Will Cannabis Go Big or Go Bust? An Interview with Kyla Sirni, Dispense

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Cannabis has arrived, and it’s spreading fast, far, and deep. Marijuana is legal for recreational use in nearly two dozen states. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jay-Z, Joe Montana, and Martha Stewart are just some of the A-listers backing cannabis companies. As a result, many entrepreneurs are switching from other industries into cannabis. One of them is Kyla Sirni. She started out in software, and launched a software platform managing reservations at nightclubs. That startup - called Tablelist - was hit hard by the pandemic hit and business wiped out overnight. That’s when Kyla pivoted to cannabis. She started Dispense, which helps cannabis companies run their e-commerce sites. Since it launched, Dispense has been growing...yep, you guessed it, like a weed. While Kyla’s success isn’t surprising, cannabis is pretty far flung from her roots growing up in a traditional family in upstate New York.