Episode 203: Fake Toad, Real Lessons: Preferred Gardens Founder Dave on the Grind Behind the Brand
Episode 203: Fake Toad, Real Lessons: Preferred Gardens Founder Dave on the Grind Behind the Brand Preferred Gardens' Dave tells the full Fake Toad story, breaks down building a 70-person team, and reveals what's next for the red brand. Dave is the founder and lead cultivator behind Preferred Gardens, a Sacramento-based cannabis brand running three cultivation sites, roughly 70 people across four states, and one of the most recognized identities in the craft cannabis space. He has been building in this game for over 20 years. This conversation is about what that actually looks like from the inside. The episode opens on the Champelli seed hunt, a years-in-the-making project to bring back a legendary cultivar with its original keeper. From there, Dave goes into the full Fake Toad story: how he bought what he believed was the real cut from a trusted source, went all-in across thousands of lights with no tester batch, took the financial hit when it turned out to be a candy cut, and then watched the content he made about it accidentally drive the real Toad market price higher for everyone who did have it. He closes with no foul toward Archive, because he has made the same nursery mistake himself. The story is one of the most candid grower-to-grower accounts in the episode catalog. The second half of the conversation covers the Preferred Gardens brand from every angle that matters: why they sold out $300-a-gram rosin at PuffCon as a team-motivation exercise rather than a flex, how they built a culture where the hire-people-better-than-you philosophy is operational reality rather than a slogan, what the East Coast cannabis market taught Dave about business that California never will, and where the multi-state expansion is heading with grows active in New York, Florida, Illinois, and more. Dave also walks through the Z-Lish breeding project, the Blue Zushi terp challenge, the Purple Medusa lineage, and the upcoming Drama Series crosses that put the most hyped genetics in cannabis into one breeding program. Good PizzZa documents the people who are actually building this culture. Dave is one of them. Chapters below. Connect with Dave and Preferred Gardens: Instagram: @preferred_gardens (http://www.instagram.com/preferred_gardens)Email (wholesale and licensing): david@preferredgardens.com Follow Good PizzZa: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodPizzzaInstagram: @_goodpizzza_ (http://instagram.com/_goodpizzza_) | @goodpizzzapodcast (http://instagram.com/goodpizzzapodcast)Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HHXF0ijATYi8eHIq0rDToApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-pizzza-podcast/id1622059263#PreferredGardens #GoodPizzZa #podcast CHAPTERS 00:00 Good PizzZa Intro and Episode Teaser 01:55 The Champelli Seed Hunt with Pelli 06:00 Global Cannabis Smuggling Culture Before Legalization 09:00 Old-School Strains, Skunk Terps, and What the Market Lost 11:00 Z as a Genetics Problem and How MSOs Secretly Source Heady Cuts 13:07 Growing The Toad: Characteristics, Potency, and What Makes It Different 19:07 The Full Fake Toad Story: Archive, the Mix-Up, and the Financial Hit 34:27 PuffCon, the $300 Gram Drop, and Motivating the Team 42:13 Building a 70-Person Cannabis Operation and Hiring People Better Than You 46:39 Boxing Coaches, Discipline, and the 4 AM Farm Mentality 1:10:27 East Coast vs. Cali Business Culture and Multi-State Expansion Strategy 1:19:01 Z-Lish, Blue Zushi Terps, Purple Medusa, and the Drama Series Breeding Projects Big up my sponsors! @ocbofficial @grovebags @buckmountaincannabis @cadre.verde @bambinas.sac @flowermillusa @dr.dabber Get a DISCOUNT at: http://www.grovebags.com (http://www.grovebags.com/) PROMO CODE: GOODPIZZZA Grab a Flower Mill with the Good PizzZa discount: https://www.flowermillusa.com/discount/GOODPIZZZA?ref=GOODPIZZZA Promo Code: GOODPIZZZA Dr Dabber Discount http://www.drdabber.com (http://www.drdabber.com/) PROMO CODE: GOODPIZZZA15 GRAB SOME SWAG http://www.goodpizzza.com (http://www.goodpizzza.com/) Please help our brother Jade with Buck Mountain fight his battle against cancer! Anything helps. Much love! https://gofund.me/e27f086a1 ⸻ Y’all know what time it is… Roll ‘em fat, torch your rigs, pack your bongs, bag up some work, water your plants, do what you gotta do because we’re about to take this journey with Dave! JP Support the show Shop Merch: goodpizzza.com Instagram: @_goodpizzza_ Instagram: @goodpizzzapodcast Show some love: patreon.com/goodpizzza