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

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.