Nearly two decades at the front edge of industries the world hadn't finished inventing — social media & ad tech, cannabis, blockchain & fintech. Now AI. Different categories, same problem: building the thing before anyone agrees what it is.
Keynotes, panels and fireside chats for founders, operators and leadership teams — a limited number of events each year.
Three of the most disruptive industries of the last twenty years. I got to each one early — before the category had a name, the regulation had language, or the brand existed at all. A fourth is underway.
From Facebook's earliest APIs to enterprise ad tech, I built revenue and partnerships at PageLever, a Y Combinator company, then Unified and Social Native — putting brands like Microsoft, Starbucks, Red Bull and NBC in front of audiences while the platforms themselves were still being invented.
SVP & CRO, Unified · CRO, Social Native · Founding team, PageLeverAs The Cannabist Company's (formerly Columbia Care) first Chief Growth Officer — later CCO, then President — I helped scale one of the largest cannabis operators in the U.S. to 16 states and 90+ dispensaries, launched the Cannabist retail brand, and brought celebrity lines like Mike Tyson's to market.
President, CCO & first CGO — The Cannabist CompanyCeres is the engine underneath tokenized money market funds — not the fund itself. We operate the registered transfer agent beneath it, so a share moves from one holder to another without being redeemed first. No wire, no cash leg, and the dividend keeps accruing straight through the transfer.
Everything the first two frontiers taught me, pointed at the oldest rulebook of all.
CEO & Co-Founder, Ceres · Four issued U.S. patents, priority 2019Consumer brands and retail experiences built where the rules were still being written — a national dispensary chain, award-winning product lines, and two of the most recognizable celebrity launches in the category.
CannabistNational retail brandThe national retail brand built end to end — identity, store design, customer experience, and the loyalty platform tying it together across 16 states & 90+ dispensaries.
Seed & StrainPremium flowerA premium flower brand built from the ground up — award-winning genetics packaged as a real consumer product, and a Cannabis Cup winner.
AmberConcentratesA concentrates brand created from scratch — live resin and extracts given the design language of a top-shelf spirit.
Triple SevenEveryday premium cannabisEveryday premium cannabis — the same quality at a price that moves volume, with an identity loud enough to earn its shelf space.
HedyEdiblesPlayful, design-forward edibles — "goodness in every dose," named for Hedy Lamarr, the actress who co-invented the frequency-hopping technology behind Wi-Fi.
DreamtCannabis sleep aidsAward-winning cannabis sleep aids — science-backed gummies and tinctures for the sleep you’ve been dreaming of.
Tyson 2.0Mike Tyson’s cannabis lineMike Tyson’s cannabis brand, brought to market across the portfolio — "Worldwide Smoke," and a launch that put the industry on TMZ.
Ric Flair DripRic Flair’s cannabis lineRic Flair’s cannabis line, brought to market — sixteen-time champion energy and pure ’80s-chrome swagger.
The platforms behind the brands — analytics, ad tech, e-commerce, loyalty, telehealth and tokenized finance, engineered in categories that had no incumbents to copy.
CeresTokenized money platformThe engine underneath tokenized money market funds — not the fund itself. We run the registered transfer agent beneath them, so a share moves holder to holder without being redeemed first. Four issued U.S. patents, priority 2019.
UnifiedEnterprise ad-tech SaaSEnterprise social advertising SaaS for the platform era — raised a $30M round led by iHeartMedia and was acquired. I led revenue as SVP & CRO.
ForageOnline discovery engineAn online discovery engine that matched customers to the right product across a national footprint — “revolutionizing the customer shopping experience.”
StashCashNational loyalty platformThe national cannabis rewards platform — loyalty, remote ordering, and product discovery across 68 dispensaries in 14 markets.
Virtual.CareCannabis telehealthVirtual consultations connecting patients with pharmacists and clinicians from home — telehealth for a brand-new category, built at Columbia Care.
PageLeverSocial analytics — YCY Combinator–backed Facebook analytics pioneer and Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer — 450+ customers, research cited by TechCrunch and Fortune, acquired by Unified in 2013.
“The category is undefined, the regulation unwritten, and the brand still has to be built. That's the work I love.”
An award-winning operator who has spent his career building at the intersection of technology, brand, and regulated markets.
Jesse Channon is the CEO and co-founder of Ceres, an SEC-registered transfer agent that lets tokenized money market fund shares move directly between holders — rebuilding the plumbing beneath regulated digital money. Across nearly two decades he has founded and scaled companies in three of the most disruptive industries of the era — social media and ad tech, cannabis, and blockchain and fintech.
He was on the founding team at PageLever, a Y Combinator company building on Facebook's earliest APIs, then led revenue at the ad-tech firms Unified and Social Native. From there he spent six years helping build The Cannabist Company (Columbia Care) into one of the largest cannabis operators in the U.S. — joining as its first Chief Growth Officer and rising to Chief Commercial Officer and President — where his teams launched the Cannabist retail brand and consumer products like Forage and StashCash. Along the way he founded JJC Recovery, a disaster-recovery business based in Mobile, Alabama.
His teams' work has been recognized with Cannes Lions, Clio and MarCom awards, and the companies he has helped lead have been named repeatedly among the Best Places to Work. Alongside Ceres he runs High Yield Advisory, a boutique firm advising founders and operators on strategy, go-to-market and growth across cannabis, digital assets and AI. He also advises, invests in and sits on the boards of early-stage companies. A graduate of Auburn University, he is an active mentor to founders building what's next.
I sit on the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board at Auburn's Harbert College of Business and judge the Tiger Cage startup competition. It's the same three questions every time — is the market real, can you actually build it, will anyone pay for it. Nobody was asking me those early enough.
If you run a program that pushes ambitious thinkers — entrepreneurship, innovation, small business, or thinking outside the box — I would love to be helpful. Some things I have done in the past include:
Speaking invitations, advisory and board conversations, and founders early enough that the category still needs explaining — email is the fastest way to reach me.