How Software Is Powering the Cannabis Industry – with David Hua

Cannabis is a $52 Billion industry in the United States and Americans LOVE it (they consume 29.9 million pounts of cannabis). This is a massive industry and growing! Like any other fast-growing industry, there are significant headwinds. After all the Cannabis entrepreneurs we’ve had on the show, one overwhelming and consistent problem is REGULATION. The amount of regulation is increasing and getting more complex.

To be a business operating in an environment that is extremely dependent on your understanding of what the government dictates, is REALLLLY hard. Like we’ve mentioned in our episode with Stacey Hronowski, founder of Canix, we learned that operators are spending about 1/3rd of their time in compliance. Basically every entrepreneur in this space needs to be an expert in compliance.

Recently, we talked to another cannabis entrepreneur that is helping remove the negative stigma on cannabis by building a community of passionate leaders in the cannabis space. We talked to the founder of the first cannabis company that Y-Combinator invested in.

We talked to Hua… David Hua, founder of Meadow, a software company that is building solutions for cannabis entrepreneurs, especially on regulation. Meadow’s Point-of-Sale (PoS) system is what would be popular for consumers in California. If you’re a cannabis dispensary, you probably know Meadow for a lot of other things like Analytics and Reporting, Intake and Registration, and Enterprise Security.

Building the Cannabis Industry’s Back-end and Front-End Software Solution

Meadow has infamously been labelled as “…AWS powering the back end of the THC trade” according to Tech Crunch. Beyond the robust PoS system, they provide so much more expertise and infrastructure for every dispensary to comply with stringent regulation. Meadow prepares you for an audit and prepares you to scale. Their customers LOVE them. Just check out one of the cool videos that they’ve put online just about how much they highlight customers business and how much they like Meadow.

Why?

They’re a company that focuses on community-driven solutions. David and the Meadow team are there to help build the community. He himself is a part of a few groups that are pushing for better understanding and regulating of the cannabis industry. He’s a board member of California Cannabis Industry Association and Cannabis Distribution Association. He obviously cares… quite a lot!

The team also puts on this event called Meadowlands. It’s a gathering for the California Cannabis Industry. That might seem a little broad. But it is absolutely what you think it is: An event where regulators, entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and activists get together to have a conversation. It’s a great place to learn and have an open dialogue about where the future of cannabis should be.