Nick Tennant of Precision Extraction Solutions: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business

As a business owner, you must be ready to take risks. This was an area I was very wary of in the beginning of my career, and I believe I lost out on some really wonderful opportunities because I wasn’t willing to put myself — or my team or my capital — out there. Definitely do the research before even contemplating accepting any type of offer, but if the sole factor holding you back is fear, it’s probably worth it.

As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Tennant.

Nick Tennant is the Founder and CTO of Precision Extraction Solutions, the global leader in cannabis extraction equipment, technology, site planning, compliance, and training. Tennant is a cannabis entrepreneur with over 12 years experience developing and operating companies in the cannabis industry. Tennant’s work in the industry has been featured on CNN, CNBC, TIME, NY Times, and hundreds of other publications. Tennant currently contributes to 5 industry trade journals and has been awarded multiple awards for his work in the industry. His expertise is in cannabis and hemp extraction, code regulation, lab design, extract product and process development, and extraction equipment engineering.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was originally brought into the cannabis space through my cousins and friends living in California and Colorado in the very early days of cannabis legalization, and have been in the space for 16 years now. Going back a few years, I attended college for a semester before getting tired of learning information that was irrelevant to me. If it’s relevant and useful to me, I can learn quite rapidly, otherwise I tune out. That’s when I changed my path to entrepreneurship, starting my own company at 18 years old. My family was already involved in the cannabis industry, and what I knew about it from them intrigued me. After some research I recognized the industry’s growth potential and from then on my family was my North Star, so to speak.

Since then I’ve been involved in every niche of the market, from growing and industrial to retail and product production. About seven years ago I realized the trend towards extraction and diverted my efforts towards that specific area. I started Precision Extraction Solutions based upon this perceived opportunity, and the trend came to fruition.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

We were entrepreneurs when we started Precision yet we had no idea of the formalized skillsets we would acquire through growing this company or through the people we’d meet. Our learnings translated into a lesson like a high level MBA program, really. We were able to connect with so many amazing minds working in this industry due to the growth and opportunity it has presented.

If I could go back and do it all over again, I would pay more attention to bringing in the smartest people around me and listen to their advice with an open mind. I didn’t understand that when it comes down to it, the methodology of business is truly a science. If you know which levers to pull operationally and strategically, the company is going to run really well. Through my experience I learned what those levers are, but I wish I had known earlier on.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I drove away with my computer on top of my car about 1.5 years into our startup. It had everything on it and was not backed up. It was completely smashed. Luckily, most of my documents were accessible electronically via email etc. Lesson learned: always make sure your computer is backed up, and always check the roof of your car before driving off. I joked to Marc [Beginin, co-founder and CEO] that my Macbook still had a longer life than his generation 1 Surface at the time, which was ironically true after the Surface seized from sheer workload after just 8 months; after that, I convinced him to buy a Mac.

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

As a company and individually, we’re always working on exciting projects. I’m a lover of plants and botanicals more than anything, but it’s extremely amazing how these compounds within the plants are entirely different. The terpenes and cannabinoids in cannabis, as well as those in everyday fruits and vegetables, are created ubiquitously by the universe and by nature. That is astounding to me.

More specifically, the most interesting project we’ve been working on is the isolation and dosing of these molecules into the human body. Chinese practices follow the idea that the more in tune or balanced your body is with the earth, the healthier you are. That’s their definition of health — being balanced with nature. Looking at various plant compounds and how they interact with the immune system and body in general, like cannabinoids through our endocannabinoid system, we find a potential cure for every single human disease under the planet through the use of botanicals. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what we can achieve by studying botanicals such as cannabis and using these plants to accelerate human health. So right now we’re working on how to completely isolate different cannabinoids and compounds and the best dosage for each.

I’m personally conducting a ton of research on this topic and it surrounds Precision’s centralized theme: how do we use botanicals and the magic of plants to better stabilize humanity and human health moving forward? We’re diligently focused on that premise of knowledge. Cannabis is a huge piece of that puzzle not only from an economic and business standpoint, but also from a research standpoint.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I was mentored by a lot of people with brilliant minds that helped me, personally, and the business grow. They all provided me with such great advice, but I’m unable to go into specifics on any one scenario since every single one of them gave me such valuable lessons.

This industry is young, dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

These days, so much marketing and advertising is based on social media, especially enriched media content. Print is dying — if it’s not mostly dead already — and rich media content with engaged followers is taking the reins. Influencer networks and YouTube videos are very widely used. Cannabis in particular is a unique market and we know how to sell it, but if everyone knew our ways then we wouldn’t be the best. We try our best to guard our intellectual capital.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Cannabis industry? Can you share 3 things that most concern you?

I’m most excited for the cannabis industry’s growth potential. The legal marijuana market is expected to be worth around $74B by 2027, up from $17B just last year. That is a massive opportunity and I’m looking forward to watching it mature in the coming years. I’m grateful to have joined when the market was so young, since there is so much more potential for Precision.

I’m also excited about cannabis’ ability to cure or treat various human diseases. There is still copious amounts of research to be done and discoveries to be made, but so far the plant has been extremely promising in its healing abilities. It’s a huge step forward in using plants and botanicals as medicine in place of pharmaceutical drugs that have detrimental side effects or addictive qualities. There very well may be a condition we think is incurable to which cannabis is an effective treatment. We have just stepped into the possibilities of cannabis as medicine.

Given my fundamental thirst for knowledge and science, I’m looking forward to furthering research and uncovering what we don’t yet know. As I previously mentioned, we’ve only just begun uncovering the mysteries of cannabis. I can’t wait to see what researchers find out about its compounds and their applications in the coming years.

Regarding what concerns me, I’m worried about the regulations around legal cannabis and a potential increase in regulations. It’s already extremely difficult to obtain a license or receive funding as a cannabis company, and any extra regulations would make it all the more burdensome for cannabis companies to succeed and be profitable. On another note, the regulations hinder research opportunities that would further back our evidence that cannabis is effective in treating certain diseases. An increase would only push our progress as an industry a few steps backward and prevent researchers from uncovering truths that advocate for federal cannabis legalization. These discoveries are crucial to pushing forward this movement.

There is also the production of unregulated substances to worry about. We do need some regulation, albeit careful regulations that don’t continue to hinder the legal market. These illegal cannabis products are harming not only consumers, as we saw with the vape crisis late in 2019, but also the legal market as it’s drawing away customers and therefore profits from legal companies. The illicit market in California is one of the largest of any state, and it’s holding back the legal industry from growing and expanding.

Following the enactment of appropriate regulations, there’s nothing else I have to worry about regarding the cannabis industry.

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

The first thing I wish someone had told me was to never say no. As a business owner, you must be ready to take risks. This was an area I was very wary of in the beginning of my career, and I believe I lost out on some really wonderful opportunities because I wasn’t willing to put myself — or my team or my capital — out there. Definitely do the research before even contemplating accepting any type of offer, but if the sole factor holding you back is fear, it’s probably worth it.

Secondly, and seemingly counterintuitive to the first, is to not be afraid to say no. I used to take on almost every task given to me and approved ideas that didn’t fit with my core beliefs. I hadn’t learned the skill of holding my ground when approached with something that was against my morals or fighting with my gut instinct. Now I understand the importance of staying true to my mission and I refuse to be led off that course.

I also wish I had known to keep an open mind and to not fear the unknown. I’ve listened to hundreds of people share their ideas and opinions and in the past I was reluctant to change my habits and my own perspectives on certain topics. This mindset will severely delay both business and personal growth. I’ve learned that it’s okay to explore a seemingly obscure or unfamiliar idea, and any fear is sometimes a sign that I am actually in need of adventuring outside of my comfort zone. Typically, in my experience, if I’m wary of learning more about a particular perspective, it means I actually need to explore further and that I will learn something valuable from the experience.

As I mentioned earlier, I wish someone had told me how related the methodology of business is to science. I wish I had known which levers I needed to pull in order to get my company up and running. My company operations and business strategy would have been much more aligned and organized if I were aware of the resources available to me. I’ve had to figure that part out all on my own and I’m now an expert at it, but it would have really helped me if I had known in the beginning.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

I would tell other business leaders a few things to help them better support their employees. First, I would highly recommend making room for their staff’s creativity. This means avoiding monotony at all costs in order to keep your team excited about what they are working on and what the company as a whole is working towards. Continuously remind them why they are there in the first place, whether it be due to their passions, love of science or drive to learn more.

Positive reinforcement is also critical. You need to make it clear that their contributions and ideas are highly valued, otherwise they may not be willing to speak up and share their thoughts. Employees at all levels of the organization have something to contribute. By not listening to what your staff has to say, you may very well miss out on an original idea for a new product or a much needed solution to a problem. They each have their own perspective both individually and within your company, seeing issues or other things that you and your executive team may not notice. Plus, by hearing them out, they will feel appreciated and not lost in the sea of staff. Absolutely do not zone out your employees.

Finally, encourage a team environment. Don’t pit employees against each other as nothing good will come of it, at least not in the long run. Instead, encourage them to work as a team to solve problems and brainstorm to boost each other’s creativity. If their job becomes more of a competition, the company culture and atmosphere will undoubtedly suffer and the office environment will err on the side of negative and uncomfortable. Ultimately, you will lose employees. They are more productive, hard-working and loyal when they are able to work together and create relationships that support their work.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I believe that long term humanity needs to make a fundamental change from our current path. We have become disconnected from our true nature in nearly every sense. A return to sustainable food production through permaculture, clean air and water though technology, better health though botanicals and lifestyle, and complete education reform will go a long way toward the betterment of humanity. These are all topics where I think research and technology will be transformative over the next 2–3 decades.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

I am most active on the instagram platform @tenn and Linkedin @ www.linkedin.com/in/tenn

You can find Precision Extraction Solutions on Instagram @precisionextraction

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!