#109 - Creating Value by Going Deep in Key States (ft. Abner Kurtin, CEO of Ascend Wellness)

Joining us today is Abner Kurtin who is CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH). Abner’s background is as an investor – starting at the highly regarded Baupost and moving on to starting his own hedge fund. He raised $50M to invest in the cannabis space before switching gears and Co-Founding Ascend in 2018. In only 3 years Ascend has become a top player in IL with an eye to repeating the model in NY, NJ and Mass (the company is also in MI and OH). In this episode we discuss: - Abner’s Investment Background: What he learned working at Baupost - Raising $50M to Invest in Cannabis: The 3 Key Factors Abner looked for in each deal - Why Investing in MSOs like Grassroots, GTI, Pharmacann made sense - Starting Ascend – Being opportunistic in MA and IL - How AWH became a top player in IL alongside GTI, Cresco & Verano - The importance of being scaled and vertical in every market - NJ: How AWH got started and why NJ will be the story of 2022 - What to look forward to in NY and how the state is progressing - Is slow uplisting a risk or opportunity to the cannabis space? - Why is capital allocation so important in this industry? - The Future of Ascend: Acquiring, Merging or Selling the company Thank you to Abner for joining us for this jam-packed interview You can find more information on AWH including past earnings calls at: https://awholdings.com/investors/