Justin Hartfield Explained

Justin Hartfield
Nationality:American
Occupation:Influencer[1]
Known For:co-founder of WeedMaps
Children:1

Justin Hartfield is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist from Orange County, California. He is a co-founder and general partner at the Ghost Group venture capital firm and was the CEO at WeedMaps before stepping down in 2016[2] to pursue other ventures.

Career

Born to a Jewish family,[3] Hartfield founded WeedMaps in 2008 while working at an search engine optimization (SEO) consultation business.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] WeedMaps allows medical marijuana collectives to rate their own marijuana dispensaries.[9] [10] [11] Under Hartfield, WeedMaps grew to nearly two million monthly visitors with a monthly revenue of $1.5 million.[12] Hartfield served as the first CEO of the company until 2016 when he stepped down but remained board chairman of the company.[13] [9] [14]

Hartfield founded the privately held Ghost Group in 2012 and serves as the company’s CEO.[4] [15] Through Ghost Group, Hartfield and his business partner Doug Francis launched Emerald Ocean Capital, a venture capital firm in the legal marijuana industry.[4] [7] [15]

In addition to Hartfield’s work in the legal cannabis industry, he has also filled roles as a marketing and search engine optimization expert. From 2010 to 2012, he was the Chief web officer at the publicly traded SearchCore, Inc.[15] [16]

Board positions and contributions to the industry

Justin Hartfield resides on the boards of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Marijuana Policy Project. He contributed over $100,000 to the Measure F campaign, which advocates for an open market system for marijuana sales.[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Most Influential 2015: Justin Hartfield. 23 December 2015. 2020-02-26.
  2. Web site: Doug Francis Succeeds Justin Hartfield as Weedmaps CEO.
  3. http://forward.com/news/320757/how-a-jewish-business-school-drop-out-created-a-weed-empire/?attribution=home-hero-item-img-1 The Jewish Daily Forward: "How a Jewish Business School Drop-Out Created a Marijuana Empire" by Paul Berger
  4. Web site: Justin Hartfield Is About To Become The First Venture Capitalist Of The Pot Industry . . June 13, 2013 . July 5, 2013 . Walter Hickey.
  5. Web site: 5 Questions for Justin Hartfield: Opportunities as Cannabis Industry Becomes 'Pimply Teenager'. June 18, 2013. MMJ Business Daily. July 5, 2013.
  6. Web site: Justin Hartfield of WeedMaps. Mike Anderson. May 5, 2011. KNTV NBC Bay Area. July 5, 2013.
  7. News: Getting high with a little help from your VC firm . . June 5, 2013 . July 5, 2013 . Chris Rauber.
  8. News: New L.A. law on medical marijuana shops faces hazy future . . May 22, 2013 . July 5, 2013 . Kate Linthicum.
  9. Web site: VC Firm Launches Legal Cannabis Fund. Vita Reed. June 6, 2013. Orange County Business Journal. July 5, 2013.
  10. News: Marijuana Venture Capital Fund Launches As Ganjapreneurs Go Mainstream . . June 6, 2013 . July 5, 2013 . Eleazar David Melendez.
  11. Web site: California VC Ghost Group launches medical marijuana fund. June 3, 2013. AltAssets. July 5, 2013.
  12. News: VC firm hopes for high returns with fund for marijuana . . June 5, 2013 . July 5, 2013 . Rebecca Grant.
  13. Web site: Can Prop C Help Overturn Citizens United?. Warren Olney. May 14, 2013. KCWR. July 5, 2013.
  14. Web site: Doug Francis Succeeds Justin Hartfield as Weedmaps CEO. New Cannabis Ventures. en-US. 2018-02-05.
  15. Meet Justin Hartfield, the Pot Industry's First Venture Capitalist . . June 13, 2013 . July 5, 2013.
  16. Justin Ross Hartfield . . July 5, 2013.

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