From Aerospace Engineering To Building Backbone For Cannabis Operators

"This plant is not only heavily regulated, it can transform very quickly once harvested."

Friends,

Something that I have mentioned on many occasions before is that every problem found within the cannabis industry today will be solved in time by one factor — talent.

It’s hard to say with certainty why the cannabis industry continues to attract such talented people — perhaps it’s their own consumption of cannabis, the ever-increasing size of the market, or simply a desire to solve problems?

Most likely, it’s a combination of all three.

What is crystal clear nonetheless is that every year more & more talented people are joining the cannabis industry, and today’s guest for Four PM is no exception to this.

Peter Huson is the Chief of Operations at Backbone — a supply chain management platform for cannabis operators.

Additionally, Peter is Co-Founder and COO at One Log Cannabis Business Park, Compliance Officer at Mesh Ventures, and to date, he’s successfully acquired over 50 cannabis licenses across the supply chain.

Peter Huson is a former Aerospace Engineer and is currently the COO of Backbone in addition to a number of other roles across the cannabis industry.

What was the insight that led you to build Backbone?

A lack of visibility when the product left the farm.

As licensing schemas rolled out, we did some heavy digging into suitable supply chain systems and there were none. This plant is not only heavily regulated, it can transform very quickly once harvested.

Compounding the complexity was the uniqueness of each operator’s conversion process and the ever-expanding list of newly developed delivery methods/steps needed to get them into final packaged form.

What does success look like for Backbone?

To become domestically inevitable, internationally demanded, and to launch into other highly regulated and/or under-serviced supply chains, as well as build an enterprise platform team that supports culture.

We are on track to become the connector of the supply chain, allowing operators to choose from our in-house suite of offerings, to select new or to stay with their existing POS, marketplace, cultivation, or logistics systems, all the while knowing that their financials and compliance will be bulletproof, accurate and auditable.

What's been the toughest challenge that you've faced in building Backbone & how did you overcome it?

Just because you have had a few years of United States West Coast cannabis operational experience, doesn’t mean you know how legacy industries in Bogota, Kelowna, Aveiro, Tel Aviv, Kingstown, or Birmingham have come to be, let alone the plant’s U.S. history in Hawaii, Texas, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas.

The toughest part has been ensuring we understand and meet immediate market demand while retaining enough flexibility to support the moving target that is global cannabis and hemp regulatory requirements.

Overcoming it has been a direct result of our team’s industry experience/willingness to learn, coupled with a steady hand of veteran enterprise developers. 

What has you most excited about the cannabis industry in 2021?

Getting a “boots on the ground” perspective of new markets.

It’s the Wild Wild West, East, North, and South out there — from D8 Cowboys & UN Audits to Data-Warehoused Terpene Fractions and Portuguese Mother Liquor; and it’s fascinating to be a part of it all, and support.