Sean Kelly

Founder & Investor. Building companies at the intersection of health, media & founder performance.

Hey there, I’m Sean. I play at the intersection of investing, media and human performance.

I’m a three-time INC 500 founder & entrepreneur with businesses in eCommerce, SaaS, media and B2B services that have collectively generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Right now, I serve as a General Partner at The Family Fund and am the CEO of Significant Publications, a B2B digital media holding company.

I'm particularly passionate about our brand FounderIV in support of today's founder-athletes. We help today's top entrepreneurs achieve breakout performance in their personal and professional lives.

I co-founded and led multiple other companies, including SnackNation, a health-centric foodservice and brand discovery platform that served 20,000 businesses across the US. 

Under my leadership, SnackNation was honored as one of the country’s Best Workplaces by Inc. Magazine, recognized for Top Company Culture by Entrepreneur Magazine, and certified as a Great Workplace by Great Place to Work®.

Forbes listed me as one of the top 30 leaders under 30 and one of America’s most promising CEOs under 35. Comparably also ranked me among the country’s top 50 small-to-medium sized business CEOs multiple years in a row. 

Outside of the business world, I’m a two-time national medalist in freestyle snowboarding, hold an advisory role at the growth capital firm, Meaningful Partners, have a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University and am an avid sports fan of all Michigan sports teams (especially the Wolverines).

I currently live in Venice, CA with my wife and college sweetheart, Shannon, and our goldendoodle, Jameson.

Chairman

One of the oldest laws in markets that everyone forgets:

More capital → more competition → higher entry prices → lower returns.

Abundant capital is great for momentum, but it rarely produces the best long-term outcomes.

The most durable venture returns tend to come from non-obvious places—where fewer checks are being written, expectations are lower, and pricing resets ahead of fundamentals.

You can make money following the herd...

But differentiated returns usually accrue to investors willing to underwrite conviction when capital is scarce.

That’s why we at The Family Fund & Founder Community are bullish on Consumer NOW.

Not despite the pullback in capital—but because of it.

Josh Wand Christine Wang Colleen Kang

Managing Partner @ CannaBIZ Collects & CCA | 🌎 Travel | Innovative Disrupter | Helping companies collect their 💰

I’m driven by the challenge to build great businesses with great people to solve real problems. 

My career began in 2015 after being promoted to CEO of a vertically integrated cannabis company in Colorado, where I gained hands-on experience and deep insights into the industry.

Later, I co-founded a specialty child-resistant cannabis packaging business, where I served as CEO. In 2022, I sold my shares in the company, achieving a personal exit while the business continued operating independently.

Currently I’m the Founder & Managing Partner of CannaBIZ Collects, the nation’s first and leading cannabis-focused collection agency started in 2017. In this role, I work to support cannabis businesses in navigating the unique legal and financial challenges related to A/R and collections.

I’m also the founder of the Cannabiz Credit Association, the first trade credit group in the cannabis industry, where we provide tools for risk monitoring and credit assessments to help businesses make better financial decisions and manage risk effectively.

I earned a BBA in Finance from The University of Georgia, and today, I’m based in St. Petersburg, FL. I’m committed to exploring new opportunities, improving business practices in the industry, and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to make an impact.

Brett Gelfand

I’m honestly getting tired of hearing cannabis professionals constantly complain about being owed money… while doing almost nothing to change how they operate.

Past-due A/R is not bad luck.
It’s not “just part of cannabis.”
And it’s definitely not solved by founders or sales leaders playing bill collector.

I fully sympathize with the challenges our industry face today. Which is why I take this so seriously. And passionately. 

Chasing invoices yourself is one of the worst uses of your time and energy:
-You have no leverage
-You have no system
-You delay escalation because it’s uncomfortable
-And you end up training customers that late payment is acceptable

That’s not grit. That’s inefficiency.

What actually works is boring, disciplined, and proactive:
-Clear credit decisions before product ships
-Defined terms with consequences
-Faster escalation, not endless “checking in”
-Delegating collections to people whose job is to collect, not hope

Every hour you spend sending “just following up” emails is an hour you’re not selling, operating, or fixing the root problem.

Cash flow is a strategy issue, not a personality issue.
If you’re constantly owed money, the system is broken, not just the customer.

At some point, you either course-correct with better process and accountability… or you keep complaining while funding other people’s businesses.

Your call.

Recovering unpaid 💰 and reducing credit risk for cannabis companies | Founder @ CannaBIZ Collects & Cannabiz Credit Association (CCA)

I used to think leadership was about force.

More effort.
More pressure.
More control.

That mindset worked early. Until it didn’t.

At some point, I stumbled into the ideas of Wayne Dyer, and it completely reframed how I try to show up as a founder and leader.

Not in a “woo-woo” way.
In a practical way.

Here’s the shift that mattered most:
You don’t build better companies by trying harder.
You build them by becoming clearer.

In business, that shows up as:
• Leading from intention, not ego
• Making decisions from alignment, not fear
• Letting go of outcomes you can’t control
• Creating environments where people rise naturally instead of being pushed
• Understanding that your inner state quietly dictates your external results

When I’m anxious, the company feels tight.
When I’m grounded, problems untangle faster.
When I trust instead of force, better people step up.

Wayne Dyer used to say:
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

That applies directly to leadership.

The best operators I know aren’t the loudest in the room.
They’re the calmest.
They listen deeply.
They act decisively without desperation.
They don’t confuse control with competence.

Modern leadership isn’t about dominance.
It’s about presence.

Pumped to have Seed Talent and Kurt Kaufmann onboard with the CCA.

CCA isn’t just for brands checking retailers. We support ancillary cannabis businesses as well, giving them visibility into the full B2B ecosystem. Whether you’re extending credit to retailers, brands, manufacturers, or service providers, better data leads to better decisions.

View company: Cannabiz Credit Association

We’re excited to announce that Seed Talent has officially joined the Cannabiz Credit Association community!

Seed Talent is a cannabis training and workforce enablement platform providing education and professional development tools to brands and retailers, helping teams perform better and scale with confidence. 🌱

We’re proud to welcome their expertise and commitment to advancing workforce excellence in cannabis.

#WelcomeSeedTalent #WorkforceEnablement #CannabisTalent #CannabisIndustry #CannabisBusiness #CCAMembers

CCA is only picking up steam starting of 2026. 

Appreciate the team at AE Global for prioritizing best practices for protecting their revenue. 

Being the first and only true credit reporting platform in cannabis. Shedding light on critical insights so operators can finally KNOW THEIR CUSTOMER. 

Members of CCA take their cash flow and A/R seriously.

They choose to take a proactive approach to collections versus a reactive one.

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to credit extension and AR collections in cannabis.

In fact, the opposite.

Chat with a member of www.cannabizcredit.com today if you want your team follow suit. And make a change to the way things were done in the past.

We’re excited to announce that AE Global has officially joined the Cannabiz Credit Association community!

AE Global is a leading provider of turnkey extraction equipment, engineering solutions, and processing innovation for the cannabis and hemp industry. Their high-performance extraction systems, automation platforms, and process expertise help operators scale production with precision, efficiency, and compliance.

From equipment design to systems integration, AE Global empowers cultivators and manufacturers to optimize workflows and elevate product consistency across the supply chain.

We’re proud to welcome their innovation and technical leadership.

#WelcomeAEGlobal #CannabisTech #CannabisExtraction #PostHarvestInnovation #CannabisIndustry #CannabisBusiness #SupplyChainCannabis #CCAMember

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The Battle

Sean Kelly

Brett Gelfand

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}Sean Kelly's LinkedIn Performance

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