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This week, Shauntel Ludwig, CEO of Synergy Innovation, joins the Cannabis Equipment News podcast to discuss what to do when M&A goes bad, the early red flags, and how to rebuild your brand's reputation, even when customers hate your guts.
Shauntel Ludwig found the cannabis industry by accident, but she wouldn't change it for the world. In 2010, she was working for a business that specialized in offshore manufacturing. The company would help inventors prototype, develop and bring products to market—they even helped with the marketing.
Ludwig was helping an e-cigarette manufacturer rebuild its brand presences in the U.S. and she traveled to a trade show to figure out how to expand the business. She came across a booth that sold dry herb vaporizers. Back in 2010, cannabis was still fairly stigmatized, but Ludwig and her business partner, Cort Smith, liked the ideas. She says the products on the market at the time were ugly and not very functional.
In 2011, Ludwig and Smith launched DaVinci Vaporizer and the company's first product was a hit. She knew that if she could create a battery-operated vaporizer that could fit in your pocket, she probably had a winner.
In 2021, Ludwig was looking for a way to grow her business, and an acquisition seemed like the best path forward as the partner, Greenlane Holdings, presented deeper pockets to scale the business. But things didn't go according to plan and Greenlane struggled under the weight of multiple acquisitions combined with failing infrastructure and a global pandemic.
This year, Ludwig and Smith not only reacquired DaVinci, but they also bought Eyce Silicone, which is known for its water pipe mold and auxiliary products made from FDA food-grade platinum cure silicone. While it has been an exciting journey, Ludwig admits that it is challenging to rebuild brand reputation, but she has already had success in turning the tide.
Jump around:
- Designing and developing a new vaporizer. (4:47)
- The two guiding questions for any product developer. (8:08)
- The introduction of Eyce. (11:11)
- Where the Greenlane Holdings acquisition went wrong. (11:58)
- Red flags after the acquisition. (14:29)
- What do you do when M&A goes bad. (15:56)
- Fighting to get shelf space back. (20:18)
- Changing consumer preferences. (21:44)
- How to rebuild brand reputation. (23:41)
- Red flags prior to an acquisition. (26:49)
- Big problems with counterfeiters (33:18)
- The 151-step process for any successful product launch. (35:07)
- The future of 3D-printed cannabis devices. (37:11)
- How cannabis accessories will evolve. (39:06)
Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. You could also help us out by giving the podcast a positive review. Finally, to email the podcast or suggest a potential guest, you can reach David Mantey at [email protected].
