It’s been a weird year, lots has changed since I last emailed, and there’s about 2,500 new faces here on the ol’ email list.

For everyone I haven’t talked to in a while, and everyone that’s new here, an update:

At the top of the year, with a small group of my childhood friends, I bought back the company we sold 4 years ago. A few weeks later on January 26th one of our co-founders, Dana, was murdered. Getting LTRMN back was exciting but quickly turned bitter sweet. 5 months later as we settle into a new normal and realize it never will be: I’m super thankful to be surrounded by part of his legacy everyday. LTRMN, and Dana, forever.

Now, let’s talk about what’s next.

For the uninitiated: there is almost inevitably a typo below… it’s a hallmark of my personal brand and this newsletter. My wife tries to proof read my shit, but I simply can’t be contained.

9 years ago in a past life, I sat in an office in Austin and watched our CRO (also named Colin, also spelled with one “L”) finish a phone call. “Got em”, he said. He had just closed Best Buy. That phone call put our product into 1700 stores globally. Major distribution.

Fast forward 3 years and I’m stumbling into the legal cannabis world for the first time. We were flipping packs to medical dispensaries, but for what? Not for much margin, that’s for sure. But we were building a network of a few hundred dispensary buyers in anticipation of creating products to sell them. We were building distribution.

2 years ago I started writing on the internet. First on Twitter, then on LinkedIn, occasionally on email. In September I decided to give video a shot. First Tik Tok, then Instagram. 278 videos later I can make a decent short form video… but for what?

Distribution

Distribution is the achilles heel of every idea you’ve ever had, and the lack thereof has been the downfall of some really good ones. Historically gate keepers have controlled distribution in effectively every industry. Before e-commerce and DTC, consumer product was controlled by distributors. Before social media and blogs, networks and publishers decided who got a voice. Before Tik Tok and Spotify, A&Rs and radio DJs decided what music we’d like.

When I look around at what I’ve been doing, what fascinates me, and what gets me fired up: it’s product and distribution. With LTRMN we’ve got distribution the old fashion way, but I’m especially excited new distribution. The democratization of content creation and the audiences that come with it. Distribution that anyone can own, that can niche down infinitely, and scale up just the same.

So, my plan for the next chapter is to do just as I’ve been doing for years: build products and distribution.

• LTRMN does that with recreational cannabis in Oregon.
• My agency is doing it with creators and consumer brands.
• My content is creating optionality and leverage for all of the above.

Product, Distribution, and Golf?

I’ve been making content about building products for 2 years. A few months ago, while in the middle of rebuilding my golf swing and falling back in love w/ the greatest game, golf crept into my content mix. People wanted more, so I made more, and then more… and I’m running with it. It’s the perfect intersection of my obsessions and I’m having a lot of fun with it.

For example today’s video: The Golf Tee Opportunity (lol).

Some of you are here for my ramblings on the cannabis industry, some for my random thoughts on building brands, and some for resources and links I’ve been making content about. I’ve got all of you covered. We’re back. It looks a little different than before but you know the deal: the only constant is change. It’s time to build.

Let the chaos (and short form video) reign and follow me on Instagram.