I entered the cannabis industry shortly after the passing of Measure 91 in October of 2014. I had moved to Oregon from the Bay Area with a background in startups and early stage venture capital and I had no idea I would find myself in an entirely different but incredibly exciting startup community. I came from a background in startups and then in angel investing through a fund which I co-founded in Silicon Valley. That experience was unique in Oregon and I quickly put it to work building and funding Hifi Farms.

I also realized that many of Oregon’s cannabis entrepreneurs lacked experience and needed support in preparing for and raising early capital. I did a lot of mentoring and ultimately created a clear and teachable methodology, “Courting Angels” that challenges a lot of what founders often hear about how to be successful at this task. I deliver this as a conference workshop all across the country and, since leaving Hifi Farms in November of 2017, I have started working on a book to make this information as broadly available as possible. I founded The Batterby Group to continue to offer this support because I believe that raising capital should be about what you know, and not who you know, and that any competent founder can do it if they know how. I think democratizing access to capital is a foundational step in establishing and maintaining diversity in our cannabis industry and this is something I have always been passionate about.