Arcview is led by some of the most respected names in the cannabis industry.
Troy Dayton
CEO
Troy is an elected board member for the Marijuana Policy Project and was formerly their top fundraiser and lead liaison to the legal cannabis industry. He is a founding board member of the National Cannabis Industry Association and co-founder of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which is now on over 200 campuses. Troy also helped launch and served as the first sales director at Renewable Choice Energy, which was recently named the #1 green power provider by the EPA. He was recently named by Fortune Magazine as one of the top 7 most powerful people in the cannabis industry. In his spare time, Troy enjoys karaoke and the Burning Man festival.
Steve DeAngelo
President
Steve DeAngelo has spent his entire career at the intersection of cannabis activism and entrepreneurship. As CEO of Harborside Health Center, Steve co-founded and directed California’s most widely acclaimed medical cannabis dispensary–and set a new standard of excellence for the entire industry. Steve also launched the industry’s first lab testing service, Steep Hill Labs. Steve spent the decade of the 1990′s leading Ecolution, Inc., a pioneering producer of industrial hemp goods that sold to retail stores in all 50 states and 21 countries. Steve played an instrumental role in the passage of Proposition 59, Washington DC’s medical cannabis initiative; co-producing Hempilation I and II CDs with Capricorn Records; and organizing the world famous 4th of July demonstrations at the White House. He was the the star of the Discovery Channel’s reality show Weed Wars.
Jeanne M. Sullivan
General Partner
Jeanne Sullivan is passionate about delivering ideas – connections – and inspiration to entrepreneurs and is a fierce advocate for legalization and regulation of the Cannabis industry. Jeanne is a co-founder of StarVest Partners, a venture capital firm in NYC and long- time tech investor, now a special advisor to her firm. Prior to her investing experience, Jeanne served in operating roles at AT&T and Bell Labs as part of an entrepreneurial team building innovative products in image processing and high end computing.
Ms. Sullivan is a sought-after industry speaker on the subject of “how to get the wallet out of investors’ pocket” and is an active advisor and investor in the sector and a proud member of the Arcview community.
Jeanne is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School and is an Athena Entrepreneur Fellow for Barnard College. She is on the Global Board of Trustees of Astia, an organization that funds high-growth women entrepreneurs.
Forbes cited Sullivan as “one of the women VCs changing the world – grooming the next generation of female entrepreneurs”. The New York Angels organization honored Jeanne as the OPEL award winner – Outstanding Professionals for Entrepreneurial Leadership. The New York Hall of Science honored Jeanne for her work inspiring girls and women in science, technology (STEM) sectors. Jeanne also serves on the Board of Trustees of the New York Hall of Science – a museum that introduces people of all ages to STEM learning with hands-on exhibitions.
Jeanne has a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law.
Brian Sheng
General Partner
Dean Kisieu
Chief Financial Officer
Dean Kisieu brings over 20 years of leadership in finance, strategy and operations in a variety of industries, including technology, media and professional services. He has been in leadership positions in organizations ranging from start-ups, to hyper growth, to hundreds of employees and revenues in the hundreds of millions. He has been instrumental in raising tens of millions of dollars in equity and debt, as well as a multitude of acquisitions and joint ventures. He was also an entrepreneur who sold one of the businesses he founded, and a founding executive of a social venture incubator. His experience spans North America and Europe and his education includes an MBA from Wharton and a BA from Stanford University.
Francis J. Priznar
Senior Vice President, Chief Mentor, and Chief Sustainability Officer
Francis J. Priznar is a Senior Vice President at The Arcview Group (Arcview) where he advises on business strategy and operational effectiveness. He is also the organization’s Chief Mentor who directs a team of staff and qualified external advisors to assist high potential entrepreneurs seeking capital and strategic advice at startup and mid-point milestones. As Chief Sustainability Officer, he ensures that Arcview and its partners achieve sustainable business results.
His formal education is in science, engineering, and management. Since 1987, he has resided in the same house with the same spouse near Washington, DC.
Francis’s relevant background includes three years as director of a national analytical testing laboratory organization, two years as a program manager for a state regulatory agency, and over 20 years as a trusted advisor to private and government sector clients. He founded or cofounded four firms and two non-profit organizations, and wrote or co-wrote dozens of books and published articles on contemporary business topics such as sustainability, management systems, auditing, regulatory compliance, and leadership.
Effective from the Board Room to the Boiler Room, Mr. Priznar provides Arcview, as well as its members and stakeholder’s, seasoned judgement and experience with many business types. He has served on Boards at academic institutions and nonprofit organizations – usually in leadership positions.
As a cannabis investor since 2013 and Arcview Member since 2014 he earned a top-notch reputation as an entrepreneur/founder coach and mentor. Based on this unique experience, he was invited to join the Arcview Group in 2016 where he is pleased to continue his tradition of success helping others.
Having successfully advised hundreds of private firms, from startup to exit, Mr. Priznar’s practical advice is in high demand. To help more businesses benefit from his wisdom, Mr. Priznar makes available some of his most frequently requested content in video form. As an example, his guidance to entrepreneur’s on building a great pitch deck can be found here.
David Abernathy
Vice President - Data & Government Affairs
David Abernathy started his career doing project administration and management for a London-based engineering and consulting firm. From there he transitioned to an Australian investment bank where he worked with the Infrastructure Legal team financing multi-billion dollar wind farm projects. He spent several years doing investment due diligence, freelance business development, and business administration consulting.
From 2009-2012, he ran a financial services and consulting firm for the medical cannabis industry whose clients included cultivation collectives, dispensaries, equipment manufacturers, and cannabis R&D companies around the State of California. Mr. Abernathy worked as an adviser to UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy on a report for the City of Oakland about the economic impact of regulated, large-scale, indoor cannabis cultivations.
In addition to his work with The Arcview Group, David currently teaches the Economics of Cannabis at Oaksterdam University, co-owns an indoor miniature golf course and is President of America’s first cat cafe.
Will Petruski
Vice President of Sales
Will Petruski is the Vice President of Sales at The Arcview Group where he oversees all aspects of the organization’s business development and growth strategy.
Will brings more than 25 years of relevant sales leadership experience having held key positions with organizations like the New York Institute of Finance, The Economist, and SkillSoft.
The father of two beautiful daughters, Will is an avid outdoor-type who spends much of his free time exploring the great state of Montana. He is a proud native New Yorker who currently resides in Austin, TX.
Elyse Bernstein
Director of Events
Elyse Bernstein moved to the Bay Area after studying at Boston University and then UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School. She earned her BA and Master’s degrees in Environmental Policy and Analysis, and Eco-Entrepreneurship before heading to Northern California to explore opportunities in the start up world.
Elyse currently serves as the Director of Arcview’s Events Department where she orchestrates quarterly large scale international Investor Forums. She’s one of Arcview’s longest standing team members, creating the events department from ground zero.
Jeff Dayton
Director of Sponsorships
Jeff primarily works with accredited investors who are considering joining the Arcview Investor Network.
Prior to Arcview, Jeff worked in sales for the logistics industry where he produced more than $54M in sales during his 8 years with the company.
Jeff has been a strong proponent of legalizing cannabis for his entire adult life as a donor to the Marijuana Policy Project and Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In 2004 Jeff managed a team of signature gathers in MPP’s effort to legalize marijuana in Nevada. He looks forward to the day when not a single adult is punished for consuming cannabis.
When Jeff isn’t helping accredited investors find their way in the cannabis industry he manages J&S Property Managers LLC, a company that owns and manages several condominiums in Chicago, IL. He also enjoys the craft beer industry and is an investor in Empirical Brewery, a fast-growing Chicago Brewery. Most recently, Jeff became a partner in Red Headed Honey, a creator of natural skin care products.
John Downs
Director of Business Development
Michael Brosgart
Director of Sales
Michael is the Director of Sales at The Arcview Group, working with accredited investors who are seeking deal flow, knowledge and connections in one of the most dynamic and fastest growing industries in the world.
Prior to Arcview, Michael lived and worked in Miami for 15 years, most recently as the Director of Sales and Special Projects at Luxury Brand Partners, a large holding company that develops prestige beauty brands, including Oribe Hair Care, IGK, R+Co, and others. Before Luxury Brand Partners, he was the Executive Director for LatinFinance, the leading financial and capital markets media company covering Latin America. At LatinFinance, Michael led their capital introduction platform for 10 years, connecting investment and funding opportunities in Latin America with investors from all over the world, accounting for many successful capital market and private transactions.
Michael is also an active investor himself, focusing on long-term investments in the multifamily and commercial real estate sector. He is currently developing a large-scale vertically integrated cannabis processing, manufacturing and distribution facility in the heart of Humboldt County.
A native of the Bay Area, Michael was born and raised in Berkeley, California. In addition to Miami, he has also lived in Washington D.C. where he attended the George Washington University, as well as in Argentina and Costa Rica.
David Gimpel
Director of Marketing
David Gimpel (please, call me Dave) is the Director of Marketing at Arcview Group, where he oversees the firm’s positioning, messaging, and digital strategy.
Prior to joining Arcview, Dave spent his entire career in financial services working with high net worth individuals, financial advisors, family offices, and institutions. While the roles varied across financial planning, investment analysis, sales, and marketing, the goal was always the same: forge mutually beneficial, ROI-based relationships that move everyone forward.
Dave earned his B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MBA in Finance with Beta Gamma Sigma honors from Washington University in St. Louis.
When Dave isn’t helping Arcview advocate, educate, and invest, you can find him spending time with his wife and two sons. He also enjoys playing soccer, reading pop-physics books, and dominating his fantasy football league mates.
You can learn more about Dave here and contact him directly here.
Louis Han
Director of Deal Flow
Mr. Han is primarily responsible for developing deal flow for The Arcview Group’s investor network. He gained his investment experience from working with high net-worth foreign nationals in private equity and debt financings in commercial real estate transactions.
The cannabis industry became his passion after founding, operating and exiting a tax-paying medical cannabis collective that reached over 300 patients in the San Francisco Bay Area in just 1 year.
A long-time advocate for local and international communities in need, Mr. Han had the privilege of arguing a deportation case pro bono in front of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, receiving multiple awards for pro bono service within the Silicon Valley community, teaching ESL to underprivileged youth in South Korea, and community leadership with Rotary International.
He received his law degree from Santa Clara University with a focus on corporate law and immigration. He received his B.A. from the University of California, Davis.
Deborah Johnson
Investor Engagement & Breeze Investment Team
Ms. Deborah Johnson represents The Arcview Group to investors and entrepreneurs who offer the best private equity investment opportunities in the world.
Since 2011 Ms. Johnson has been engaged in early stage angel investment and the startup entrepreneurial ecosystem. She previously led various angel groups including the Gulf Coast Venture Forum in Naples / Sarasota and Keiretsu Forum in Miami and well as special event coordination for the Tamiami Angel Funds and the Enterprise Development Corporation. For two years Deborah managed an entrepreneurial mentoring program at Fusion Pointe where she facilitated over 40 mentors and 16 companies.
Deborah welcomes opportunities to help (1) high potential entrepreneurs, especially women and minority representatives, successfully launch; and (2) accredited investors, seeking opportunities in the ballooning cannabis sector.
Living in the tropical paradise of Naples, FL, Deborah enjoys triathlons, half marathons, golf, snorkeling, cooking vegetarian meals and traveling.
Lindsay Welch
Member Relations
Lindsay is a native of the Bay Area and has spent the past 12 years in digital and broadcast media helping companies with strategy, branding and sales content.
As a new addition to The Arcview Group she will be working in member relations, helping accredited investors become part of one of an exciting and rapidly changing landscape. A long time proponent for wellness and self-care, she is excited to have found a home within the cannabis industry.
In her spare time she can be found at a concert, comedy show, playing on a competitive skee-ball league or at Baker Beach with her dog.
Abby Benjamin
Media Relations & Human Resources
Abby Benjamin got her start in the cannabis industry with O.penVAPE, one of the largest national branded companies in the legal cannabis industry. She began as an Administrative Assistant in November of 2013 before being promoted to Events Coordinator in February 2014. As Events Coordinator she planned and executed many successful events including CannaSearch (first cannabis industry job fair in the U.S.), O.penVAPE’s High Times Cannabis Cup booth, and O.penVAPE’s sponsorship of The String Cheese Incident’s concert in Boulder, CO. By May of 2014 Abby was the Logistic’s Coordinator for O.penVAPE maintaining inventory flow from the manufacturer to all four US distributors (CO, CA, WA, OR). She began working with The Arcview Group in October of 2014. Abby has her Bachelor of Arts in Arts Management from the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. In her free time she enjoys hiking, yoga, snowboarding, and attending concerts, particularly at Red Rocks Amphitheater in CO.
Amanda Fish
Office Administrator
As Office Administrator, Amanda Fish assists with operations, customer service, event and shipping logistics, and acts as liaison for The Arcview Group Oakland office. Amanda got her start in the cannabis industry in education and event and office management as Campus Manager of Oaksterdam University. Amanda also spent time working for a cannabis consulting firm that specializes in cultivation area design and license application assistance in emerging and established markets across the United States.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Amanda received her undergraduate degree in Molecular Environmental Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Amanda taught science lessons in Oakland elementary schools and worked as an intern in a plant and microbial biology lab studying plant resistance/susceptibility to a fungal pathogen that causes powdery mildew disease.
In her spare time, Amanda enjoys hiking with her dog and attending rock concerts.
Taylor Page
Member Relations
Taylor Page works as a Member Relations and Client Retention Specialist at the Arcview Group helping to boost revenue for the firm while maintaining close relationships with members, to ensure they can achieve the most out of their Arcview membership.
With 11 years of experience in sales and leadership working during deregulation in the Texas energy market as a Regional Director and Director of Operations for various hospitality establishments in Texas and California, Taylor represents a valuable member of any team. He also is partnered with a non-profit organization, where he has successfully managed to raise capital and help give back to participating public schools in the Dallas Metroplex area through fundraising.
Taylor is both a proud husband and father, with a beautiful wife and two year old son. As a Texas native, he enjoys spending time in the great outdoors fishing and hunting. Mr. Page and his family also frequently travel to Hawaii where they enjoy spending time with family and friends on the islands.
Sumit Mehta
Strategy & Finance Consultant
Sumit currently works on strategy and finance for Arcview in addition to running Mazakali, a cannabis consulting company based in the Bay Area. Sumit has been an angel investor in the cannabis space since 2013 with ventures across Colorado, California, and Oregon. Sumit is a mentor to Canopy companies and is involved in the craft beer industry in Illinois and Indiana. Sumit is also a supporter of the Marijuana Policy Project and Students for Sensible Drug Policy. As a member, shareholder and employee, Sumit brings a unique perspective to his role at Arcview.
Prior to joining Arcview, Sumit spent nearly two decades in financial capital markets across sales, business development, management, research, analysis, valuation, strategy, capital introduction, institutional-level relationship management, wealth advisory, investment planning and operational consulting in domestic and overseas markets.
Sumit’s past experience includes: Financial Advisor, J.P. Morgan Securities, Director of Business Development, DiMeo Schneider and Associates; Founder and Managing Partner, Emerald Ventures; Head of Midwest Sales and Trading, Susquehanna Financial Group, Director of Institutional Equity Sales, UBS Investment Bank; and Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James Financial.
Sumit earned a B.A. in Economics with Honors from the University of Texas and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. He currently resides in San Francisco and continues to grow his involvement in the cannabis industry.
Patrick Rea
Advisor
Patrick Rea served as the Executive Editor for Arcview Market Research’s 3rd edition of The State of Legal Marijuana Markets. He is also the CEO and Managing Director of CanopyBoulder, Arcview’s partner seed-stage business accelerator.
In the last 15 years, Patrick has developed a reputation as a self-care industry expert and analyst who has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs build profitable and fast-growing businesses. Patrick successfully has led numerous investment banking, strategic consulting, venture capital, publishing, event management, digital media and ecommerce businesses.
He graduated with degrees from Brown University, and resides in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and two daughters.
Patrick’s background includes 8-years as Publisher & Editorial Director of Nutrition Business Journal, the “journal of record” for the nutrition industry. In this role, Patrick led a team of editors and researchers in their effort to provide an unbiased perspective on the nutrition industry for its CEO, investor, consultant and thought leader subscribers. NBJ published a monthly journal, market research reports, webinars and proprietary data on this privately held industry. While at NBJ, Patrick also was the Chairman the NBJ Summit, an executive retreat for 400 CEOs in the nutrition industry.
Steve Berg
Advisor
Steve Berg served as the editor of Arcview Market Research’s 2nd Edition of The State of Legal Marijuana Markets. He also played a key role in the creation of the Arcview Investor Network where he remains an engaged advisor and member. Steve Berg is currently Chief Financial Officer at O.penVAPE (Organa Labs), one of the largest national branded companies in the legal cannabis industry. He works on matters relating to finance, business development, investor relations, and corporate strategy.
Steve has over 22 years experience in investment banking, capital markets, and venture finance. Mr. Berg ran BRC LLC, an advisory firm focused on working with investors and companies in the legal marijuana markets.
Formerly a Managing Director at Wells Fargo Bank’s capital markets group, he also worked at UBS and Banque Paribas in New York. He was an innovator of structured funding and investment solutions for key commercial and private bank clients in credit, equity and commodity markets.
Steve has an MBA from New York University as well as a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from San Francisco State University. He is passionate about yoga and salsa music, and is active with the Feed the Artists culinary art program at Burning Man.
Gregg Steinberg
Board Member
Steven K. Lee
Outside General Counsel
Steven Lee has a wealth of experience in representing and consulting with companies in the legal cannabis industry. His clients include dispensaries, investors, equipment manufacturers, producers of edibles, consulting firms, and other start-up companies in the industry.
Steven has advised both investors and emerging companies on a broad range of legal issues pertaining to financing deals, including structuring of investments to address Section 280E issues. He has also worked on a variety of joint ventures in the legal cannabis industry. His transactions include: advising an angel investor on a multi-million dollar investment in several dispensaries located in Oregon; representing a group of successful dispensary owners in launching a legal cannabis consulting firm; and working on celebrity licensing deals in the cannabis industry.
Steven is a partner at the law firm of Donahue Fitzgerald LLP and is a co-chair of the Business and Corporate Transactions Group and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group.