Welcome to the Green Rush, a weekly conversation at the intersection of cannabis, psychedelics, the capital markets, and culture, produced by KCSA Podcast Labs.
This week, we sat down with Hirsh Jain, Founder of Ananda Strategy. Ananda Strategy is a strategy consultancy advising leading cannabis brands, retailers, technology businesses, and venture capital funds across the United States, Canada, and Western Europe.
Ananda Strategy represents many of California’s leading cannabis retailers, helping lead their expansion strategy, competitive licensing efforts, and M&A activity. Ananda also serves operators in the Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, and Oregon markets, as well as operators in Canada and Western Europe.
Hirsh is Vice Chair of the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce and serves on the boards of NORML California as well as SC Labs, a leading cannabis testing company. He previously held leadership roles at Caliva and MedMen, and worked as the Global Policy Lead at Airbnb, managing public policy in key markets worldwide. Before that, Hirsh was with McKinsey & Company in their Public Sector Practice.
Hirsh holds a B.A. in Philosophy from UC Berkeley and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He has a deep commitment to cannabis law reform, having studied the impacts of the War on Drugs.
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/anandastrategy/
https://twitter.com/anandastrategy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirsh-jain-b896b080/
Other Links/Mentions:
Ananda Strategy - https://www.anandastrategy.com/
Ohio adult-use cannabis - https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2024/08/21/adult-use-recreational-marijuana-sales-surge-across-ohio
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, Crista Egger - https://greenrushpodcast.com/crista-eggers-nebraskans-for-medical-marijuana/
Show Credits:
This episode was hosted by Phil Carlson and Anne Donohoe of KCSA Strategic Communications.
Special thanks to our Program Director, Shea Gunther, and Executive Producer, Maria Petsanas.
Check out our new podcast Alternatively Speaking where our hosts dive into the advancements and challenges surrounding the pursuit of living longer, healthier lives in our first 10-episode series. Visit https://altspeaking.com.
You can learn more about how KCSA can help your cannabis and psychedelic companies by visiting www.kcsa.com or emailing greenrush@kcsa.com. You can also connect with us via our social channels:
X: @KCSAPodcastLabs
Instagram: @KCSAPodcastLabs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kcsapodcastlabs/
