Neal O'Grady 🍉

Demand Curve

Demand Curve (YC S19) creates courses, content, and events to teach founders and marketers how to grow companies. Our weekly newsletter goes out to over 97,000 founders and marketers.

Co-Founder

GrowthPair

We've partnered up to help startups hire top-tier growth talent that fits into their budget.

Advisor

Bell Curve

Bell Curve is a paid marketing agency explicitly built for startups. 

We've worked with companies like Invoice2Go, Pilot, Segment, Microsoft, Framer, Perfect Keto, Feedly, Stacker, Techcrunch, 1build, and Ancestry.

UNIGNORABLE

People wanna buy from people—not faceless brands. Un-ignorable is a 4-week group challenge designed to help you build an audience of future buyers.

Founder + Instructor

Segment

Demand Curve and Segment had a deep partnership. We collaborated on projects where our intersection of growth and tracking expertise can help companies grow revenue.

Growth Advisor

Webflow, Inc.

- Ideated blog post topics on topics most relevant and interesting to web designers 
- Produced high-quality blog posts each week that were engaging, educational, and got people excited about web design and Webflow 
- Sourced images and supplementary material and references - Work with the founders, CMO, designer, and editor

Copywriter/Content Marketer

Lighthouse Labs

The job of a TA at a early-stage web development bootcamp was 3 main things:

1. Developing curriculum.
2. Helping students with their coding challenges.
3. Providing emotional support to extremely stressed students wondering if they've made a horrible decision dropping $10k on a career change.

Demand Curve | 93,000 founders get 3 startup growth tactics in their inbox each week. Join the Growth Newsletter below.

I'm 34 years old. I've never had a full-time job.

Not once.

No, I did not grow up rich without needing to.

My dad passed when I was 13, my mom made $26,000 CAD, and he left her with an invalid life insurance policy. He had changed it to void unless he was 65 years old or older

He did that 2 days before local laws changed where your spouse needed to approve life insurance policy changes. 

He also left her with tons of debt on credit cards she didn't know about.

So she was forced to file for bankruptcy.

We were real poor.

I managed to go to university only because she moved to Vancouver with me.

And I paid for it by aggressively applying for scholarships. 75% of it was covered.

Yet, I've never used that degree.

Since then I've:

- Taught myself programming
- Worked as a freelance developer
- Worked as a freelance copywriter
- Lived out of a backpack for 3.5 years as a digital nomad
- Started two 7-figure revenue businesses in the marketing industry

At no point was I hungry, broke, or homeless.

People think that forging your own path is risky.

What I think is risky is taking out a mortgage based on a full-time job that can be taken away from you at any moment

As a freelancer, you have numerous income streams—losing one isn't existential.

As a business owner, your job can't be taken from you. You make more if you find a way to provide more value to people at scale.

This is why I've dedicated my life to helping people start, build, and grow companies. 

My ads agency, Bell Curve (www.bellcurve.com), helps startups grow through ads—the most scalable channel there is.

Demand Curve (www.demandcurve.com) teaches founders and marketers to grow their companies and passion projects. We were accepted into Y Combinator's summer of 2019 batch.

My goal is to make entrepreneurship easier and more approachable. Because we all benefit when we each build the future we want.

Demand Curve (YC S19) creates courses, content, and events to teach founders and marketers how to grow companies. Our weekly newsletter goes out to over 60,000 founders and marketers.

Seth Yakatan

Raising & Selling 📈 $1B+ Raised 💰 22 Companies Sold 🤝

Are you struggling to communicate your vision to the capital gatekeepers?

Are you exploring selling your business but don’t know anything about:
✘ Due diligence
✘ Term sheets
✘ Earnouts

Friend, you're lucky you found me...

I'm Seth Yakatan.

I have 30-odd years experience as a corporate finance professional.

My specialties are:
💰 Raising money
🤝 Selling companies

And I’m f**king good at it.

I’ve raised over $1B and sold 22 businesses.

My career has mostly been supporting small-cap and major corporations seeking capital to grow, or
to find strategic acquirers.

Most of these companies are in: 
— biotech
— cannabis
— pharmaceuticals
— DTC consumer goods

I’ve been on boards, taken companies public, gone up against multinational corporations, raised from VC and PE funds.

All of it. 
Many times over.
Whatever your problem is, I’ve seen it before.

But let me level with you:

What I REALLY love is helping people to get to the finish line.

Talking to entrepreneurs excites me.

But in my experience, entrepreneurs are mostly s**t at raising capital and selling companies.

** They just don’t understand investors **

And that’s where I come in.

Together, we workshop: 
✔ Your pitch
✔ Your deck
✔ Your strategy 

And help you raise the capital to GROW and SELL your business.

If you need this help—and almost every business does—send me a DM.

Like, now.

Don't lose another potential investor or acquirer with the wrong pitch.

Seth ✌️

Merchant Bank / Advisory / Family Office

While politicians are arguing about hemp, Kratom is being sold as a “natural wellness supplement.”

But let’s STOP pretending.

This is NOT chamomile tea.

This is NOT “plant-based stress relief.”

This is an unregulated opioid analogue with street-corner quality control.

And it’s ending up in gas stations, smoke shops, and TikTok “self-care” feeds.


>> Whats Happening?

Kratom is being sold everywhere with little to no restrictions.

And, IMO, it is DANGEROUS.

It contains mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, compounds that we know:

→ Bind to mu-opioid receptors
→ Produce opioid-like euphoria and sedation

And it creates tolerance and withdrawal patterns basically indistinguishable from low-grade opioid dependence.

California’s Department of Public Health just issued a formal advisory (NR25-016) warning that:

Kratom products are ILLEGAL to manufacture and sell in the state.

Claims about pain, anxiety, or withdrawal treatment are unproven.

And that multiple fatal overdoses have already been linked to kratom in Los Angeles County

This is not “maybe dangerous.”…this is DOCUMENTED harm.


>> Why This Matters?

OxyContin addiction didn’t start because people wanted to get high.

It started because people were in pain, desperate & were told something was safe and “less addictive.”

We have seen this movie before and I know exactly how it plays out.

Kratom is unregulated, inconsistently dosed and frequently adulterated.

And marketed using the same language pattern that launched the opioid epidemic:

“Natural”, “Safer than pharmaceuticals”, “Helps with withdrawal”

The result is people self-dosing their way straight into dependency.

Not because they’re reckless.

But because the product is designed to look harmless.

And the supply chain knows exactly what it’s doing....


>> What Am I Watching?

The pattern is repeating: 

Normalization via wellness marketing (“It’s just a plant.”)

Distribution concentrated in deregulated retail (Vape shops, convenience stores, social media DMs.)

Dependence masked as “daily routine" (Users don’t realize they’re sick until they stop.)

Regulators reacting only after deaths accumulate.

If we wait for “more data,” we are doing nothing more than running the Purdue Pharma playbook in slow motion.

This is not a supplement it’s an unregulated opioid with branding.

Kratom should not be sold.
Kratom should not be normalized.
Kratom should not be framed as “self-care.”
Kratom should be STOPPED.

When you want to push the boundary, what do you do?

TRY HARDER.
 
So I am honored to announce my latest collaboration with Fat Nugs Magazine x Seth Yakatan: A New Live Industry Series

>>> WHAT ?
I'm teaming up with Fat Nugs Magazine to launch a brand-new live discussion series spotlighting cannabis products and brands. 
 
And to start we're tackling pre-rolls - a category whose growth cannot be denied.

>>> WHO ?
Andrew Wells
Cesar Angobaldo
Courtney Zalewski
Fernando Bent-Mullings
Mei-Ling Campbell
Timeka Drew
Catherine Sidman
Luna Stower, MAT, CG ✨

>>> WHEN ? 

The series kicks off with its first episode Thursday, November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

FNM Presents: Voices of the Plant w/ Seth Yakatan
Preroll Edition 
Business. Culture. Community.

 
Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/geV4jVmy 

& MARK YOU CALENDARS for Thursday, November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

You want your 15 minutes of fame?

Then find me and my man Lance C. Lambert ✓ in VEGAS....

My friends at Fat Nugs Magazine have made the questionable decision of giving me a camera and a microphone (LOOK OUT!!!)

Fat Nugs Magazine  x PufCreativ event, Light Up Las Vegas, is going to be 🔥 

Me + Lance, badass activations, the food, infused beverages, live art, live music from John Shute's band, Bubala, the Faces of Cannabis, and I GOT A MIC!!!

Fat Nugs Magazine
John Shute, MBA
PufCreativ

Well folks, I have to admit that I was WRONG… I know, SHOCKER 😱

About 3 months ago I put up a post on AYR Wellness.

I said RIP…

But suddenly, AYR has come back from the dead…

Last week AYR Wellness Inc. announced that it was going to initiate CCAA proceedings. 


>> What's Happening?

On November 17, core assets of AYR’s subsidiaries will be transitioned to a newly formed acquisition vehicle (NewCo) owned by certain AYR senior note holders.

Basically this means that the lenders are going to run the company to try to get a recovery.

This is the same thing we’ve seen with several other companies…


>> Why is it Relevant?

1. Note trend
2. See #1

Just another case of investors taking the keys and trying to operate…


>> What Am I Watching?

This is about the fourth version of this flavor, will see if it tastes any different.

This industry has now become an SOP for the ‘equitization of debt and operate’ strategy…

Grabbing popcorn….

Hit the Debt Wall Jokes in the comments please.

Getting pumped for earnings season ???

WELL I AM...

Talking about Q2 a while back with the squad from 

The Dales Report

How do you think that that Q3 is going to look ???

Hit me in the Comments....

and thank you Shadd Dales + Anthony Varrell

You enjoy your freedom ?

Then thank a VETERAN...

I am honored that members of my family have proudly served to ensure that my butt can. go get a burger fries and a coke...

Lets give it up for a REAL AMERICAN HERO...

Evan Hunt

Evan is a:

— Decorated 20-year veteran and combat aviator
— Community and business leader
— Texas family man
and has NO AGENDA other than his SERVICE !

He's running for U.S. Congress in Texas as a Democrat. 

He's taking on MAGA extremism and wants to recapture the House in 2026.

You can donate to help his cause here: https://lnkd.in/gQana6Wu

Who keeps me bullish?

Wyld & Aaron Morris

In ANY other industry, THAT'S A ROLL-UP PLATFORM.

General Catalyst (CALL ME)

Thanks to the gents From the Weeds to the Clouds - Michael Krefman + Michael Peterson

Do you have a functioning company?

i.e. Are you generating CASH FLOW??

Then consider yourself SUCCESSFUL, because you are in the MINORITY
in c@nnabis.

So what advice do I give you....???

Well with 5 companies over $150M in revenue in receivership...

1. STAY IN IT
2. STAY IN IT
3. STAY IN IT!!!

And thanks to my friend Scott Greiper for moderating a great panel....

The 5 Stages of Grief: Cannabis Edition


Stage 1: Denial

For everyone: The initial shock and disbelief that loss has occurred, acting as a buffer against overwhelming emotions.

For us: The initial shock that prices are NOT going to stay high forever and act as a buffer against the mountain of debt raised.


Stage 2: Anger

For everyone: A natural reaction to loss, where one may feel frustration, resentment, or rage at the situation.

For us: Manifests in yelling at A/R collections, city counsel meetings, boardrooms, or in the comments on LinkedIn.


Stage 3: Bargaining

For everyone: Negotiate with fate or a higher power to undo the loss, often involving phrases like "If only..." or "What if...".

For us: “Well I can just SELL the license, not pay taxes, not pay suppliers, vendors, employees or investors and get my creditors to amend and extend, plus FEDERAL HAS TO come soon, right??”


Stage 4: Depression

For everyone: Feelings of sadness, despair, and hopelessness set in as the reality of the loss becomes clearer.

For us: This market SUCKS, this industry SUCKS, these people SUCK, this government SUCKS. 


Stage 5: Acceptance

For everyone: Reach a point where the loss is acknowledged and understood, and one begins to adapt to the new reality.

For us: Lower prices, market volatility, hope for “catalysts” and a maybe we never get a Federal “save”.

Plus, all this s**t I’m eating is making my stomach stronger!

Did this resonate with anyone??

Hit those comments.

Want to see me in a SUIT???

Well if you are Inside the Beltway today there is a CHANCE...

You'll find me in my clown suit, all dressed up for my crew at IgniteIt Cannabis.

See you today in the District for my photo opp.

Use my link and get in at a discount: https://lnkd.in/e45zHKrW

I Failed As An Odds Maker
And almost got run out of Vegas as a result !!!

What I Thought ??? 
I used to believe I could predict things. 
I thought outcomes were logical: 
Markets mature THEN prices stabilize 
Regulators see tax revenue AND regulation eases 
Consumers migrate to legal markets WHILE illicit fades 
Capital flows to efficiency LETTING good operators win 
None of that happened.

What I Learned ??? 
Regulation became politics: NOT economics 
Taxation became punishment: NOT policy 
Consumers followed availability: NOT governance 
And capital flowed to the loudest or biggest: NOT the best
So, I tried to be an odds maker and failed..

What Did I Learn ??? 
The cannabis and hemp space is not a market it's a game of unlocks: 
Access unlocks: Who can sell where 
Distribution unlocks: Who gets shelf space 
On-Premise unlocks: Who gets to shape consumer behavior 
Regulatory unlocks: Which side of the line you operate on

The people who win are not the ones with the best products
They're the ones with the best positioning when the unlock happens
I wasn’t wrong about the demand…I was wrong about the sequencing

So I failed as an odds maker, and changed my lens 

I stopped predicting when something will change 
I started positioning for what happens when it does 

I don’t need to guess the date Congress wakes up 
I just need to be on the board when they do
You don’t have to be an oddsmaker… 
You just have to be aligned when the unlock hits. 
And that’s a game I like my odds in.

Today I give THANKS...

That I am not a Turkey...although some of you might beg to differ....

Thats it...

Happy Holidays !!!

And make sure you tell someone you love them today....

Here’s the big thing I learned from the hemp ban:

First, NO ONE has been louder than me about the coming “inflection.”

Well…maybe I’m the dumbest guy on the internet…

Let’s break down why:


>> The Good

The Farm Bill allowed for the ubiquitous distribution of these molecules.

Loophole/Grey Area/ Unintended consequence, I don’t care what you think about that.

Putting the MOLECULES on Main Street and in the mail was NOT the intent.

But guess what, the consumer chose….the MOLECULES. 


>> The Bad

Cannabis is demonized, marginalized and constrained.

Produce, manufacture and sell in limited silos in specific areas in selected states.

Want to purchase? Go to the crappiest part of town where they put airports, chop shops and strip clubs.

Banking? Forget it. Normalization? Sure as soon as there is a dispensary on Rodeo Drive.


>> The Ugly

Once the Farm Bill allowed for the democratization of cannabis to occur, the consumer made a clear choice.

THEY CHOSE THE MOLECULES.

In the mail, in grocery stores, in liquor stores, in big box retail.

When you put the MOLECULES in the normal consumer purchase cycle they CHOSE IT.

and then what happened? Retail adopted. 

And that SCARED THE SH$T OUTTA: 
— ALCOHOL
— BEVERAGE
— CPG
— TOBACCO
— PHARMA

End of the day whether its Hemp or THC we are talking about the same MOLECULES.

The public WANTS it. So let’s keep making that case and stay united.

I’m in a New York State of Mind right now.

I’ve been spending some time in the Empire State recently.

I’ve put together a few observations and suggestions…

Take them with a grain of salt.


>> Lessons From The Future

New York is currently a $1.7B market and will certainly grow.

But price compression has not yet begun to occur…

Jarred 1/8ths are amongst the highest price per gram of any legal state.

Most pure retail operators are not businesses but borderline not-for-profits.


>> Where the Pitfalls Are

Regulators in New York have already showed their hand, so HOPEFULLY they won’t continue the clown games.

A/R issues are coming, bank on it.

More brands are coming, and so is more high quality flower.

Retailers are going to feel the pinch of high rent, overbuilt stores and lack of profitability.


>> Who Can Win?

1. Those willing to study and learn from the past to avoid the inevitable future

2. Brands and those who are both entrenched and currently profitable

3. Anyone with one of the 10 RO licenses

4. Those currently there and in the lead


>> Who Can Lose? 

1. Consumers and investors

2. Anyone who is currently unprofitable - because it AIN’T gonna get easier.

3. Anyone without one of the 10 RO licenses.

4. Those eyeing the market from other states thinking it’s a gold mine...

Agree? Disagree?

Hit those comments.

You doing anything today??
 
Fat Nugs Magazine x Seth Yakatan present: The Plant Panel

We're hosting a new LinkedIn live with some of the sharpest minds working in cannabis.

Andrew Wells
Cesar Angobaldo
Courtney Zalewski
Fernando Bent-Mullings
Mei-Ling Campbell
Timeka Drew
Catherine Sidman
Luna Stower, MAT, CG ✨

TODAY: November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

FNM Presents: The Plant Panel w/ Seth Yakatan

Episode one is the Preroll Edition 

Business. Culture. Community.

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/geV4jVmy

Believe it or not, I continue to hear from people that c@nnabis is NOT efficacious.

“Cannabis doesn’t really work for pain, sleep, or anxiety.”

I hear this from people who have:
— Never read a single clinical data table
— Never treated a patient
— Still think weed = teenagers + Bob Marley poster

Meanwhile, the SCIENCE is right there.


>> What’s Happening?

Recent clinical evaluations show consistent, measurable benefits:

Pain: 
→ Patients report statistically significant reductions about 0.5cm on a 10cm scale across populations. 
→ No placebo, that’s real analgesic effect at scale.

Sleep: 
→ Cannabis improves subjective sleep quality. 
→ If you’ve ever actually not slept, you know that you feel in the morning matters more than what your polysomnography printout says.

Anxiety: 
→ At appropriate dose and context, cannabinoids produce reliable anxiolytic effects, especially CBD.
→ THC requires respect and calibration yes. But to pretend it “doesn’t work” is just LAZY.

These effects are real, repeatable, clinically observed, and patient-reported across thousands of data points.

This is evidence!!!


>> Why Does This Matter?

There is a massive cultural blind spot around what counts as “meaningful efficacy.”

We are conditioned to think only in miracle outcomes:

— Erase all pain
— Cure insomnia
— Eliminate all anxiety

That’s not how real medicine works.

Real medicine is incremental improvement that accumulates into quality of life.

And cannabis delivers exactly that.


>> What Am I Watching?

The brands, operators, clinicians, and researchers who will win the next decade are the ones who:

1. Respect the evidence
2. Respect individual response and dosing
3. Position cannabis as a meaningful tool in the therapeutic toolkit
4. Communicate in clinical, human terms

Because here’s the TRUTH:

Cannabis works. It’s medicine. PERIOD.

So when someone dismisses cannabis because it’s not a miracle cure…

They’re telling you they don’t understand patients, medicine, or reality.

(and if you don’t know who is with me in the picture DO YOUR HOMEWORK)

So your cannabis company “got international distribution?”

Well….let’s look a little more closely here shall we:


THE REASON PEOPLE ARE RUNNING OVERSEAS

Domestic cannabis margins are garbage right now.

Wholesale prices down 40–70% in key markets in 24 months.

Effective tax rates north of 60% because 280E is the IRS’s medieval torture device.

45%+ of “multi-state operators” are over-levered and drowning in debt like college kids with their student loans.

So everyone says the same thing:

“We’ll just go international. Less competition. More upside. Cleaner markets.”

Yes. But also NO.

International IS an opportunity… it’s just not the one you think it is.


THE ACTUAL RISKS (THESE ARE NOT THEORIES)

Currency risk
— Mexico, Colombia, Israel, Thailand have all experienced 5–35% currency swings in the last 18 months. Your “15% margin” becomes a rounding error.

Political volatility
— Governments change & cannabis policy gets rewritten in the hallway on the way to the vote.

No brand memory
— Your U.S. brand means nothing to a consumer who has never seen THC sold legally… ever.

Supply Chain Reality
— “We have a distributor” ≠ you have distribution. You have a person with a PDF and enthusiasm. Ask anyone who has done cross-border THC/GMP transport.
The paperwork alone can send a grown adult into silent prayer.


SO WHEN DOES INTERNATIONAL WORK?

When you stop trying to export identity and start importing infrastructure.

The winners will be the ones who:

1. Partner with local operators who already own distribution
2. Don’t show up loud but show up boring
3. Aren’t dependent on the U.S. capital mood swings
4. Understand on-premise unlocks will take years, not quarters
5. Oh and you know…have a grown-up strategy!


WHEN DOES IT FAIL?

When you think: “We found a supplier and a buyer… we’re global now.”

No, you’re not.

You just created a customs liability and a future LinkedIn apology tour.

I am bullish on international markets. 

There is real opportunity.

But don’t confuse “different” risk with “less” risk.

International is not your lifeboat.

It’s a rope bridge in a windstorm.

Still walkable.

Just don’t do cartwheels on it….

Big revealing news NO ONE was talking about:

This entrenched strategic jumped form factor and doubled down on the industry.


>> What Happened? 

The Boston Beer Company is expanding its “beyond beer” play.

Its brand Emerald Hour is launching THC gummies in Canada. 

These vegan gummies contain 5 mg THC, and the product is hitting dispensaries in Ontario and Alberta.


>> Why Does This Matter?

This is major because Boston Beer is signaling serious commitment to cannabis AND NOT just beverages (well, after the Hemp ban…pffft).

They are leveraging Bev/Alc cred into a new category, attempting to transfer brand equity from “beer & seltzer” into THC edibles.

The REAL question: Are they poised to win, or is this just a land grab without the operational muscle of a cannabis native?


>> What Am I Watching?

Will Boston Beer ramp distribution quickly (600+ dispensaries for the beverages already) and build meaningful shelf-presence?

How will Boston Beer execute operationally: supply chain, compliance, packaging, vegan/clean-label positioning?

Will this move prompt other major beverage players to accelerate into cannabis edibles, or has Farm Bill repeal made everyone gun-shy??

Success will be visible when margin expands, repeat consumer behavior is high, and the brand becomes credible not just in beer.

If you’re playing the game, EYES WIDE OPEN…this is a flanking move worth tracking. 

If you’re counting on it to drive immediate growth or dominance, chill.

Either way we just moved to DEFCON 2… 

And if you needed any further examples that alcohol was Donald Ducked then here you go.

You know how much I love politics ???

Well I had to come to DC...

When IgniteIt Cannabis calls, I pick up...

See you Inside the Beltway for some mesmerizing chatter...

Use my link and get in cheap:

 https://lnkd.in/e45zHKrW

When it comes to price compression, the story doesn't change.

(Sorry Kraig Fox "price rationalization")

Right now we have 10 years of data across 20+ markets which says:

1. Early limited supply drives up price
2. As more entrants come in, price declines

Thanks to the squad Bengal Capital for cluing me into "EXCESS EBITDA"

As always, thanks to the crew The Dales Report for giving me some air time.

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The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Seth Yakatan

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The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Seth Yakatan

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Seth Yakatan's LinkedIn Performance

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