Alan Gertner

Alan Gertner (born 1984) is a Canadian businessman. He is the co-founder and CEO of Tokyo Smoke, a Canadian lifestyle brand that focuses on coffee, clothing and legal cannabis. Gertner who also co-founded Hiku, a Canadian company, is a former Google executive[1] known for his pioneering work in the Canadian cannabis industry.[2][3][4]

Alan Gertner
Born1984 (age 36–37)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
EducationMBA
Alma materUniversity of Western Ontario Ivey Business School
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forTokyo Smoke

Early life

Gertner was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in the Forest Hill neighbourhood by his parents. His father Lorne Gertner is a lifelong entrepreneur who managed a women's apparel manufacturer Mister Leonard. Gertner received a degree in management and business administration from the University of Western Ontario Ivey Business School.

Career

From 2009 to 2014, Gertner held several executive positions at Google's Mountain View, California and Google Asia Singapore offices. During this tenure, he was a founding member of Google's first Global Business Strategy team in Mountain View, California.[5] In 2015, the company sent him to Ghana to help build an infrastructure for high-speed Internet. During this project, and while on his way to a "voodoo" ceremony in rural Ghana, Gertner had a life-changing conversation with a tour guide who told him: "You either work on something you love, or work because it supports the people you love."[2][6] This encounter was a defining moment in his career that made him quit his job at Google,[7] take a break and later start Tokyo Smoke in partnership with his father.[1][8] Gertner now lives in Toronto and is mainly involved in the cannabis industry.[9]

Gertner, a former Google employee, is currently involved in Tokyo Smoke, a retail operation and brand[10][11] he co-founded in 2015 with his father Lorne Gertner.[12] Gertner (the father) is considered the Godfather of Canadian cannabis[13] and is also the CEO of Hill and Gertner Capital Corp., a Toronto-based merchant bank. Tokyo Smoke has a downtown Toronto coffee shop and store that sells pot paraphernalia and accessories.[14][15] He is one of the handful entrepreneurs and investors who left lucrative corporate jobs in technology and finance to focus on startups in the marijuana industry.[16][17][18] Gertner has expanded the Tokyo Smoke brand locally and internationally with eight stores.[3][19][6][20]

Gertner raised $10 million in capital[21][22][16] and led the company's merger with Cannabis Company Limited known as DOJA Cannabis in December 2017. The combined company known as Hiku Brands Company Ltd. is headed by Gertner and houses the cannabis brands of DOJA, Tokyo Smoke, and Van der Pop.[23][24]

References
  1. "These 10 influencers used to work at Bose, Apple, GoPro, Google and Aveda. Now they work in weed". The Cannabist. August 15, 2016.
  2. "Smoke, pray, love". Toronto Sun. November 13, 2016.
  3. "Cannabis entrepreneur banking on private stores in Alberta". Calgary Herald. October 31, 2017.
  4. "Joint ventures take off with legal cannabis, but risks remain". Irish Independent. December 8, 2017.
  5. "Alan Gertner, Industry Head – Travel, Google Southeast Asia". Travel Trends. 16 June 2014.
  6. "Why Alan Gertner Left A Great Job At Google To Start Tokyo Smoke In Toronto". Civilized. May 30, 2016.
  7. ""Why I quit my dream job at Google to launch a marijuana business"". The Globe and Mail. February 22, 2016.
  8. "The 'Muji of Marijuana' Opens Its Doors in Toronto". Condé Nast Traveler. August 6, 2017.
  9. "The Influentials 2017: Best buds". Toronto Life. 21 November 2017.
  10. "Canada Could Be To Cannabis What France Is To Wine". The Huffington Post Canada. June 9, 2016.
  11. "The Green Rush & Tokyo Smoke". Memphis News. June 27, 2017.
  12. Lang, Cady (2016-06-13). "Justin Trudeau Makes a Surprising Case for Legalizing Marijuana". Time. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  13. "The 'godfather of Canadian cannabis' on the pot industry's future". Maclean's. April 13, 2017.
  14. "Marijuana investor Lorne Gertner on the future of Canada's pot business". Canadian Business. April 18, 2017.
  15. "Purveyors of pot work to shake off the 'Reefer Madness' stigma, rebrand cannabis". 14 March 2016.
  16. "High tech, high finance and high times for U.S. pot industry". Reuters. 6 December 2017.
  17. "The problem with reaching your career goal". Toronto Star. June 1, 2017.
  18. "Marijuana industry busily working to shed illicit past and go legal". CBC News. March 14, 2016.
  19. "Tokyo Smoke to Bring Coffee, Clothing and Cannabis Brand to the USA". New Cannabis Venture. January 16, 2016.
  20. "Cannabis cafes a possibility in the future: Alberta justice minister". Metro News Toronto. October 4, 2017. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  21. "US businesses added a solid 190,000 jobs in November" (PDF). Kuwait Times. December 7, 2017.
  22. "Aphria Strengthens Leadership Position in Recreational Cannabis with $10 Million Investment in Tokyo Smoke-DOJA Combination". Aphria. December 21, 2017.
  23. "DOJA Cannabis and Tokyo Smoke Merge to Become Hiku Brands". The Nugget News. December 21, 2017.
  24. "DOJA Buys Tokyo Smoke With Added Boost From Aphria". Green Market Report. December 21, 2017.
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