Colorado's cannabis market has lost 44% ofits peak value since 2021 — and Pioneer Interest lived through every bit of it.In this episode of Banking on Cannabis, Safe Harbor CEO Terry Mendez sits downwith Pioneer Interest CEO Matthew Shifrin to talk about what it actually takesto build a sustainable cannabis business in one of the most competitive,oversaturated markets in the world.
Matthew gets into the operationaldiscipline that saved his company — from activity-based costing andjust-in-time inventory to offshoring back-office support and going door-to-doorto rebuild wholesale relationships he'd lost touch with. He also shares whatthe Colorado market looks like today, where he sees it heading, and what goodfinancial performance actually looks like for operators trying to survive (andeventually exit).
If you're an operator in any market,consider this episode a preview of what's coming — and a roadmap for how to beready.
Topics covered:
● Why Colorado's market crashed from $2.4Bto $1.3B — and what comes next
● The customer-first pivot that drove 57%traffic growth in a single year
● Offshoring, shared services, and cuttingcosts without cutting corners
● What good gross margins and EBITDAactually look like in mature markets
● How rescheduling and capital market accesschanges the exit calculus
● Why discipline beats growth-at-all-costsin cannabis, every time
About Banking on CannabisBanking on Cannabis is the podcast for cannabis industry operators, executives,and financial professionals. Hosted by Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe HarborFinancial — the financial platform cannabis operators use to bank, borrow,operate, and grow.
