EXCLUSIVE: GrowGeneration's CEO On Lessons Learned From Building $1B Cannabis Supply Company

The early days of legalization in Colorado provided several lessons for GrowGeneration Corp GRWG CEO Darren Lampert and the company, he told the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in a keynote address Thursday.

“We learned and immersed ourselves in the culture,” Lampert said.

The company worked on becoming experts in the industry and interacting with growers — who would be the company’s customers and also everything the company represented, he said. 

Another lesson was investing in employees and having the right team to build out GrowGeneration, Lampert said. 

“Bring in the pros to run and operate the company.”

Lampert used a sports analogy of having the right players in place to help the team win.

GrowGeneration is the nation’s largest specialty hydroponic and organic gardening retailer.

Related Link: Why GrowGeneration’s Stock Is Trading Higher Today

Lampert On GrowGeneration's Trajectory: GrowGeneration just announced its thirteenth consecutive quarter of growth. The company has gone from $30 million in sales in 2018 to an estimated $470 million in fiscal 2021.

Lampert shared his excitement for the growth of the cannabis market with the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference.

Cannabis industry sales are expected to hit $100 billion by 2030, the GrowGeneration CEO said. 

“We are in the early stages of a multi-decade [period] of growth.”

New states are overwhelmingly supporting legalization of medical and recreational cannabis use. The medical and social benefits are reasons Lampert cited for its wide adoption.

The growth of the cannabis industry “makes the hard work all worthwhile,” he said. 

GrowGeneration's CEO On Nasdaq Uplisting: Lampert called ringing the Nasdaq opening bell one of the most memorable moments of his life.

The CEO said he let out the loudest yell of his life after ringing the bell.

The ownership of GrowGeneration stock by several of the largest funds is a signal of success, Lampert said, adding that it was one of the company’s primary financial goals.

Lampert called GrowGeneration a seven-year success story.

Shares of GrowGeneration were uplisted to the Nasdaq in December 2019.

GrowGeneration shares are up 495% in the last year, and the stock was one of the best-performing cannabis stocks in 2020. Shares have traded between $6.01 and $67.75 over the last 52 weeks.