These Twin Brothers Are Making Millions From Pre-Roll Joints

Forbes

Founded by two sets of identical twins, Jeeter lit up the cannabis industry last year with $220 million in revenue, leaving the competition searching for a “Jeeter beater.”  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2024/05/24/jeeter-kings-of-pre-roll-joint-sebastian-solano-lukasz-tracz/?sh=7e085b2859c9  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, May 30.

00:05 Today on Forbes, meet the kings of the pre-roll joint.

00:11 On a beautiful sunny day in May, the CEO of the largest pre-roll joint manufacturer in

00:16 the world is sitting in the rooftop bar of New York's Royalton Hotel at 420 Park Avenue

00:22 South.

00:23 The address was just another happy accident in a career that has been filled with many

00:27 of them.

00:29 Sebastian Solano, the 40-year-old co-founder and co-CEO of California-based Jeter, says,

00:35 quote, "It's funny.

00:36 Yesterday I realized the address is 420, by a sign of God."

00:42 You might also say, perhaps the sign of Gemini, the twins of the Zodiac.

00:46 Jeter, which Solano founded in 2018 with his identical twin David, and their two friends,

00:52 Lucas and Patrick Trach, who are also identical twins, and a group of college buddies, has

00:58 become the best-selling pre-roll company in the world.

01:02 Solano says, quote, "When we started Jeter, it was supposed to be a quick brand to launch

01:07 while we learned the industry.

01:09 Little did we know that would become our whole company, our Coca-Cola."

01:14 While Jeter is far from being the $46 billion in annual revenue soft drink giant, for one

01:19 thing it's only in four states, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and Michigan, the company still

01:25 generated an impressive $220 million in revenue in 2023 and expects to reach $300 million

01:32 this year.

01:34 Its closest competitor sells about half as much as Jeter, according to cannabis sales

01:38 data firm Headset.

01:41 The company is known for its flagship pre-roll product, the Baby Jeter, a five-pack of small

01:46 half-gram joints infused with THC oil and dusted with kef, which retail between $35

01:53 and $45.

01:55 The industry's most popular joint has plenty of fans.

01:58 The company sells 3.5 million of them a month in California alone, but it has just as many

02:04 enemies.

02:06 When it comes to pre-rolls, Jeter is the giant to beat.

02:10 At California-based cannabis retailer Sweetflower, Jeter is the chain's best-selling pre-roll

02:15 with 12% of the category.

02:18 In a highly competitive segment, pre-rolls are the third most popular cannabis product

02:22 category after flower and vapes.

02:25 Jolena Sterner, the director of buying at Sweetflower, says that companies are constantly

02:30 trying to come up with a "Jeter beater."

02:34 She adds, "Brands are trying to come after their market share, but Jeter is firing on

02:38 all cylinders."

02:41 The company, which just launched its products in Massachusetts earlier this month, is slated

02:46 to hit $300 million in revenue by the end of 2024 and launch in New York's nascent

02:51 cannabis market.

02:53 And with the Drug Enforcement Administration expected to reschedule marijuana as a less

02:57 dangerous drug, the country's $28 billion in annual sales cannabis industry spread across

03:02 38 states with some form of legalization, will finally be treated like other mainstream

03:08 markets.

03:09 And Jeter appears ready to smoke the competition.

03:12 Solano, who has a Bogota-inflected accent after immigrating from Colombia at age 14,

03:18 says, "We still have to earn our spot every single day in this industry.

03:23 Our number one competition is ourselves, and we'll never take anything for granted, especially

03:28 after the journey that we went through.

03:29 We're still the same guys."

03:32 The Traches and the Solanos are not legacy weed guys, nor are they Ivy League-educated

03:37 suits seeking a fortune in the cannabis green rush.

03:41 Rather, they are former South Florida club promoters who turned a 700-person, neon-paint-throwing

03:47 electronic dance music concert into a global festival touring 40 countries before selling

03:52 to radio and media entrepreneur Robert Sillerman for nearly $13 million in 2012.

03:59 These guys are party guys.

04:01 They are the type of entrepreneurs who don't look for pearls of wisdom from Warren Buffett,

04:05 but instead studied the gospel according to the HBO comedy series Entourage.

04:10 For Solano, who says he identifies with Entourage's Ari Gold, the aggressive, vulgar, and so-douchey-you-love-him

04:16 Hollywood talent agent played by Jeremy Piven and based on Endeavor's Ari Emanuel, the show

04:22 became a lighthouse, how friends can achieve their dreams together while not letting life's

04:27 complexities get in the way.

04:30 Referring to the friends on Entourage, Solano says, "They came from humble beginnings in

04:34 Queens, and so did we from Columbia and Poland.

04:38 We are chasing success together and changing our lives and our families' lives and having

04:42 a hell of a good time while we're doing it."

04:45 For full coverage, check out Will Yakowitz's piece on Forbes.com.

04:51 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:53 Thanks for tuning in.

04:54 [music]

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