Meet The High Makers Featuring: David Hua
Alice Moon
Cannabis Publicist & Influencer Marketing Manager | Co Founder & CMO @ High On Plants
Welcome to Meet The High Makers: An unconventional Q&A series with industry leaders who get you high on cannabis knowledge. Today’s newsletter features David Hua, CEO & Co-Founder of Meadow, a leading cannabis technology company.
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The Career:
What is your job title?
CEO & CO-Founder at Meadow
How long have you worked in the cannabis industry?
My team and I started building cannabis delivery software for California in 2014.
What led you to your career in cannabis?
Since college, I’ve always enjoyed smoking cannabis; when I moved out to California, my co-founders and I were looking for an opportunity to innovate in the space, and became the first cannabis startup to be accepted into Y Combinator back in the winter class of 2015. For the last 7+ years we’ve evolved our platform to be an all-in-one solution with a complete suite of POS, eCommerce, compliance, analytics and marketing tools to make it easier for cannabis retail operators to sell more cannabis with less work.
What's your favorite part of the industry?
I’m most inspired by the passion and love for the plant that our community shares. It’s an honor and a privilege to build technology that is creating a modern framework for this plant to reach more people and improve their lives in both medicinal and recreational ways.
What's been the biggest challenge thus far in your cannabis career?
The slow roll-out of licensing and retail access in California has definitely been a challenge; seven years ago there was a lot of excitement and optimism around the “green rush” and we’ve all been forced to become a lot more patient, nimble and flexible than anyone ever could have imagined. It’s been a long road but we’re just getting started.
What's the weirdest job you've ever worked? Did it teach you anything valuable that you use in your career today?
I’d say the weirdest job was probably my short-time working in a Panera kitchen right out of college, but I did learn a lot about customer service and retail operations and the importance of standardized SOPs.
What's one piece of advice you have for those looking to work in the cannabis industry:?
Be curious. Read the regulations, go to cannabis events to learn and meet new people, and do your research to understand how the supply chain works. Compliance is an essential part of all of it. Once you understand the red tape and how products move between license holders, you can figure out where your talents and interests can be applied. This industry is still in its infancy and there are still endless opportunities for innovation and creativity and more good people who love weed.
The Personal:?
Where are you based??
San Francisco, CA.
Did you go to college? If so, what for?
I went to Penn State to study finance and international business, with a minor in Chinese.
What's one thing most people don't know about you, that they'd be surprised to learn?
My family has a Chinese restaurant called Golden Dragon that they’ve been running for 39 years in Plymouth Meeting, PA.
What's your favorite method to consume cannabis? Why?
My preference is always to smoke a joint; if that’s not possible I default to loading up my Mighty Vaporizer, or the Volcano that we have in the Meadow office.
领英推荐
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by the idea of creating an abundance of energy; I get energy from gathering people, sharing ideas, getting high and dreaming big. At Meadow, this often results in what we call highdeas, or “high ideas.” Some of these stoned brainstorms in our office backyard produce wonderful results; some are terrible. It’s all part of the process of finding new inspiration.
The Quirky:?
If you were a color, what color do you best identify with right now? Why?
Purple, for sure. It’s our Meadow brand color and often, the color of my favorite nugs.
If you were reincarnated as an animal, what animal would you hope to become?
I think the fossa is pretty cool; it’s a mammal that lives in Madagascar and looks like a cat and a dog hybrid. It’s ferocious and one of a kind, and not to be messed with.?
What superpower would you have and why?
I would love to be able to clone myself, so one of me can be at home with my wife and kids while other versions of me can be meeting simultaneously with my team and our dispensary partners, our investors, my friends, and my Burning Man camp. I like to say yes to lots of things, and it can be hard to find enough time in the day to squeeze everything and everyone in. I suppose teleportation could be another useful superpower to make it faster to move from point A to B.
The Connection:
How can people connect with you? Social, website, email? Plug away!
I’m most active on LinkedIn.
And here are all the places to follow what we’re up to at Meadow:
The Final Touches:
Anything else you'd like to share with readers:
For the last 7 years we’ve really focused on creating the best dispensary software in California by offering the best customer support and proactively updating our platform to meet the needs of real operators, and we love to read reviews from our happy retail partners. We’re always looking to serve dispensaries and delivery services with our connected suite of POS, delivery, marketing, eCommerce, analytics, compliance and more. If you know good people who need solid cannabis retail tools, we’d love to meet them (and pay $1k for intros).
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This edition of Moon High is sponsored by How To Do The Pot, a female led and focused cannabis podcast that teaches you literally the A-Z of cannabis. This podcast is informational, fun, and helps demystify cannabis.
How To Do The Pot is a great way to educate your friends, your parents, heck - even your grandparents - on all the wonderful ways cannabis can be infused into your lifestyle.
Even if you consider yourself a cannabis expert, there’s always more to learn about the plant so tune into How To Do The Pot today!
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Before we go, a few shameless plugs:?
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Thanks for reading Moon High, where I aim to get you high on cannabis knowledge. If you enjoyed this series of my newsletter, please subscribe and tell a friend. Your support means everything! Thanks so much.
P.S. I am hosting a giveaway for a really sleek pipe and a futuristic grinder. Enter to win by reading the rules on my latest Instagram post.
Stay well,
Alice Moon
As an expert in finance in high-risk verticals, I gravitate more specifically into protecting and advising businesses on payment rails and flows
2 年Great article! Kudos! Hua is truly one of a kind. Sharp as a tack, and has very insightful knowledge in our space. They say 1 year in Cannabis is like 7 dog years. Him and his team are OGs in cannabis and the tech space in CA. Love what they do, and coupled with his extreme knowledge and hands on attitude their product has evolved so much…. 100% diamond :)
Chief Design Officer at Merchant Boxes
2 年Great piece and I appreciate David’s journey!
Urban Horticulture
2 年“I’m inspired by the idea of creating an abundance of energy; I get energy from gathering people, sharing ideas, getting high and dreaming big.” ????
Social Media Specialist | Copywriter | Paid Media
2 年Very cool interview!
CEO & Co-Founder of Meadow (YCW15), Y Combinator’s first startup company to operate in the cannabis space | Former Board Member of CCIA, CDA & NCIA Retail Committees
2 年Thank you Alice Moon for the feature! Appreciate everything you do for this industry. ??