Lift & Co. appoints former Bain & Company consultant as chief revenue officer
Cannabis-centred digital platform Lift & Co. has hired Jon Kamin as its new chief revenue officer. Kamin has more than 15 years of experience in digital business strategy, growth, and transformation.
Founded in 2013, Toronto-based Lift & Co. provides a website on which people can find crowdsourced product reviews on cannabis products, as well as the latest industry news. The company also provides advertising and data insights for businesses, with its Lift & Co. Rewards program rewarding cannabis reviewers with product discounts in exchange for valuable consumer data.
The company is perhaps most well-known for its annual Lift Expo, Canada’s largest cannabis trade show. The firm is also responsible for the Canadian Cannabis Awards, an event meant to “celebrate cannabis excellence,” according to Lift & Co.’s website.
Marijuana legalization in Canada means that Lift can pursue an even wider array of services. Its latest venture is a Cannabis Retail Certification Program that helps retailers educate and train their staff.
The hire of Kamin is aimed at continuing the firm's growth. In the role, he will have profit and loss responsibility for the company’s four platform revenue streams: consumer marketing, trade marketing, data insights, and event marketing.
Kamin was previously CEO of Viadata.io, a provider of student segment digital user data to enterprise clients in financial services and retail. The company was an outgrowth of digital marketing solutions firm Yconic (formerly StudentAwards), where Kamin was a managing director.
From 2013-16, he was general manager of the non-automotive business unit at Autotrader.ca. He is also responsible for the launch of new display advertising products that contributed more than $1 million annually, as well as the creation of an e-comm solution for parts & accessories.
Kamin also spent five years at Torstar Corporation, rising from manager of corporate strategy and development to managing director of digital automotive ventures. In 18 months in the latter role, he turned the unit’s contribution margin from negative $1.5 million to $500,000 million, changing the core business model, launching new digital products and revenue streams, and slashing costs along the way.
Kamin spent a year-and-a-half as a consultant at Big Three strategy firm Bain & Company. There, he performed strategic reviews for pharma and healthcare clients.Earlier in his career, he was a marketing analyst at Royal LePage, as well as a senior strategic analyst at advertising agency Maclaren McCann.
"As we continue to accelerate our transformation into a global leader and become ingrained throughout cannabis' consumer packaged goods value chain, it is imperative to continually attract successful talent from non-endemic, yet characteristically similar fields to modernize this industry towards CPG,” Matei Olaru,Lift & Co. CEO, said. “Jon shares our company's values and brings a tremendous amount of experience and success in scaling high-growth companies to generate significant shareholder value."
“For several years now, I've watched from afar as the Canadian cannabis industry has emerged and taken shape, and it's my conviction that Lift & Co. is establishing itself as a leader in CPG-like marketing and data innovations in this emerging industry, both in Canada and around the world. I am extremely excited to bring my growth and monetization experience to this team and drive shareholder value from day one," Kamin added.
