November 2022 and is directly responsible for day-to-day operations, including direct oversight of technology. A cannabis industry veteran, having spent nearly 4 years as Chief Revenue Officer at Dama Financial, Eric brings a wealth of industry knowledge, relationships and operational expertise to the Company. At Dama Eric was responsible for spearheading sales and driving revenue, building out and managing the national sales team, identifying and securing enterprise level strategic partnerships and all corporate development initiatives. Eric grew the company from pre-revenue to the largest provider of banking and financial services in the industry.
Prior to joining Dama, Eric was Vice President, Financial Advisor at Bernstein Private Wealth Management responsible for providing investment and wealth planning advice to individuals and families and their trusts, estates, foundations, endowments and pension plans.
A recovering sports agent, Eric spent two decades in the sports and entertainment industry. He was the President at and a principal of PSE Management, a leading sports, entertainment and brand management and licensing agency. With his diverse background in entertainment and licensing, Eric led PSE’s growth (culminating with the sale of the firm) from a boutique NFL representation firm, to a full-service management, marketing and licensing agency representing NFL players, coaches, entertainers and intellectual property.
Before spearheading efforts at PSE Management, Eric served as the Business Development Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa for Euronet Worldwide, a global provider of electronic payment and transaction processing solutions for financial institutions, retailers, service providers and individual consumers. Responsible for launching new business lines across existing distribution platforms, Eric spent more than 2 years living in and working across Central and Eastern Europe. An adept international manager, Eric was responsible for revenue growth in Romania, Greece, Czech Republic and Slovakia, along with establishing a presence in Turkey. Eric’s professional career began with Management Plus Enterprises, the firm that represented Shaquille O’Neal, Lisa Leslie, Oscar de la Hoya, among others.
Current Company: FundCanna
FundCanna is the leading source of debt capital to the cannabis industry. Founded in 2021 it began originating assets on balance sheet specifically to the cannabis industry in January of 2022. FundCanna offers flexible funding across different product and use cases for the Cannabis industry and the ancillary providers that service the same. FundCanna has worked with cannabis companies that collectively represent over $3 Billion in annual sales and has provided over $200 Million in approvals. FundCanna has funded clients in 38 states and in every segment of the supply chain, plant touching and otherwise, including the ancillary market. They are the preferred/exclusive finance provider for several banks, suppliers and manufacturers servicing cannabis.
For more than 20 years, their team of financial experts has provided nearly $20 billion in funding to underserved businesses and individuals across the country.
1. What inspired you to pursue an Operations career?
I did not actually pursue a career in Operations. The opportunity presented itself and I jumped at it. So as it relates to me, the question is why would I jump at an opportunity in Operations? My background was primarily in Sales and Marketing. My role immediately prior to my current position was as Chief Revenue Officer. In driving revenue (i.e., sales), you become acutely aware of the tools you need and want to drive opportunity. And, you’re tangentially involved in tech and product and how those intersect, as well as how the company runs and operates. However, to be able to take that experience and now sit in the seat of leading operations, and leverage my past experience to drive efficiencies and opportunity for the rest of the team I believe is an invaluable experience. And, now it’s my role to service the organization and give them the resources to make us successful by establishing systems and protocols to drive growth.
2. What are the roles and responsibilities of a COO and how have that changed over time?
You have to break this into two categories: COO of a startup vs a mature business. Given that I’m COO of a start-up, I’ll speak to that. As a start-up in a start-up industry, the nuts and bolts of the role of a COO are: managing resources (both from a budgetary standpoint as well as human capital), prioritizing efforts and initiatives, managing day-to-day operations, optimizing processes, collaborating with the sales team to provide tools to drive growth, product development, understanding the customer experience, and ensuring internal buy-in.
Importantly, you really have to understand the business. We’re building something from the ground up, so it’s a blank slate, which is exhilarating. However, it also means there’s not necessarily a point of reference or a roadmap. So, the better you understand the business and what your teams are trying to achieve, and the better you understand your customer, the more effective you can be in building and providing effective and useful tools for both the constituents within your company as well as the customer.
Lastly, a critical component is collaborating with other executives in developing and implementing the company’s strategic plan and ensuring all goals and initiatives are aligned.
3. Please share some of the most interesting aspects of your job?
We’re a start-up company in what is effectively still a start-up industry. To be part of a burgeoning industry is exciting. Across the industry everyone is entrepreneurial. Everyone is working for the greater good. It’s truly a “rising tide” moment and the energy and the collaborative spirit are tangible. I think we all realize that it’s pretty unique to be part of creating an industry that previously didn’t exist. I equate it to the Dot Com era.
Specific to my company, when I joined we were only in-market for roughly a year. However, I had been in the industry for nearly four years, which made me an industry veteran given that the industry was nascent. As such, I was able to leverage my experience from the past four years to assist us in driving the technical development necessary to make us effective and efficient. I also had unique insight into client needs and challenges, which assists in stripping out some of the guesswork. However, our systems and tools will never be fully baked. What we do will continually evolve. Moreover, there isn’t anyone else in the space building what we’re doing. Therefore, we have the runway to truly shoot the gap and build the foundational blocks to ready us indispensable.
4. What have been the most significant keys to your success?
Other people. Hire great people and let them do their job. Don’t be the smartest person in the room and leave your ego at the door. Be genuinely curious, not only in your work but in your people. Everyone wants to feel valued. And that goes both ways. Meaning, you need to manage up and down. Communication is critical and with that, establishing expectations.
5. What advice would you give to others that seek an Operations career?
In Operations your client is the company you’re at. Be sincere in your efforts to understand the business and its people so that you can assist in making the company run more smoothly and the lives of the people better. If you’re happy, I’m happy. It’s not the other way around. As you can see, I’m talking a lot about the so-called soft skills. You can learn Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, and the like. But at the end of the day, you work with people and they’re your most valuable asset.
The COO Interview Series interviews top operations executives from some of the most interesting companies and organizations in the world. Operations Council moderators focus on career tips, advice, and ultimately, “secrets to success”. Learn more here.
Thanks for inviting me to participate.