Featured: Growbuddy – Daniel&David

Featured, Industry News

By Emerson Woods

May 8, 2017

3249

“We built a system around the needs of actual growers. Back when we started developing GrowBuddy, the only way to track the daily activity of a garden was with whiteboards and notebooks.”

Featured Cannapreneur:

Co-Founders of Growbuddy

David Standard + Daniel Starbuck

Feature: David Standard + Daniel Starbuck

Company: Growbuddy (IG: @Growbuddy | Facebook: @Growbuddy)

Location: Denver, Colorado

Website: www.GrowBuddy.com

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Data points about growing cannabis have been long lost to the abyss of the black market. As states become increasingly legalized, there is a rise in data companies measuring everything from wholesale pricing, to crop yields based on grow facility type. Those types of measurements are mostly used by industry professionals and businesses. David Standard and Daniel Starbuck created their app Growbuddy for the use of the home grower.

I stumbled upon Growbuddy while in a commercial grow facility with every grower carrying an iPad, tracking their crops in the Growbuddy app. I am not a grower, but in the interest in understanding the tools that are helping move the cannabis industry forward, I had to know more about Growbuddy. Co-founder David Standard and Daniel Starbuck took some time to sit and tell me a bit more about their cannabis tech creation.

Here’s what the tech cannapreneurs had to say…

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CM: Hey David & Daniel! I am so excited to finally get to talk with you guys about GrowBuddy. I think GrowBuddy is a great brand that people should know more about. But before getting too deep in to the company itself, tell use more about you guys as individuals. Where are each of you from? How did you meet? Where are you living now?

David: We both grew up in small town in Colorado, we attended middle school and high school together, and have been friends ever since. Several years after graduating high school we ended up being roommates.

Daniel: Currently I live in Denver, CO and David is in Nevada.

CM: You guys were living together in Colorado which is abuzz with the cannabis industry, from there how did the company develop? What were you guys doing right before your started this Growbuddy together?

Daniel: I was a software consultant for On3 working as a senior architect helping companies build new products, enhance their development teams, and solve complex issues that existing teams could not find solutions for.

David: I was working as caregiver and ran the cultivation for Bryant Street Wellness, a dispensary in Denver Colorado. Daniel developed an interest in growing as well and would help me out from time to time. It was from that shared interest that Growbuddy came about.

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CM: So you combined Daniel’s tech background with David’s grow experience?

David: Basically, yes! We developed the idea for GrowBuddy when I was growing cannabis as a caregiver and Daniel would notice my water logged notebooks.

Daniel: As a developer, I just kept thinking that using notebooks and whiteboards was an archaic method. We both knew there had to be a better way. So we started brainstorming the idea for an app. That app turned into GrowBuddy.

David: We entered the Cannabis space out of need. When we started developing GrowBuddy, the only way to track the daily activity of a garden was with whiteboards and notebooks. Beyond that, that finding resources and procedures on the best methods to grow cannabis were difficult to find and not consolidated in one place. We created GrowBuddy to fix both problems.

CM: I took a look at the app and you definitely developed it with the grower in mind. I dig that. Home growers are a long standing part of the cannabis community and now as it’s getting legalized and they have more freedom to grow and to share information, here you guys come in with a tool to help them do so.

David: Yes. GrowBuddy was built around the needs of actual growers.

Daniel: We have spent the past several years building tools for cannabis cultivators to use to manage and perfect their methods of growing. We want to help cultivators organize and accumulate cultivation knowledge, to make information quickly accessible and useful to both new growers and experienced growers alike.

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“Through the GrowBuddy ecosystem, we are creating a large social platform that will allow growers to communicate with each other across the world to share valuable information and tips.”

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CM: There’s a social aspect to it?

David: Whether you have 2 plants or 2000, there is a lot of data floating around your grow. We help you use that data to gain insight into what works and what doesn’t. Growers can use our platform to track strains, schedules, and any other growing notes and data points. This way, each time they grow the strain, there is data from the last time it was grown which they can use to guide their action steps for the next crop.

Daniel: The social part comes in where growers can share their notes and can ask each other questions about different products, methods and experiences.

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CM: That social aspect is awesome. It seems to keep the cannabis culture of sharing and caring, alive. What is your over all, big picture vision for Growbuddy? How do you see it impacting the cannabis space as a whole?

David: We envision GrowBuddy being used across the world to help veterans and new growers alike, grow better weed. We want to see the quality of cannabis continue to get better and we know we can help drive that. We also see GrowBuddy becoming a tool that helps break down the barriers to entry for learning to grow, allowing consumers that never thought about growing before to easily grow their first plant and get great results on their first try.

[eltd_blockquote text=”By blending technology and social features into a seamless ecosystem we will give everyone the power and support to grow their own cannabis.” title_tag=”h2″ width=””]

CM: Some people may not realize why data is so important in growing cannabis. Can you expand on that a bit?

Daniel: Growing as a whole needs to be studied. Everyone does it a little different. Even on the commercial scale there is huge variety of styles. There is no set standard way for growing each variety. And with a huge variety of strains and each one having to be cared for slightly differently, it is hard to know if you are maximizing a strains genetic potential without growing it several times and tracking data points.

David: With more studying and data we can learn exactly how to grow each variety to its maximum potential.

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CM: What have been some of the obstacles you have faced as cannabis entrepreneurs?

Daniel: Advertising has been a big obstacle. 90% of our growth has been word of mouth. We can’t use normal advertising channels and a lot of marketing and advertising firms we have talked to lack the knowledge and experience needed to reach our target market.

CM: How has the feedback been from your users you have been able to reach? Growbuddy continues to expand so that word of mouth marketing seems to be working.

David: We have received very positive feedback so far! We attract a lot of new growers and growers that are really trying to perfect their art.

Daniel: Keep in mind that although we developed the app with home growers in mind, it has commercial uses as well. David uses it as the Director of Cultivation at Deep Roots Harvest, a commercial scale grow in Nevada. In order to adapt to our increasing user base of growers, we plan on releasing a set hydro specific features soon along with commercial growing features, and we think our users will be stunned with what the app will be able to do.

[eltd_blockquote text=”As new states pass recreational laws more people feel safe growing their own and are looking for a tool to help them succeed. We are that tool.” title_tag=”h2″ width=””]

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CM: How do you see GrowBuddy evolving as recreational legalization becomes more widespread?

David: We will evolve right along with it. As new states pass recreational laws more people feel safe growing their own and are looking for a tool to help them succeed. We are that tool. With the help of the app, Marketplace, and GrowBuddy community they will succeed. We will continue to listen to user feedback and make changes to the app accordingly. Looking towards the future we are even researching the ideas of bringing augmented reality and voice controls into the grow room.

CM: Beyond more widespread legalization, how would you like to see the industry change and develop in the next 5 years?

Daniel: Technology is going to play a huge role. It seems like everyday a new method in the grow space is invented. Ultimately we want everyone to grow their own cannabis.

David: We expect the industry will develop very much like the beer industry. You have the big players, like the Coors and Budweisers and then you have all of the small boutique shops like the microbreweries. Then you will have everyone who likes to do it themselves and grow their own like the home brewers. More people brew their own beer now because it’s been made easier and cheaper. The same will happen with cannabis.

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Photo via MMJreporter

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CM: You guys have been in the industry for quite some time now. Wrapping up, what events would you suggest that new or prospective cannabis entrepreneurs or growers attend?

David: The High Times Cups are always really fun. The Colorado one is blast! On top of that the Cannabis Cultivation Conference is great, and if you are really serious about growing and want to see what the large commercial growers are doing the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo in Las Vegas is the event to visit.

CM: Thank you guys so much for hanging out for a bit and letting us get to know more about Growbuddy and the growers perspective on the cannabis industry.

David: Thank you.

Daniel: Thank you for having us. Look forward to next time.

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