CFN Media Exclusive Interview With Leaf Logix CEO, James Minutello

In the legal cannabis space, it’s critical to have efficient and reliable tracking in order to both run a business and remain compliant. Leaf Logix offers vertical seed-to-sale technology solutions in the cannabis, hemp, and CBD markets, boasting clients in over two dozen states and several international markets. The company recently announced a deal with loyalty marketing firm SpringBig, which will be integrating their tools with Leaf Logix’s point of sale systems. In another exciting development, Leafy – one of the most popular online cannabis resources – has partnered with Leaf Logix in order to streamline dispensary menus in hundreds of dispensaries across 27 states, the District of Columbia, and Puertro Rico.

CFN Media sat down with Leaf Logix CEO James Minutello at the recent MjBizConINT’L in Toronto, who provided insight on the company’s impressive reach and how compliance may be the key to broad cannabis law reform.

CFN:  Which markets are you in and which segments of the cannabis industry do you serve?

James Minutello, CEO of Leaf Logix

James Minutello:  The company is headquartered in New York with a co-headquarter in Glendale, California, a Denver office and a 4th office opening in San Francisco next month. We’re in 25 states (Delaware will soon be the 26th) plus Washington DC, and Puerto Rico; internationally, we also have a presence in Latin America and Europe, with talks in Asia as well. We handle cultivators, manufacturers and processors, distributors, and point of sale.

We are a SaaS-based pricing model, so if someone is just a cultivator, they buy a cultivation module on a monthly fee. If they are full vertical, they can buy the full suite of services. If they’re just a store, they just would buy the point of sale module along with possibly the ecommerce module. We have very robust reporting tools, financial reporting tools and analytics, and a delivery app. All of our engineering is done in-house, organically. We are a Microsoft shop on SQL and are known to have the fastest, most flexible and intuitive software in the market today.

CFN:  What sets you apart from your competitors?

JM:  Extreme reliability is one for sure – we have zero down time. We’re in an “always-on” environment, so we’re continuously replicating the data. We have 24/7 customer service for our point-of-sale module because we do have some locations open 24 hours. We have multiple offices as I mentioned so we can keep up with various time zones around the world.

Many of our clients have some of the top brands in the industry; these would be multi-state providers, many of which are vertically-integrated. However, we do not discriminate against the person that’s just one point of sale or one cultivation site. They’re getting the same technology and the same customer service support as the big players.

CFN:  What are your projections for growth?

JM:  We average one new employee a week, so internally we keep up with demand because we don’t want to grow too quickly and not have the people to back that up. It sounds cliché, but it’s done all the time in business and any industry, and we all know in the cannabis industry:  everybody’s chasing the pie and some are going too fast for their own good. Initially, we grew our company for the most part without sales and PR, but that has all changed dramatically this year. In the first two quarters going into three, we have experienced dramatic growth in our sales.

We are not one-dimensional, so we have multiple products in our vertical, from an accounting platform to all the modules I’ve mentioned. Our goal is to be the gold standard of the vertical ERP-level cannabis and as more markets come online, we will expand into different languages as well, which will also propel growth.

CFN:  What do you think it will take for the United States to catch up to other international cannabis markets?

JM:  I think for the US, the horse is out of the stable so to speak. I don’t find as many people against us (the cannabis industry) as much as now trying to understand us, and that’s a big difference. I don’t know if you could have said that even a year or two ago, which shows how nascent this industry is. Having said that, we know ultimately the federal government  is going to be the judge of whether or not they will let legal cannabis sales thrive, and I think our software has the means to make everybody happy as far as compliance and comfort level. Our customers can get on with the normal, day-to-day workings of running their business without needing to think, “Are we being compliant or not?” Our software takes care of that, and I think that often lends to the credibility of our industry overall.

We have such respect for the people who started the legal cannabis efforts years ago. They were at the forefront, but as the bar raises to give us more and more credibility and understanding, that also enlightens people to say, “Let this industry thrive,” and that gets to you the top.

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About Rachelle Gordon

Rachelle Gordon is a Minneapolis-based writer. Find her online at www.rachellegordon.net.