving one problem. Hey, here's a great collection of seed. But who's taking the extra step to say, how do we keep this hobby sticky? You know, how do we make sure that somebody's not gonna try this once, have a poor experience because they spend way too much time, way too much money on something that ends up being inferior to what they would just buy anyways.
You know, we gotta make sure that this is fun. I mean, personally, I think where, grow Club is so powerful is, you know, the addition of these experts, you know, locals, you know, our New York, uh, local leaders, Danny Danko, you know, we got Jungle [00:04:00] K in Chicago. We got Christina Wong here in la.
I mean, they all come from different backgrounds and home growers. In home grow, they team up with, you know, people who just attend the event. A lot of our mentors, a lot of people from our forum, which has been around since 2012, love coming to these events because this is a place where, you know, you could have conversations you don't have anywhere else.
You know, you get to actually hold the hand of, of people that are trying to learn this hobby, teach Tim tips and tricks, and of course a lot of people had these events. Our expert level or inter, you know, intermediate level, and they want to have a completely different conversation. So I, I think that's the, you know, kind of the, the, what makes this so powerful, of course is, is you know, having that guiding hand, making sure that, you know, even if you're not at the event, you can meet somebody.
You know, that, that you can call and say, Hey look, is this, is this powdered mildew? Are these spider mites? You know. I have the benefit of my, my cousin-in-law lives up in Humboldt. You know, he's been up there since he's been 18. He's worked for a lot of big operators. When I'm home growing, [00:05:00] I'm often giving him a quick call and being like, what am I screwing up?
You know, with Grow Club now everybody has that cousin in Humboldt, you know, to help them troubleshoot. so you know that that's my mission here. That's I GM's mission. If we can just keep people excited about home grow and more importantly, kind of lighting that fire to get them to want to teach others.
I think we're doing something right, something good for the industry and something good for humanity. So.
Tommy Truong: Yeah. Wow. I, so, I had no idea. it's a club that you join.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah. More or less. You know, I, I think the, it's a series of events. You know, we try to do two, two, uh, per location per quarter. Um, we are, in some markets like Virginia, we do 'em pretty much every single month. Um, you know, so smaller venues versus, you know, larger. Sometimes you can just pack it a little bit more.
Um, but the, the beauty of this is we also have our online grow club as well. So if you're, you know, between meetings. You know, you can log on every single week, talk to some people who put their plants in the ground at the same time, have those experts there, you know, kind of holding your hand throughout the [00:06:00] process.
Uh, and of course, I mean, you know, there's, just, by having that mentor network, by having the form, I mean, even if you're in crisis mode, there's somebody there to bail you out. And what I always tell people who come to my events are like, Hey, like if you grow these and you screw it up, for whatever reason.
Just gimme a call. I'll send you more seeds. I want this to be fun for you. I don't want this to be, you know, a pain. And, and every local leader has that same power. They have an allocation of seeds. We just wanna make sure that you know, it's, it's not about just sitting here and trying to drive sales.
it's, it's, let's give the people what they're looking for here. Uh, a, a way to feel comfortable, a way to make new friends. Especially after COVID. You know, I, I feel like, you know, you just don't find retail locations, consumption lounges, throwing events that are education focused anymore.
You know, back in the earliest days, like, you know, right in California where things started switching over to rec, you had acupuncture workshops, meetups, medical patients and stuff love going to these things. But over the years they just became, you know, events [00:07:00] became nothing but new product drop. You know, Hey, we're dropping our new fire, get in line, and unfortunately.
Same people at all those events already have their own cliques of friends. It's really intimidating, you know, if, if you're not comfortable in this scene, just walking in there and, and trying to navigate it. But with our events, it's like, hey, everybody is just kind of on the same playing field. There is no place for clicking up and not talking to people.
We want you to be making friends. We don't wanna just sit here and talk at you about home grow. We want you to talk. Amongst each other. We wanna have just back and forth ego lists, just having people sharing tips and tricks, being vulnerable about what they're afraid. I'm gonna, I'm gonna screw this up. I don't know about pH fault.
I don't know any of this stuff. You know, that's the beauty of this though, is making people feel comfortable again around something that can be so damn intimidate. Dating,
Tommy Truong: It's, I love the mission and for me, maybe this is, maybe this isn't your mission, but I know that you guys are achieving this, [00:08:00] is opening up the door or, and giving people the, the opportunity to have a special relationship with the plant.
Jake Kuczeruk: yeah.
Tommy Truong: Because how the plant has grown, it's, it, I've, so my, my wife's my wife's family, they they're in the growing, you know, business, right? And I talked to my father-in-law about how the plant's grown.
And told, he just gave me this in-depth overview of the plant itself and how magical it is. And it's like magic. It's like, it's not like growing tomatoes, for example. You know? It's so different. And I'm like, this is like avatar shit. Like does do the normal consumer know about how magical this plant is?
Jake Kuczeruk: They, yeah, they, they do. Once they start seeing this stuff firsthand and, and, you know, and, and being in the industry, you know, as long as I have, like, I've had the, the, you know, been afforded the, the opportunity to, to visit, you know, some beautiful small farms, you know, Sonoma Hills farm, you [00:09:00] know outside of Petaluma.
You go there and you see outdoor plants growing in, in hues that you've just never seen before in a jar. You know, bright pinks and magenta's that are just so vibrant. It's just like this, this is, this literally looks like it's from Pandora, you know? So, um, for me, I, I, I love home grow. 'cause what it does is, it, it, you, you don't start home growing.
And then to become one of the and, and then stay the consumer who walks into a dispensary and says, give me the highest THC per dollar. Once you start home growing, you start to understand, okay, freshness is important. Terpene profiles are important, genetics are important. Brands who can produce consistent quality are important.
Indoor versus outdoor, you know, making your selections there and you know, finding the best medicine for you becomes a hell of a lot easier when you understand the plan inside and out and what it needs.
Tommy Truong: And you made a good point. 'cause I was thinking to myself, okay, well if I was in the industry and I owned a retail store, what would be the best way to increase? The people that work in our organizations, their relationship with the [00:10:00] plant. Like what, what better than growing the plant?
Understanding the science behind it. Understand what you're looking for. And then now as an, as a business owner, my conversations are different.
Jake Kuczeruk: Oh yeah. Absolutely. I mean, you look at craft beer, you know, like, you know, who's most hardcore about, like, finding new beers and waiting for three hours when Pliny the younger releases, you know, up in, up in uh, uh, Russian River, the guys who Home brew, you know, like so I, I, I think in, in general, the more we can get education out there, uh, the more we can de-stigmatize this, the more that we can show people that you don't need a multi-thousand dollar setup with crazy lights.
You can literally grab a solo cup. You can. I always tell people this, you can put a solo cup above your sink if it's got a little window in front as you're just doing dishes. Use your little sprayer hose to every once in a while casually, just give it a little squirt. You know, you don't need to sit there, trim every little thing, and you're still gonna get something that's smokeable.
You know, I don't care if it's [00:11:00] a little bonsai tree that yields a gram to an eighth, you're still gonna get practice. You're still gonna understand how to do this stuff, and it's still gonna build that appreciation.
Tommy Truong: Yeah. And you, there's something about, it's true, there's something about growing. Growing what you consume or a little bit of that, you know that that really helps a lot. Okay, so you are a Renaissance man, and I know that this is a large part of what you do professionally, but there's so many other things that you are into.
Jake Kuczeruk: there are, yeah, I'm a man of, of many hobbies and most of them pertain to cannabis, so well, yeah, horror, movies, music, uh, of course the music comes up in a lot of my, uh. A lot of my writing, I do the, the vinyl pairings. Um, you know, with a lot of the, the strain reviews and stuff that I do, a lot of the judging that I do, um, always think that the, the, you know, the direct line between, you know, music and cannabis is just, you know, it's, it's, it's just, you know, it's crazy.
I mean, it. It's something that can [00:12:00] just really amplify not only the music you know, but just, you know, the, the feelings, the sensations, you know, that the plant can give you. So I think for me, you know, writing is, has always been something I've been huge on. Um, and I've really been able to kind of find my voice in these last couple years writing for High Magazine with my column every.
Every, uh, every release, of course, high Mag, uh, high Times as well. Respect my region, Buddhist, I mean, I've done like 75, but reviews now. Um, and each one of 'em is, you know, 5,000 words plus. So you know, it's, it's, it's been a beautiful thing. I've huge on the policy I like to teach since I have a background in, uh, an investment in fundraising and venture and all this jazz.
I like to teach founders, especially social equity founders, you know, how this game works, teach people how to build a proper pitch deck. If, if that's what they're looking for. You know, a lot of hands holding for, for looking to jump into this space. You know, I'm, I'm one of those guys who gets dubbed a super connector.
You know, and that's just the, the beauty of being out there, being social is I've assembled a, a really large network where, you know, if somebody's like, [00:13:00] Hey, I'm looking for a manufacturer in this state. Hey, I am looking for payroll down, you know, I, I have five intros for them. You know? And I think for me, that's, that's something that I, um, you know, was kind of my mission in coming to this industry was to be somebody.
You know, that is that well-rounded because I have such a deep passion for the space, you know, and I find that most of the people I I, I really attract, you know, most to, in the space, my best friends all kind of take a, a similar mindset to this, which is we are so early, this is like being ground floor of, of beer, you know, back in, you know, right after the prohibition.
So you know, now's the time more than ever is to, to become well-rounded because these opportunities won't be around forever. And more importantly, now's the time to pay it forward. You know, if somebody's helped you along the way with a little bit of guidance, saved you from going down the wrong direction for an intro that really paid off, you know, just try to replicate that.
You know, I make an intro. I don't care if you gimme something back, you know, Hey, here's my address. If you wanna send me a nice, you know, an eighth or a bottle of booze, I don't care. But mostly, you know, people, I want them empowered to [00:14:00] just say, fuck. Like, let me give this this back to someone else. Let me find someone else who's coming up and see if I can help 'em.
Tommy Truong: With your background and what you know today, if you were. Looking to get into the industry right in, in 2026, what state and what lane would you pick?
Jake Kuczeruk: ooh. Tough question. What state in what lane? For me, uh, there's a reason I live here in la You know, I was in San Francisco for 10 years and at the end of the day, being closer to the Emerald Triangle, I think was. Incredible. You know, it affords you just so many opportunities. You don't get down here as, as, as often.
And so Cal, you know that said, you know, Santa Barbara, that area has a lot of beautiful outdoor. but you know, I, I always say if you're serious about cannabis, you know, and you really wanna make a career out of it, there is no better place to to build that than Los Angeles. I, I, I know that we have our issues with taxation.
I know we have our issues with oversaturation and I know we have our issues with just in general, just being a [00:15:00] really tough city to afford, you know, and, and to make work for you and your family. But I'll tell you, this is the epicenter of innovation. You know, I don't care what side of the industry you're on, at some point you gotta come through California, Southern California, LA for a conference, an investor meeting, uh, you know, or, or just obviously to, to attend different events.
But I'm just really big on you know on this market just because you just see everybody down here, content creators, marketers, growers. Brand, you know, people who've built brands, asset light businesses where they don't hold licenses. So many of those founders I know are, are, are down here. Um, I know that that answer is just, you know, it's crazy.
It's an insane answer. I mean, the right answer is like, I wanna be in a small market like, you know, Connecticut right as it's coming, you know, coming to market so I can dominate. Um, but for me, this is the ultimate proving ground. If you can make it here, you're gonna make a ton of different connections. And you it more than anything, it's gonna help you decide really quickly.
If cannabis is what you're [00:16:00] looking for for the rest of your career,
Tommy Truong: That is so interesting.
Jake Kuczeruk: cooker.
Tommy Truong: Yeah, that's It's because you've. True. The normal, I I ask a lot of people this,
Jake Kuczeruk: Yep.
Tommy Truong: what you say is so true because you would learn a lot in LA You would learn a lot from other people. And what they say is once they legalize cannabis, California, bud is pretty much gonna take over the country.
Jake Kuczeruk: there, there is a real strong opportunity here for especially Emerald Triangle, you know, NorCal you know, to, to be the, the, um, you know, the chat pop, you know, the, the, the wine, the different, you know, Avignon the own region. I guess is the best one-to-one you know, of, of cannabis. And I think that we're gonna see Santa Barbara County and stuff kind of take a similar foot.
Uh, a lot of the Central Valley, you know, up by Shasta and stuff. I think you're gonna start to have these distinct regions, you know, and people understand that proximity [00:17:00] to. You know, not only different valleys and, and, you know, different warm and cool air pockets, but of course you know that, you know, the salt from the sea air coming in creates, you know, cannabis that does have different tasting notes, has different effects.
I'm a big outdoor guy. You know, at the end of the day, when you grow something out outside, it's been forced to harden, you know, against the elements. It's been forced to build up different resin that ultimately creates a, you know, in many, in many cases, a, uh, a tastier, you know, more cannabinoid rich plant.
You know, so for me, you know, I, I think SoCal in, in California in general is, is definitely, like I said earlier, a pressure cooker. But the beauty is if a cannabis doesn't end up working out for you, every other industry is here. You can go into entertainment, you can go into biotech, you can go into crypto, whatever, you know.
So
Tommy Truong: It is so true. If you were starting a brand in California, what would be your first five moves? Who would you meet first? What would you learn first? what are the pillars that.
Jake Kuczeruk: Five moves. I feel like I need 10 and paper, pen and paper to write out five moves. But, [00:18:00] um, my first one, everything starts with the team. You know Y Combinator, you know, I always use this anecdote, you know, the startup accelerator every single cohort, the maximum number of, uh, of startups they'll allow in with a solo founder is one.
So we have cohorts with dozens of companies, in some cases, hundreds of companies, and there's a reason for that because misery loves company and building a startup is really hard. And, uh, if you have someone that you can commiserate with, you can bounce ideas off of, you can hold each other in check, you can kind of have that sanity you know, it, it, it really does make or break, I think the, the startup founder experience.
Um, so for me, you know, uh, I know my skillset. You know, it's, it's very strong in business development, partnerships, fundraising, marketing, a lot of that side. But you know, I, I know that if I'm building a beautiful product I, I, I would definitely need somebody with deep, deep, deep cultivation experience, not me who grows a lot on my balcony and thinks he knows what he is doing.
Um, but people who've spent, you know, 30, 40 year [00:19:00] careers specifically in the case of what I would bring to market. Working with old school genetics. So that would be my, if I was making a play, you know, uh, if I was to leave, IG uh, I would still stay very much in this space and just try to build a brand around you know, uh, seeds from seventies, eighties, nineties.
You know, think about pre Afghan invasion or pre Russians, invasion of Afghanistan, Afghan beans from back in the day. I mean, these are stuff that have a real story behind them. I mean, go into a wine tasting room, they're gonna spend. Half an hour to an hour with you talking not only about terroir, not only about the grapes being used you know, but going just deeper, you know, into, uh, into the science behind it.
And, and you know, what makes it special? Age statements exist in wine, in scotch. Oh, this is 15 years old. This is from 1986. Where is that in wheat? A lot of the times we know something is from a certain year. You know, I, I think imagine how cool it would be to smoke a str, you know, smoke a cultivar that is like from your, from your, [00:20:00] your birth year.
You know, I was born in 1919, you know, people a lot of times like to celebrate the holidays. I'm gonna get a, oh, a 1989 bottle of, of, of Dom, you know, to really just ring in the new year. Get a 1989, you know, Jamaican land race. You know, for me that's something that really excites me. So I think we've only scratched the surface of what's possible when it comes to like true craft and old school.
So first thing is building the team. For me, that's finding that cultivator. Second thing is definitely. Setting up all of the nuts and bolts. You know, you can't run a company that doesn't have, you know, in this case, I'd probably go with an outsourced CFO somebody to help out with HR and payroll.
Definitely, you know, of course we're selling products, so payment processing three pl, D two C, whatever's necessary there, distro partners, and of course starting those retail relationships. So yeah, building my, my tech stack and service provider stack is number two. number three. I'd say pr, you know, PR and, and really [00:21:00] amplifying my message if I'm trying to do something disruptive that's changing status quo.
Trying to tell people why they should, you know, be willing to shell out for old school beans. Then, yeah, I'm gonna have to change the narrative a little bit, that when you smoke this, it's, it's gonna be night and day different than a, a hybrid mutt that's been, you know, just been br amongst itself for, for decades.
This is the true essence, the true land race or, or whatever it is. The true, you know, skunk one when, um, so I'd say so for three pr number four, I'd probably say you know, yeah, just, just coordinating events to, to get the word out, get people tasting what I'm putting to market. Um, showcasing in an innovative new way, you know, not just trying to get a booth, that hall of flowers.
Not that there's anything wrong with hollow flowers. I'm a huge fan of that event. But, you know, doing something that breaks the mold a little bit, that shows that this, this isn't just another premium company. This is something that has an X factor that you have not tried yet. You know, and, you know, with that you can do billboards and stuff like that, that's popular in la but the, the last thing I would probably [00:22:00] say, you know, number five, uh, it's a tough one here, but you know, it's, it's, you know, really just, and it's prob it probably should come a lot earlier, but I'm just thinking of it right now.
Is building a long-term plan. You can't go into building a cannabis company or any company just flying by the seat of your pants. This is not field of dreams. If you build it, they will not just come. You need to create a strategy for user acquisition for what your, you know, one year looks like. Five years, looks like ten years looks like your potential exit strategy.
You gotta think through everything that can go right and go wrong if you want to, you know, to, to bulletproof your idea. And with that comes socializing your idea, talking to as many people about it as possible. I tell every startup founder. Pitch your Uber driver. A lot of times people get super in their head.
They're, they're so wrapped up in industry jargon. They don't or, or they're too busy pitching friends and family who are gonna say awesome every single time. No pitch. People who've never met you before, in bars who don't know the first thing [00:23:00] about your industry. And look and see how it resonates with them.
When you talk about different elements of your project, look at, watch their face. See what, oh, that's interesting. Watch where they start to start looking around. They start to tune out a little bit. They're no longer interested in what you're saying. Look at what captures their attention again, and lean into that.
So those are my five things.
Tommy Truong: Those are, that's amazing advice because oftentimes when, if you're pitching your friends, I always tell people if you're pitching within your, your immediate circle.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah,
Tommy Truong: You have to break the barrier and start seeing whether or not they're gonna take the wallets out because it's really easy. you, it's easy to say, I love it.
I, you know, they want to be supportive, but when there's money on the line, that's when you know whether or not you're gonna fail or not.
Jake Kuczeruk: It's true. And pitching your friends really only works is if like, and, and so I ran a startup accelerator for, for, you know, four or five years, and I pivoted into cannabis. And the most beautiful thing about that is even after the cohort ended, the program ended, we'd [00:24:00] see the little small groups we would make.
Of cohort founders still meeting to kind of hold each other accountable to practice pitching against each other. And yes, they're already in each other's little group, but what they're doing in, in having that, that that recurring meeting is you can see how the pitch evolves, you know, all the niceties and stuff get out of the way after the first one.
And on the second one is, okay, you know what? You could have done that a little bit faster or you lingered too long on this. You start to get to, to, you know, to see the pitch evolve over time in, in critiquing other people's pitches helps your pitch become a lot better too. You start to realize, oh shit, I'm making that same mistake.
I'm speaking way too fast. So, you know, that's, that's definitely something I, I recommend I,
Tommy Truong: You know, you mentioned your top five things, and in the back of my head, I'm thinking to myself. Exactly what you've mentioned. This is a pitch deck that you are, that you're talking about what you need, why are you different, what's your tam, what's your angle? And if you're going the PR [00:25:00] route, if your, if your angle is we're we have ancient strains, that sounds so cool.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah, it does. You know, it's, and there's a lot of people working on, on bringing I, I've love, this has been my rallying cry for, I want to say the past. I don't know, five, 10 years. But I'm, I've been so happy to see that large brands are starting to take an appreciation for old school. Seriously.
One of my favorites to shout out CBX launched their, their air bloom line, you know, where you have master Kush, you, I mean, not, this stuff isn't quite, you know, 30, 40-year-old, but it's still teaching people that there is, you know, so much merit, you know, to, to old school. And if you follow, you know, the work of like Kevin Jory.
I mean, you can see somebody who's traveling to these countries firsthand Pakistan and bringing back beans. Um, and, and showing people, you know, how to grow these in, in, in, in ways that just you know, it isn't just the same one size fits all growing technique. You really have to [00:26:00] adopt a different playbook for a lot of this really rare old school stuff.
Um, but one of my other companies, I love shouting out, but. You know, these guys have stuff that are 18 weeks drains, like stuff that just shouldn't be viable in a market that just prizes, how much can we churn out at the fastest rate? No, this is stuff that takes an insane amount of time and insane amount of care, but ultimately I think it's worth it.
You know, when you can have a, you know, a Nigerian haze and original haze, you can have a. A pre 98 Bubba, you know, or pearls, you know, that you know, is just, it'll take the Pepsi challenge with anything else out there. So I think we are starting to see the pendulum swing the other direction. My favorite signal is you go to an event that's all cultivators and every single one on that panel is gonna be like.
I hate growing ZI hate growing biscotti. I'm so sick of doing this, but at the end of the day, this is what the customer needs. What I prefer to be growing is what I have in my, you know, my little head stash. But right back here, you know, the lauch in land race, that, yeah, I smoke with my friends. I know that I [00:27:00] can't really sell that, you know, broadly in market, but if I had my pick of the litter, that's what I would be moving forward with, you know, so.
Yeah, I, brands who aren't afraid to innovate, especially leveraging old school, go to the top of my list.
Tommy Truong: So Bud Aero,
Jake Kuczeruk: But
Tommy Truong: a little bit. Yeah. Tell me a little bit more of this company and, and why did you get involved in this company?
Jake Kuczeruk: Oh, I'm not involved with these guys. The, the, they're just like air bloom. They're, they're ones I just like to shout out good behavior, you know, or things that I think are really damn cool. I met him at Hall of Flowers. I, I had heard from other Buddhists, including Kevin Joie, that these guys are the real deal.
And when I got up to a recent hall of flowers two or three years ago, I just beelined to their booth and I was like, I wanna meet these guys. I wanna see what funk they've brought. And, you know. First thing I ripped into after leaving that was, was my butt arrow. And so I, I think it's, it's, it's, it really is, it's tough.
A lot of these guys struggle to find retailers who understand their value prop, who understand what they're putting on the shelf is gonna be night and day different than other stuff that's on [00:28:00] there. But, you know, it takes that education. That's why I mentioned pr because until these retailers have people coming in saying, got any old school, got any ero, got any pearls?
They're not gonna feel inclined to, they're, they're gonna keep saying, okay, cool. Who, whose stuff can I get the cheapest? Who's gonna sell the most of, you know, let's rinse and repeat. Just, and, and double click on what's already working. You know, so.
Tommy Truong: the market is, and I'm hoping that there is a shift in, and you maybe that you can probably shed light to this existing market, emerging market markets that have old school consumers. 'cause what I see is a lot of people come in and they just want the hight HC, right? Like, just gimme the highest cc and the, there's this calculator, highest C, lowest price.
And there's a denominator there. And it's like the most CC divided by the dollars.
Jake Kuczeruk: Ugh.
Tommy Truong: That's gotta change. But how can we change that?
Jake Kuczeruk: I think what I always you know, just being active and, changing the narrative. Like I probably to an [00:29:00] ignoring ex and am on different subreddits and when I see people being like, this is 35%, is this legit? I'm the guy in the comments being like. Stop looking at THE percent as an indication of how high and how enjoyable this is going to be.
You need to look at freshness, genetics, terpenes, you know, find what works for you. Don't just lean into a damn number. What I find is always super effective is the obvious Everclear comparison. Are you gonna walk into a liquor store and buy a bottle of Everclear? No, like we're not making jungle juice in college.
People like we are here to find something that especially, you know, regardless of age, I think over time just you, you still start to develop with any hobby, you know, a taste for nuance, a taste for, you know, for different terpene profiles. And you know, I think it's, it's important that, um, you know, that we're able to, to have a market that's that's able to fulfill that demand.
Yeah.
Tommy Truong: Where do you see, and are you involved in different markets where, where do you see the [00:30:00] industry heading in, say, California compared to. The rest of the, the rest of the country.
Jake Kuczeruk: I am, so ILGM ships, to all 50 states as of today. Um, you know, we'll see what happens, you know, obviously next November, um, you know, but under the farm bill, of course we have that luxury. Um, so for us, you know, my grow clubs we're springing those up in like, you know, Virginia, Seattle.
Portland, uh, Chicago, New York, la you know, San Diego and Missouri, and a couple of these others are now in the cards, of course the Bay Area. Uh, so for me, my day-to-day involves talking to consumers throughout the country. Of course you know, a lot of my other work, um, you know, in manufacturing and whatnot has as pertained to other markets.
People bringing beverages, you know, into Massachusetts, you know, for instance, or you know, heavily focusing on the Colorado market. And I think in general, you know, every market is gonna have their own, you know, their own nuances and their own battles to fight. But for me, you know, I, I think yet ev everybody looks over at the adjacent state and says, the grass is [00:31:00] greener, and these guys are having a better go of it than I am.
But you know, I, I think. It's, you know, it's just going out there and sharing these stories. If you're an operator building something, document it. Why? Because A, it's gonna help people develop a personal connection with your brand, but also, you know, you can see people on, on social media and stuff, um, you know, can start to kind of watch this journey and it can help other founders, you know, who are trying to figure out how to build their own stuff.
Tommy Truong: Mm-hmm.
Jake Kuczeruk: And they may not be competitive. They might be complimentary. They might be a PU future collab for you. You know, that's one thing about cannabis is like you never know who's gonna end up being a partner, you know, down the road because this is such a small industry. So a little bit of knowledge in every market can go a long way.
Tommy Truong: It's, you hit the nail on the head.
Jake Kuczeruk: You know, just sitting there and just every time they try something, they record something for social. Maybe they just type something out and, you know, they build this identity as somebody who reviews products out of genuine passion, not because there's another, there's a, there, there for them. There's no secret [00:32:00] incentive of, I'm trying to s show for this company I'm working with.
It's no. Someone sent me this, this was terrible. This is why it was terrible. You know, being able to, uh, you know, to be honest and be genuine, be authentic you know, isn't gonna be around forever as, as screwed up as that is to say. But you do look at other industries, you know, like big beer and, and you know, and, and, and spirits.
And you see how much of a, a, a game that is, you know, and how. The role of, of, you know, the board, the investors, all the different, if you're public, all the different stakeholders, the retail investors shape your day to day. Right now you can kind of own your own future. So
Tommy Truong: do you see, and hopefully we reclass to schedule three this year. Not like, knock on wood, but I have so many questions about this, more questions than answers. Right.
Jake Kuczeruk: about
Tommy Truong: And what are your thoughts on what actually this means for the industry?
Jake Kuczeruk: Oh I don't wanna pull any punches here,
Tommy Truong: Like aside from, aside from the obvious, obviously Yeah. You, [00:33:00] you know, we're.
Two 80 E. Okay,
Jake Kuczeruk: 2 88.
Tommy Truong: Okay. That's
Jake Kuczeruk: Fantastic. You know who's gonna benefit most from that? The largest of the large MSOs with huge teams of accountants and lawyers and everything to make sure that they can continue to speed, run towards being the future AB in Bevs of the cannabis industry. Congratulations guys. You've done it.
The infl impact of lobbying, uh, is not lost on me. I guess you just need to drop a million dollars and go to Mar-a-Lago and hang out for a little while. That can start working in your favor, but, uh, I'll tell you brother, you know, schedule three, I, I hope to God actually does bring through the promise of additional research on this matter, actually opening the doors for consumer trials.
The work, uh, you know, of course it's been started in Israel, you know, Dr. Raphael and you know, has has been crazy around the endocannabinoid system, around the entourage effect. I want American scientists. Digging into the entourage effect, digging into the impact of terpenes on your high, um, starting to disprove [00:34:00] some of the bunk science that's out there.
So for me, the medical research side, super, super appealing. But yeah, I think when it comes to, you know, the, the real day-to-day for most small brands, retailers, X, Y, Z. It's gonna be pretty much the status quo. What this is gonna do, and I'm already seeing it is kind of hyper accelerate. You know, a lot of the, the consolidation that's happening in the space, you know, there certainly are even within, just specifically in hemp or specifically in genetics, you have a lot of these roll-ups happening where companies that are distressed are saying, look, there's strength in numbers here.
Let's combine forces, let's make ourselves someone who can, you know, maybe challenge one of these largest of the large operators. I don't have anything against the MSOs. You know, I, I think my biggest thing is though, if, unless they're lobbying against homegrown. Yeah, you lose me when you do that. You, and I think you, you probably lose the consumers too as they start to get a little bit more knowledgeable because that's such a crappy thing to do.
But I, I will say the opportunity is, [00:35:00] is with them to start kind of leading the charge for making cannabis, you know, much more than, you know, simply transactional. When you have all that money, you can take risks and you can start to. Focus on the power of the plant. You can focus on, on, on changing education and getting people away from high STHC per dollar.
The power is yours and yours alone. Giant operators, the rest of us are gonna do our best to change the narrative, but you're the ones who can actually change something. Uh, especially with the change to schedule three should give you a lot more money and a lot more latitude, uh, to go out there and right.
Some of these wrongs, especially for social equity founders that they may have used and abused on their way up. So,
Tommy Truong: I hope that the increase in research gives us the ability to, hopefully there's regulations around extracting 'cause I know that right now in the hip industry. Just talking to people that are in it. There's, it's just the extraction of the cannabinoids could be very loose in terms of, you know, you kind of have to like make sure that you're buying the right stuff and that you consume the [00:36:00] right stuff.
it's a wild west over there, but I've always wondered, okay, so maybe big companies are gonna come in, big industry is gonna come in and they extract and there's. Good. You know, there's cannabinoids that can really, that are really helpful. THTV for example, I would love for that to be mainstream, right?
And if you can extract that and have it beneficial, you can probably ship that across state lines.
Jake Kuczeruk: we'll see. We'll see how
Tommy Truong: like, you know what I mean? Does that open the door for actual.
Jake Kuczeruk: I mean, how much enforcement is even happening right now when it comes to shipping across state lines? I mean, we're, we're a country that's in invading other countries right now. I don't think that that it is top of mind for any regulator to be focused on, on, you know, interstate commerce. I, I think, uh, you know, it is a little bit of the Wild West and we've seen that fuel the growth of some of the largest players in the space who aren't afraid to, you know, to ship beyond what is, is compliant.
You know, it's, uh, it's the sad reality. But, you know, [00:37:00] this is the same, you know, same rallying cry that the Elliot Lewises of Catalyst are, are banging this drum on a daily basis because you know, frankly, we, we've created a situation in which the largest of the large have insulated themselves very nicely, and they're able to do things that the smallest of the small you know, it's a, it's, it can be make or break.
So.
Tommy Truong: No, it can be, and that's my, I probably think about this too much in terms of this is great, but there's so many questions. There's just so many effing questions that I have that I don't even, I don't know. Yeah. It's, I mean, we operate in a state of uncertainty, I guess, and that's the norm.
Jake Kuczeruk: to say the least. Yeah, I think that's what can make this industry so challenging, especially for somebody who's new to it. Uh, I couldn't even imagine coming from like commercial real estate, you know, and being like, yeah, this is gonna be like my normal day to day, but. In cannabis, you're always flying by the seat of your pants.
Someone's always dropping a bomb on you. If it's, you know, hey, we're gonna, you know repeal the [00:38:00] farm bill and, and you know, stop all intoxicating, he or we're gonna switch to schedule three or, uh, there's gonna be an additional 10% tax at a city level. That was just. Decided to be levied or that tax has been repealed.
You're always kind of forced to kind of, uh, you know, to juke and, and, and kind of dodge and, and think on your feet, think on the fly you know, in ways that, you know, in more traditional industries, you know, it's, it's just a very copy and paste day to day. For, for most roles in cannabis, you know, I'd say outside of, you know, certain ones like, you know, manufacturing you know, it's always gonna be new stuff being thrown at you.
Tommy Truong: Mm-hmm. I wanna ask you this, 'cause I, I, I, I'm sure that everybody listening is wondering. You, you are a part of a lot of companies. For example,
Jake Kuczeruk: Sure.
Tommy Truong: what.
Jake Kuczeruk: Hmm.
Tommy Truong: What is your criteria and what do you look for in a business to spend your time in and to invest in?
Jake Kuczeruk: Gotcha. I mean, for me, you know, [00:39:00] ILGM and, you know, everything we're building on the Grow Club side is the overwhelming majority of my effort. You know, but I do think it's really important to have some side hustles, you know, for lack of a better term in this industry. Just because, like I said earlier, these opportunities aren't gonna be around forever.
And my biggest criteria is unsurprisingly, um, just aligning with the vision and the values of those who I'm working with. Um, you know, I think it's extremely telling when you have people that are just obsessed with profiting on the green rush. You see, and I've seen this firsthand.
How quickly these people are to cut ties and run. The second things get challenging. You know, I wanna work with people who are lifers. I want to work with people who understand the significance of this opportunity and the impact it has on changing lives of others. You know, like I, I, I don't know what other industry outside of maybe becoming a doctor, you know, allows you to heal, you know, as many people.
Yes. Yoga, wellness. Transcendental meditation. There's a lot of beautiful stuff out there. But you know, the [00:40:00] multiplier effect of a little bit of your effort, making someone's day a little bit brighter, making someone feel a little bit connected towards someone else, you know, making, you know, somebody who previously they considered an enemy.
I mean, cannabis has just such a healing potential. And if you're somebody who, who gets that and lives that and breathes that, I wanna work with you. If you're somebody who's, you know. Wants to sit back and, you know, just reap the rewards. Don't talk to me.
Tommy Truong: Yeah.
Jake Kuczeruk: I, I'll give you some advice and that advice is gonna be, you need to start jumping in and getting your hands dirty and understanding why this is significant,
Tommy Truong: Do you think that there's a huge miss right in the industry now to lean into health? Because in, for me, I, I think about the cannabis industry as three things. One, recreational,
Jake Kuczeruk: hmm.
Tommy Truong: The recreational side the medical side. But there's the health and wellness side.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah.
Tommy Truong: And the health and wellness industry in general is such a big industry.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah.
Tommy Truong: Three, four times bigger than the cannabis industry as a whole. [00:41:00] And I, I am a health consumer of the cannabis industry. IEI consume. I don't consume really recreationally to, to escape reality. It's more to enhance my experiences. So to think about business, to clean, to work out all of those things, right.
And I think there's a huge miss in marketing to people like myself.
Jake Kuczeruk: There is. Yeah. You know, I, I think that that's why I think Grow Club's cool is because when you look at what health and wellness is, it can be events, it can be teaching people a new skill, getting people's hands back into soil, you know, that to me is, is the essence of health and wellness. But I, I think you know, we see a lot of products, you know, like I, you mentioned THCV earlier.
Um, you know, not only are, I mean, look, I mean, uh, I like to call out, like I said, people who are killing it. Autumn Brands has a lot of high THC THCV flower they, uh, you know, outta Santa Barbara. But we're even seeing, I think even the guys from Heavy Hitters, you know, which are a part of Mammoth, a much larger company, they have a, a thing of tablets that are all [00:42:00] THCV.
You know, for, on the go for people who aren't used to, to smoking, don't wanna smoke. So I, I think in, in general we're these categories need more amplification. You know, I, I think especially they're, they, they, they are the tip of the spear for breaking the stigma amongst. I'd say people who are a little bit older, you know you know, if you're looking at taking a bunch of pills, you know, to help with focus, memory, whatever, and then somebody is recommending, you know, a suite of, of herbal solutions.
I mean, you gotta start considering the herbal solutions. And I say that from somebody who are, where, you know, my parents, they wouldn't, they have, they don't smoke. They started growing. I, I sipped them some seeds and they're like, yeah, we'll try it. Uh, they'll just, they're gonna ship it to my cousin or something.
But my, my wife's family, they, they're. No strangers to, to, um, to imbibing. I mean, we go to Thanksgiving and you got the 90-year-old grandma popping a gummy, every single one of the ants popping gummies, every one of the kids, you know, smoking outside. Um, so we've really normalized our relationship with it.
But what I, I do notice is, you know, that's far from the norm, but those health and wellness products [00:43:00] are the, the, the more appropriate gateway along with old school. 'cause I think people miss the experience of smoking some lower THC. But it's still gonna knock your socks off. It's gonna leave you feeling really uplifted, uh, and not anxious or paranoid.
Those are the effects that health and wellness needs to focus on. Well, no anxiety, no paranoia, because that's what's holding so many people back from, from getting back into cannabis. They have one bad experience and then it's. That's, that's who I am now. I can't, I can't even go into a dispensary. It just freaks me out.
It's just too much. You know, I can't smoke, I can't take a hit. Or if I can take a hit, it needs to be at home by myself or with, you know, my partner. But yeah, it's definitely, we've been in a situation where the focus on everybody getting as stoned as possible has alienated a lot of the more casual lifestyle you know, potential customers here.
So. I think, you know, look with Martha and Montel and a lot of these celebrities and stuff who are in this space they can, especially if their audience is a little bit more aligned, I think we will start to see, uh, that stigma get get [00:44:00] lifted. I think, you know, people shit on celebrity brands too, too often, but, um, I think they do a lot of good for being able to educate their audiences on stuff that they would never hear about otherwise.
Tommy Truong: Yeah, I hope so. because the market of people that actually true. Recreational. I want the highest tc. That's a very small sliver of the population. There's not a lot of people out there that's looking to bomb themselves every day, you know, very small. But there's, for a regular person like me I like my daytime highs.
I like the just a little bit just to gimme that kick of energy.
Jake Kuczeruk: Yeah, I get it brother. I'm after work and then all weekends. I'm, uh, definitely, uh. Uh, using cannabis and, and, you know, it's helped me with my depression, anxiety in my entire life. It's allowed me to, to move off of Prozac and all that crap. I took, you know, 15, 20 years ago and left me feeling like a complete zombie.
Um, so I think everyone just has to develop their own relationship with the plant. And, you know, a lot of that comes down to, you know. Am I consuming at a time or in a [00:45:00] setting that's conducive to me enjoying this and, you know, and dosage absolutely factors in. So a little hit in the morning can ch make someone's.
Day, just so much more optimistic. Um, while others, you know, it, it's gonna make them feel anxious, you know, if they're on a call with somebody who isn't on that same wavelength, you know, that can bug them out and, and, and keep them from, you know, from wanting to, to revisit the plant. So I think what it comes down to is always having people in your corner who know more than you do, who can sit with you and who can teach you this.
Stuff and the internet is so good for that. You know, events are so good for that. You know, but I think more than anything people need to stop being afraid to just going out there and, and asking for that help If they see somebody who has a beautiful relationship with.
Tommy Truong: Jake, before I let you go, what are some of upcoming events that you guys are hosting?
Jake Kuczeruk: Great question. So we are officially back in action on the 17th of January, so that's next Saturday. We are doing our first ever Portland Grow Club, so [00:46:00] very excited to be doing that at the gray area. Um, we should have a ton of people there to say the least. We'll be giving out. Seeds, fabric, pots to get people start growing today.
Uh, and of course all of the swag stuff from our sponsors, king Solomon Nutrients, Viv Cure, sea Vaults, humidity Control Packs, E 10 Labs, vapes, there's a bunch of stuff up there. Of course we are gonna hit. Uh, February with the ground on the ground running. We got two, uh, kind of pre Valentine's Day edition celebrating the love of the plants.
Coming at you on February 12th, uh, we're gonna do our LA event at the Artistry in WeHo. We're going to be doing our first Seattle event on that. Same day. So the 12th of February, we're gonna be moving a couple different events forward. And then Virginia, our next one, we've just locked in Lynchburg for the 21st of February.
Uh, that one's a Saturday. So we should have New York City locked. I'd say by the end of this week. It's probably gonna be that, that third week of, of [00:47:00] February as well. And then there's a, a others in the hopper that I'm I'll be excited to talk about that we're launching soon. But you know, me, I'm, I'm at a lot of different events, you know, locally and, and around the LA area and beyond.
You know, throwing your own events is great, but to be a good steward of the community, I think it's always important to support the events of others who are out there just doing things right, bringing to people together in a healthy way.
Tommy Truong: Love it. Where can our listeners find you?
Jake Kuczeruk: so igm.com, you know, I love growing marijuana. Uh, we're really easy to find. I'm comically easy to find on email@jakeatlgm.com. My personal, you know, if you have a startup or something else, you know, you wanna talk about, uh, it's just AK at gmail. That's my last name. I'm at re on every platform, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, I, I have the handle.
So yeah, it, beautiful thing of, of having no one with my last name in this country been, but I'm easy to find. But ILGM, you know, you can find Grow Club. Um, we even have a separate [00:48:00] Instagram account for it. I'm constantly sharing about this stuff. But in general, yeah, I mean, check out our seeds.
We're always running deals and more than anything, I'm proud of the fact that we have a germination guarantee. If your beans don't pop, we'll replace 'em in a heartbeat. And of course, you know, if you make friends with me, you make friends with our local leaders. We'll just hook you up with freebies and stuff whenever you ask
Tommy Truong: Oh, that's beautiful. That's the industry, you know? I love this
Jake Kuczeruk: it should be,
Tommy Truong: I love this industry. Jake, thank you so much for joining me today.
Jake Kuczeruk: I really am honored to be a part of this. Thank you for having me on today. You know, just really, really happy to be part of something. You're doing a lot of good for this industry and telling these stories. You know, if I was a founder, you know, checking out this podcast is, you know, one of the first things that I think you can do to set yourself in the right direction.
So hats off brother, and hey, I'm always game to chat.
Tommy Truong: Thank you so much.
Outro: Thanks for listening to the Kaya Cast Podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast in your favorite podcast or visit our [00:49:00] website.
