Seth Rogen, an American-Canadian actor and comedian, American-Canadian entrepreneur Michael Mohr, and American-Canadian screenwriter Evan Goldberg launched the cannabis startup Houseplant together.
Houseplant: Does Seth Rogan own it?
Seth Rogen has gained a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most famous pot smokers ever since the box office smash Pineapple Express in 2008. The movie has since become a classic stoner comedy, but it was the audience’s response that made Rogen and his writing and business partner, Evan Goldberg, aware of an untapped market of people who were interested in a higher-end marijuana culture, whether that meant smarter jokes in the movies they watched or better accessories with which to smoke marijuana.
In a little over a decade, Rogen and Goldberg’s business, Houseplant, is tailored at those folks. In 2019, the company introduced a line of cannabis in Canada, and in 2021, it expanded to the United States, adding a line of home products targeted at smokers who really like nice things. (States where marijuana is legal can purchase houseplant marijuana.)
In a brand-new YouTube video for AD, Rogen showcases the 1918-built Los Angeles cottage where the company is based. The comedian explains at the beginning of the tour, “We did not set out to base Houseplant out of a house, but it makes perfect sense. Many of the items we sell are for the home. Being able to see them in a domestic context proved to be really helpful.
In fact, the airy, open-concept, 1,522 square foot home has Houseplant smoking accessories atop nearly every piece of midcentury modern furniture (including two green chairs lifted from the set of Rogen’s 2013 film This Is the End). There are rolling trays that include an ashtray and grinder, ashtrays made from Rogen’s own ceramics (including a new one designed after the gooey glazes he’s been experimenting with), a lighter and gas lamp made of marble, and even a lamp and ashtray that work together. “This was a pretty logical thing to do. I used to spend a lot of time staring at the lamp and ashtray next to each other on my desk. two distinctive things. Rogen adds, “And I wondered, what if it was just one thing?”
The business also has a standard office space, according to Rogen, but the bungalow gives his staff a second location to test their products—something that is crucial to them. Rogen claims, “I take everything home with me and use everything to death for months and months and months.” The Surgeon General published a paper outlining the empirical link between smoking and cancer in 1964, but aggressive advertising campaigns caused cigarette use and, as a result, fashionable ashtray design to burn out slowly. Rogen demonstrates a new standing ashtray that is modeled after ones popular in the 1950s, 1960s, and into the 1970s while explaining that cleanability is one of the most crucial aspects of a Houseplant design. We probably talk about having cleanable ashtrays more than nearly anything else since I actually use mine all the time. He says, “Ad nauseam.”
Rogen cites the Houseplant team’s “one of the largest vintage ashtray collections in the world” as a major source of inspiration for his work. In the Houseplant office, a small sampling of the orange, green, and yellow varieties is on view on open shelving. There are ashtrays of many sizes and styles, including hanging ones, ones with deep wells (which Rogen praises for hiding and containing ash), and shallow ones with lovely designs. They’re mostly Italian. As expected, Italians favored smoking in style, according to Rogen, who anticipates a revival in ashtray design. “Ashtray ingenuity is once again on the rise because to the increase in cannabis use.
Who oversees Houseplant as CEO?
At this week’s Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, taking place October 14–15 in New York City at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, CEO and co-founder Michael “Mikey Mohr of Houseplant gave an overview of the business and provided further information about its recent developments. Benzinga Cannabis Editorial managing director Javier Hasse conducted an interview with Mohr in front of a crowded audience.
Creating Something Unique
Mohr and his friend studied the area in order to determine the best course of action because they wanted to accomplish something distinctive and intriguing in this category. They were weary of having a friend drop by and bring them an ugly mug since they appreciate lovely things in their homes, according to Mohr.
“According to Mohr, we identified a significant need in the market for high-end housewares that are connected to or near the cannabis industry. As a result, we founded Houseplant or house and plant.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the co-founders of Houseplant, understood they would be speaking to a huge worldwide audience and that there would be a tremendous demand for distinctive cannabis-related items, Mohr noted.
This past March, Houseplant simultaneously debuted its house and plant sides in the United States. Both sides of the firm quickly expanded to seven-figure enterprises and began exporting goods to all 50 states in just four months.
“In the interview, Mohr added, “I think a significant differentiation for us is that we are currently communicating to a national audience as a cannabis lifestyle brand.
Collaboration With Canopy Growth
Houseplant gained a lot of knowledge and developed scaled operations while working with Canopy in Canada for a few years. They also developed sophisticated trade marketing programs and sales strategies. The business used its knowledge and profits to enter the California market.
Although they admitted they are still “in the early innings of this sector,” Mohr remarked that they were highly disciplined and persistent and that they have a “genuine opportunity here to be one of the winners, long term.”
“We see ourselves as the best collection of strains curators on the market. Mohr made a mention.
Has Houseplant been abandoned?
Seth Rogen, an actor, waves as he exits a “The Green Hornet” panel on Friday, July 23, 2010 at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Denis Poroy for AP Photos.
Canopy Growth Corp. and actor Seth Rogen’s Houseplant cannabis startup say they have mutually decided to dissolve their partnership.
The decision was made, according to a statement from Houseplant, since the Canadian market has changed significantly since the two marijuana businesses teamed together in 2018, before cannabis was legalized.
The firms agreed that now is the perfect moment to separate, allowing Smiths Falls, Ontario-based Canopy to concentrate on wholly-owned brands for the Canadian market and Houseplant to flourish independently.
Through the end of September, Canadian shops will still be able to purchase some Houseplant cannabis items, but the business says it will relaunch the market at a later, as-yet-undetermined time with goods more in line with its U.S. offers.
Canopy was not a part of the March market expansion for Houseplant in the United States.
Rogen co-owns Houseplant with former childhood buddy turned business partner Evan Goldberg, and the two have added cannabis-infused drinks, pre-rolls, soft gels, and flower to the company’s product offerings.
Is Houseplant traded publicly?
Seth Rogen is well recognized for his roles in stoner movies like Pineapple Express. Photographer: Kathy Hutchins
Seth Rogen, a Vancouver native, is teaming up with his friend and fellow screenwriter Evan Goldberg and Canopy Growth Corp. to introduce a new line of recreational marijuana under the name Houseplant (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC).
Given that Vancouver appears in the dateline of the company’s news release, the Canadian business looks to have its headquarters there. Beginning in early April, its goods should be accessible in legal cannabis shops and the province of British Columbia’s online cannabis store. It is anticipated that it will also be offered by other provincial cannabis wholesalers. Starting with a sativa strain, those items will eventually also feature an indica strain, along with capsules and pre-rolled joints.
“Seth Rogen stated in a news release that “Houseplant is a passion we’ve brought to life through drive and dedication.” “Every choice we’ve made for the company is a direct result of our extensive training, personal experience, and reverence for cannabis.
According to Goldberg, the team had spent five years getting ready to start the business. C
It is unclear how Rogen or Goldberg will participate in the business beyond owning stock, or whether they will try to get around Canada’s Cannabis Act, which prohibits cannabis firms from working with celebrities. Rogen is known for his roles in stoner movies like Pineapple Express.
However, Rogen and Goldberg are not the first famous people to invest in a cannabis company.
Tommy Chong, best known as a member of the comedy team Cheech and Chong, also owns the Chong’s Choice brand of medical marijuana, which is sold in select areas in the United States.
The lead singer of Kiss, Gene Simmons, serves as the principal spokesman for the medical cannabis business Invictus-MD partners, situated in British Columbia.
The actors Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, who are recognized for the roles of Jay and Silent Bob, have a brand-licensing arrangement with the Canadian cannabis business Beleave Inc.
The rapper Snoop Dogg, whose partnership with Canopy Growth to create the Leafs By Snoopa brand has angered the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, who have taken Snoop Dogg to trademark offices on both sides of the border on the grounds that consumers may confuse the two brands, is perhaps the most well-known of all.
Seth Rogen owns what?
Seth Rogen is well known for his work as an actor, a writer, a producer, and a cannabis enthusiast. So much so that in 2019 he founded a business called Houseplant with friends and financiers like Evan Goldberg and Mikey Mohr. This company sells custom-made cannabis home goods accessories, such as ashtrays and table lighters, some of which Rogen himself designed, in addition to distributing cannabis products through retailers in California.
Although marijuana is now legal for adult use in 18 states, it remains illegal under federal law and in half of the country. What is it like to launch and expand a business when your main product is still largely illegal? Rogen and Mohr, the company’s CEO, recently shared their opinions with me. Their comments have been modified in some cases.
Since I smoke a lot of marijuana, I started collecting vintage ashtrays, lighters, table lighters, and other items that were designed for cigarettes and thus originated from a time when smoking was not as stigmatized as it is today. And that’s actually where the majority of the ideas originated. When smoking was once popular, many brilliant people were drawn to the accessories like ashtrays and other related items. When people understood smoking cigarettes was extremely unhealthy, those kinds of practices gradually lost popularity. It appears that there is a new place for these items now with the popularity of marijuana. I started gathering them, and then we began thinking about how we might make our own, more modern versions of the kinds of stuff I was sort of repurposing—items intended especially for individuals who live as I do.
What do you tell customers who, for instance, don’t want to purchase an ashtray from a cannabis website?
ROGEN: Why should visiting a cannabis website be any worse than entering an establishment that serves alcohol? It shouldn’t be; it would be like refusing to enter an Applebee’s because it serves beer. I want to live in a society where people believe that purchasing an ashtray from a cannabis website is completely OK. I believe that what we are fighting against is the stigmatization of marijuana and the notion that it is some kind of illegal activity that is somehow more hazardous than most common American and Canadian pastimes, like drinking.
Have you ever been an entrepreneur before, or is this something new for you? If so, what have you learned?
In many respects, I felt it to be similar to making movies, which is an entrepreneurial endeavor. ROGEN I believe the reason why people enjoy our films is because we do an excellent job of incorporating who we are into them. And that’s what we’re truly aiming for with our Houseplant goods. I believe that you can strangely learn a lot about us from holding one of our items. What we enjoy, don’t like, find intriguing, and don’t find interesting can all be determined. I’ve discovered that as we create items, such as films, some of them are sure to be huge hits, so we can invest much more in them. Some of them said things like, “Who knows, maybe people will appreciate this.” Making Neighbors would make you think, “Yeah, this is going to work.” It’s a little strange if you’re making The Disaster Artist, so who knows? Our products follow a similar principle, yet, like many of our films, we’re pleasantly pleased by how well they’re received by consumers.
With the Marijuana Policy Project, Cage-Free Cannabis, and Black Lives Matter, Houseplant incorporates a social message. As a businessman are you afraid about alienating clients because of your overt social stance?
ROGEN: I encourage them not to purchase our goods. I believe that marijuana is currently a political issue in America, and pretending otherwise would be a political posture that would ignore the current political context and contradict reality, both of which would be unacceptable.
In general, I don’t worry that we’ll lose clients since we’re honest and loyal to our convictions. If people don’t like the person running it, if they truly want the thing, you know, I haven’t seen a lot of evidence that they won’t actually view things or interact with them commercially. I believe that people are taught to be afraid to express their opinions out of concern that doing so would hurt their businesses. I’m not sure if it is necessarily true.
MOHR: Unfortunately, the regulatory and legislative environment hasn’t kept up with public feeling, and many people are unaware that it is a $25 billion sector. Running a cannabis business is much harder as a result of both that and the ongoing limitations. Small enterprises and equity license holders that enter the market believing they have a wonderful opportunity ahead of them—which they do—face enormous challenges when they must deal in cash, fork out a lot of extra cash for security, and then move currency across their state. Additionally, the federal government still taxes it even though it is still illegal at the federal level, and the tax system makes it extremely difficult for businesses in our industry to operate.
What suggestions do you have for people who want to enter a contentious business like the cannabis industry?
MOHR: If you’re going to enter the cannabis sector, or any other new industry for that matter, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and not simply to make some extra money. By working at something you’re enthusiastic about and really believe in, you’ll earn a lot more money on the side. The cannabis industry is a developing sector with a wide range of components. As a result, there are a wide range of opportunities for involvement in the cannabis industry, from product development to marketing to production.
Unfortunately, comprehensive cannabis reform is not at our doorstep right now, says MOHR.
ROGEN: I’m not certain. I’ll tell you this much: if you had asked me where we would be today five years ago, I would not have said that we are where we are now. We are in an uncertain era. I wish people would contextualize marijuana the way their own lives call for it to be contextualized. I’m hoping that bars and restaurants will sell marijuana-infused drinks. Hope marijuana is legal on a federal level. I hope people realize there’s no valid reason why it shouldn’t be. I also hope that gradually people will realize that the myths they have about marijuana are untrue and that most—if not all—people can find a constructive way to use it in their daily lives. Be it for sleep, relaxation, or CBD for things like muscle pain. It has anti-inflammatory properties, I believe it has a tremendous amount of potential to benefit a tremendous amount of people, and I sincerely hope it gets the chance to.