Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
It turns out a law degree is just as helpful in launching a medical marijuana business as it is dealing with mortgages.
Charlie Bachtell was general counsel at Chicago-based mortgage company Guaranteed Rate when the lawyer in him became captivated by Illinois' medical marijuana law. He left mortgage banking and today the 38-year-old is the CEO and co-founder of medical marijuana company Cresco Labs.
As he stood among the drying plants in Cresco's Joliet growing facility, Bachtell talked with the Tribune about why he switched careers and what it's like combating the stigma surrounding the industry. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did you go from working at Guaranteed Rate to running this huge operation in the medical marijuana industry?
A: Jokingly I tell people I was an attorney in the most scrutinized and regulated industry in America from 2007 to 2015 and now I'm an operator in the most scrutinized and regulated industry in America from 2015 going forward. It's just a different subject matter. Arguably I'm a bit more passionate about this. While I liked mortgages, you're not helping people deal with nausea from cancer, and you're not part of a cultural shift. You're not impacting the criminal justice system in the way this program allows you to.
Q: So you were instantly hooked?
A: It took (the co-founders and me) about 24 hours to get totally hooked on what was going on in this country when it came to medical cannabis. When we took a look at the law when we were still at Guaranteed Rate, this read like they're looking for professionals with legal, medical, finance backgrounds to help develop a true medical program in Illinois. The idea of helping develop that was really cool to us.
Q: Did you ever think when you were in law school that you'd be doing anything like this?
A: No. Going to law school was the best mistake I ever made. It is funny. I think if you'd met people that knew me in college and law school they would say, "Of course Charlie's the one who would do this." If you knew anybody from my career, they're shocked that I'm in this space. Different eras of your life.
Q: Had you been following the law before it passed?
A: No. The day it passed and it was in the news, (Cresco co-founder and senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate) Joe (Caltabiano) comes into my office and goes, "I've got an idea. Why don't we sell pot?" And I was like, "Ha ha, very funny." He (said), "No really, the governor signed the law today."
I grew up in Arizona, so Arizona had passed the law a couple years beforehand. Until you live in a state that has a law and you see what the program is like in that state, you don't know anything about what is going on. Especially in those states out west, it's a lot of Bob Marley posters and Reggae music. While I'm fine with all of that, that's not what this program is going to be and future programs that are opening up east of the Mississippi. They're different.
Q: Other states that are coming online with their own medical marijuana programs have been turning to Cresco for advice. Why?
A: Everybody has these ideas of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is a normal business just like every other business. You have to watch your costs, you need to make sure that you're efficient. Patient populations take time to build.
You want to make sure you pick the right groups to do this because everybody's preconceived notions are the same. You have to have groups that are willing and able to go through that process and change minds. There's still that general perception that this is a sham. And it's not.
Q: What was it like dealing with that stigma professionally?
A: One of the reasons I was OK moving forward was because Illinois law had a (Freedom of Information Act) exemption in it. My understanding of why they put that FOIA exemption in there was to say, "We understand why a doctor who works at University of Chicago or a partner at Polsinelli law firm or a general counsel at Guaranteed Rate might not feel comfortable outing themselves. (The public will) know who the winners are, but if you're unsuccessful they won't know." That allowed a lot of us to get into this space.
Q: What did your family say when they found out?
A: My mom's first reaction was, "That's not why you went to law school." Stigma. She made me watch this documentary (about Montana's failed medical program). She said, "If you're OK after you watch the documentary going forward then it's on you." Then she was all about it.
Q: How long did it take to secure funding to launch the business?
A: We did a seed round with our own money and some from friends and family that was done pre-application. That money was gone if we didn't win a license. Post-license we went out and raised more. That money allowed us to prove concept and also develop these opportunities in other markets. We'll be doing our next round here shortly to be able to execute growth opportunities. We had 90 percent of the funds raised within six months.
Q: Did the stigma make it harder to raise capital?
A: We had to look at it as two different investment opportunities, one was real estate and the other was the operating company. If people were concerned about investing in an operating company in cannabis, the real estate is an opportunity for them to be involved.
Q: Will your line of edibles with chef Mindy Segal expand?
A: Mindy's will be in California and Nevada by end of February. (Marijuana) can't cross state lines. (We'll) give them the recipes, but also maybe employ one of their staff members. They'll come here and train for a couple of months, they'll go back over there and be a true Mindy employee.
Q: Is Cresco profitable yet?
A: We're looking at hopefully (becoming profitable in) February from a cash flow perspective.
Q: What's next?
A: We're still woefully short of the people who should be part of this program. We should be roughly 1 percent of the population, so that's 130,000 people in a 13-million-people state. (We're) at one-tenth of what we should see here. We need to get Illinois where it should be.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: A Chicago Lawyer's Journey From Mortgages To Medical Marijuana
Author: Ally Marotti
Contact: 312-222-3232
Photo Credit: Antonio Perez
Website: Chicago Tribune
Charlie Bachtell was general counsel at Chicago-based mortgage company Guaranteed Rate when the lawyer in him became captivated by Illinois' medical marijuana law. He left mortgage banking and today the 38-year-old is the CEO and co-founder of medical marijuana company Cresco Labs.
As he stood among the drying plants in Cresco's Joliet growing facility, Bachtell talked with the Tribune about why he switched careers and what it's like combating the stigma surrounding the industry. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did you go from working at Guaranteed Rate to running this huge operation in the medical marijuana industry?
A: Jokingly I tell people I was an attorney in the most scrutinized and regulated industry in America from 2007 to 2015 and now I'm an operator in the most scrutinized and regulated industry in America from 2015 going forward. It's just a different subject matter. Arguably I'm a bit more passionate about this. While I liked mortgages, you're not helping people deal with nausea from cancer, and you're not part of a cultural shift. You're not impacting the criminal justice system in the way this program allows you to.
Q: So you were instantly hooked?
A: It took (the co-founders and me) about 24 hours to get totally hooked on what was going on in this country when it came to medical cannabis. When we took a look at the law when we were still at Guaranteed Rate, this read like they're looking for professionals with legal, medical, finance backgrounds to help develop a true medical program in Illinois. The idea of helping develop that was really cool to us.
Q: Did you ever think when you were in law school that you'd be doing anything like this?
A: No. Going to law school was the best mistake I ever made. It is funny. I think if you'd met people that knew me in college and law school they would say, "Of course Charlie's the one who would do this." If you knew anybody from my career, they're shocked that I'm in this space. Different eras of your life.
Q: Had you been following the law before it passed?
A: No. The day it passed and it was in the news, (Cresco co-founder and senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate) Joe (Caltabiano) comes into my office and goes, "I've got an idea. Why don't we sell pot?" And I was like, "Ha ha, very funny." He (said), "No really, the governor signed the law today."
I grew up in Arizona, so Arizona had passed the law a couple years beforehand. Until you live in a state that has a law and you see what the program is like in that state, you don't know anything about what is going on. Especially in those states out west, it's a lot of Bob Marley posters and Reggae music. While I'm fine with all of that, that's not what this program is going to be and future programs that are opening up east of the Mississippi. They're different.
Q: Other states that are coming online with their own medical marijuana programs have been turning to Cresco for advice. Why?
A: Everybody has these ideas of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is a normal business just like every other business. You have to watch your costs, you need to make sure that you're efficient. Patient populations take time to build.
You want to make sure you pick the right groups to do this because everybody's preconceived notions are the same. You have to have groups that are willing and able to go through that process and change minds. There's still that general perception that this is a sham. And it's not.
Q: What was it like dealing with that stigma professionally?
A: One of the reasons I was OK moving forward was because Illinois law had a (Freedom of Information Act) exemption in it. My understanding of why they put that FOIA exemption in there was to say, "We understand why a doctor who works at University of Chicago or a partner at Polsinelli law firm or a general counsel at Guaranteed Rate might not feel comfortable outing themselves. (The public will) know who the winners are, but if you're unsuccessful they won't know." That allowed a lot of us to get into this space.
Q: What did your family say when they found out?
A: My mom's first reaction was, "That's not why you went to law school." Stigma. She made me watch this documentary (about Montana's failed medical program). She said, "If you're OK after you watch the documentary going forward then it's on you." Then she was all about it.
Q: How long did it take to secure funding to launch the business?
A: We did a seed round with our own money and some from friends and family that was done pre-application. That money was gone if we didn't win a license. Post-license we went out and raised more. That money allowed us to prove concept and also develop these opportunities in other markets. We'll be doing our next round here shortly to be able to execute growth opportunities. We had 90 percent of the funds raised within six months.
Q: Did the stigma make it harder to raise capital?
A: We had to look at it as two different investment opportunities, one was real estate and the other was the operating company. If people were concerned about investing in an operating company in cannabis, the real estate is an opportunity for them to be involved.
Q: Will your line of edibles with chef Mindy Segal expand?
A: Mindy's will be in California and Nevada by end of February. (Marijuana) can't cross state lines. (We'll) give them the recipes, but also maybe employ one of their staff members. They'll come here and train for a couple of months, they'll go back over there and be a true Mindy employee.
Q: Is Cresco profitable yet?
A: We're looking at hopefully (becoming profitable in) February from a cash flow perspective.
Q: What's next?
A: We're still woefully short of the people who should be part of this program. We should be roughly 1 percent of the population, so that's 130,000 people in a 13-million-people state. (We're) at one-tenth of what we should see here. We need to get Illinois where it should be.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: A Chicago Lawyer's Journey From Mortgages To Medical Marijuana
Author: Ally Marotti
Contact: 312-222-3232
Photo Credit: Antonio Perez
Website: Chicago Tribune
