SKVentures

Building high growth & sustainable revenue engines with leading cannabis brands, retailers & top technology companies within the global cannabis industry. Core skillsets focus on Go-To-Market strategy & execution:

1. Demand Generation, revenue enablement, systems & process development
2. Enterprise strategy & execution
3. C-Suite high performance coaching
4. New Market entry & stickiness

Multi-tenant Infrastructure:
•Community as a Service
•Game Changing Content creation & amplification 
•Top Tier Executive deal making events
•Plug & Play Partner Eco-system

Dot connector between investors, executives and the Ground

Principal

CannAcquire

Helping cannabis dispensaries & retailers exit/ expand their footprint. Specifically built for mature cannabis recreational markets.

Co-Founder

Cannabis Collective

The Cannabis Collective aims to provide a curated platform for its´ members  to learn, network  and grow as leaders in the community. Our mission is to support and reinforce you in your journey to becoming a successful cannabis executive in New York and beyond

Members have access to an executive leadership community channel, exclusive real-time content, exec resources, & curated, invite-only dinners/events

KIND Media and Events

Former Managing Director of KIND Media & Events for 20 months, successfully scaled company to most recognizable brand in Canadian Cannabis across consumers, budtenders, retailers and brands

KIND is the premier global cannabis media & events destination. We are the hub that connects the various spokes across the industry including consumers, budtenders, brands, and retailers. Thinktank for driving industry-gov relations, industry accessibility, and deal making.

•4 Print magazines/year distributed in over 1K cannabis stores across Canada
•Marquee budtender and consumer events including KIND Gardens, KIND Summer Fair and KIND Winter Fair
•Exclusive, highly curated, ROI driven Exec events including KIND Golf Invitational and KIND Gala & People´s Choice Awards

Key Results:
-P&L, operations, talent & revenue leader
-Executive producer/creative director for first ever KIND Winter Fair
-created, proposed and wrote first ever budtender sampling policy for KIND Gardens (1K+ budtenders, 30k+ grams of cannabis sampled)
-Executive Producer/creative director for KIND Gardens Toronto (first ever budtender summit to include sampling, budtender olympics, and ted-talk style education for emerging front line future leaders
-Revenue growth 120% YOY
-KIND SUMMER FAIR : 5000 consumers, 2000 budtenders, 35 + brands. The best Cannabis adjacent event on the planet
-Former KIND Print Covers including Global Icons Noah Shebib, David Ortiz, Wiz Khalifa, Paulina Gretzky, Russell Peters & more

Managing Director

Pavilion

Exec Member-Cannabis Industry Moderator

Canada Beach Soccer

Building the global brand of Canadian Beach Soccer through professional international tournaments, youth camps, and community engagement. l

15% equity owner in the club and organization

Team Member, former Captain · Jan 2017 - PresentTeam Member, former Captain · Jan 2017 - Present

Club is currently ranked 35th in the world

16 international caps
10 caps as captain
8 goals scored
3 championships

Co-Founder/Former Player

dutchie

Helping Cannabis retailers get set up for online and POS success with a world class platform

Lead CAD Team for 19 months and helped launched ecommerce and point of sale to 1k+ retailers across Canada

Sales Leadership

Ontario Chamber of Commerce

-founding member of the Ontario Cannabis Policy Council, representing dutchie, as well as a ground level perspective rooted in normalization, technology, and culture.

https://occ.ca/events/ontario-cannabis-policy-council/

Member-Ontario Cannabis Policy Council

Spiffy

Advisor

Lift & Co.

Lift&Co connects license producers, retailers, accessory's, consumers, and all key stakeholders with deep insights to help facilitate the sale of cannabis throughout the Canadian Cannabis Eco-system

• Responsible for leading and spearheading FY 2019 YoY Growth of 150% 
• Create, build and monetize wall-to-wall platform SaaS GTM strategies across new verticals in trade marketing, consumer marketing, analytics and events:
The Canadian Cannabis Awards (600 top industry leaders and trailblazers)
Lift Toronto & Lift Vancouver (25K+ attendees, 270+ exhibitors)
•Negotiate and lead GTM roll-out of Ontario Government mandated retail training program CannSell
• Hire, train manage/coach and retain a world class, CPG focused sales team (8 reps) 
• Leverage Salesforce, Jira, Active Campaign and Slack to build scalable sales, marketing and operations processes across the organization
• Speaker at Lift Toronto (Elevated Retail Experience) The North Report  (Scaling an organization in the Cannabis space) and Retail TO (building and monetizing Canada's first mandated retail training program)
•Create and implement commission, quota, and incentive plans + career development programs
• Pioneer of Legalization 1.0 and upcoming 2.0

Head Of Sales

Very grateful for a big, impactful week.

1. NY Marathon complete- mind boggled by the energía of this city. The signs and snacks are second to none. Thank you NYC I loved every second of that journey even when I had to question if I was still alive at mile 19

2. A fantastic Longevity & Leadership Event Presented by Polaris Perspective. A wonderful group of 50 showed up at 4pm on a Wednesday in Dumbo, all possible because of a few key partners and a wicked community of like minded leaders. Thank you Jack Lavorato  

3. A game changing Exec event for NY put on by Business of Cannabis. We tried new ideas this year including 8 round tables, and were blown away by the impact. Bravissimo Matt Freemantle  

4. A new addition to the Kara family in the form of a beautiful pet store Pet Planet Canada in the heart of downtown Toronto. Proud of you Salman Kara  

5. A dear friend asked me to be his secret photographer at 745am for his proposal, under the Brooklyn Bridge- closest I’ve come to crying since the ending of the Marathon Ethan Michayluk  

6. A great dinner that mixed old friends, colleagues  and family. Cheers Christopher Violas 

 
More to come, however, in this moment, feeling very lucky and grateful for the opportunities and my lot in life

Shahbaaz Kara-Virani

Building & Guiding Championship Teams | Revenue Growth, Elite Coaching, M&A, Sales Marketer, Burgeoning Athlete

No alternative text description for this image

A Thursday Lesson in VALUE:

Trey Yesavage, the 22 year old Blue Jays Rookie Pitcher made $57,204 in the MLB this season.

The Dodgers lineup made over $148M this year

He had 12 strikeouts last night, every single million dollar player in that lineup.

So, then: Is money paid in income directly related to VALUE in this instance? Curious to hear your thoughts.

More importantly, where & what is the Value Gap here? 

Maybe he's just a SAVAGE

P.S. With Toronto 1 win away from the World Series, I penned this Love Letter To Toronto

https://lnkd.in/gmuvGkrk

#WantITALL

This truly might be my favorite time of the year.

A lot of your year is made up on the work you put in right now. 

You actually get to choose:

-How you show up

-Where you show up

-Why you show up

This is an important excercise for you to think about. Opportunity cost is very real right now

One missed event, meeting, connection can cost you dearly. Yet, on the flip side, one MADE connection, one Progressed relationship, one arena for your brand to be present…. Can literally help you hit your number, BHAG and give you peace of mind.

Here’s what’s top of mind for November:

1) Polaris Perspective Presents Longevity & Leadership Nov 5 Dumbo Padel Haus. 

50 influential leaders across CPG/longevity/wellness/fintech/ai/ sports marketing/cannabis coming together for an unforgettable afternoon.

https://luma.com/m5ahjqde

This event is designed for the humans who have to make countless decisions daily, have the authority to make those decisions, are constantly learning/open to new info & have a focus on longevity in their personal lives. 

Know someone who might be a good fit? This event is brought to you by incredible partners.

2) Prohibition Partners & Business of Cannabis are throwing the can’t miss event of the year Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg Nov 6.

https://lnkd.in/g_xFrqKE

250 Exec Leaders from the NY Cannabis Market, including 50+ retail leaders coming together to help drive neccesary knowledge sharing and curated deal making. Some marvelous heavy hitters on the speaking list including Seth Yakatan David E Vautrin Joanne Wilson Christopher Violas Andrew Lowitz Jeffrey Schultz  

You’ll walk out of that room smarter, with actionable next steps to help you crush the rest of 2025 and thrive in 2026

Matt Freemantle  is a wizard.

 
3) Nov 16, BLAZE® Seed Technology JointCommerce Venture Sourcing Group are hosting 30 retailers from Arizona & California at the Cardinals vs 49ers NFL game in AZ. 

Know anyone who is a die hard fan of either team, is a cannabis retail exec with 5+ shops & would be a good fit? We have 2 spots remaining, please send me a dm.

BLAZE also has some exciting news.. keep your eyes peeled next week for a delicious announcement.

4) Bonus: My dad Salman Kara has officially decided retirement is no longer for him and is taking his talents to Pet Planet Canada with his Toronto Store opening up in Mid November. If you are  around Portland and Richmond, show some love and ask for the SKV SodaPop family discount 🥹🐶

Looking fwd to seeing the community, helping create connections and being a problem solver in November. 

Let me know how I can help you & in the words of Future World Series Winners, Toronto Blue Jays, this Q4:

Want It All

Success is:

A long game

An inside job 

And a choice 

What else is success?

Mia Mian

Long ago, in a far away land, a freshly shaved, non-bearded, shaggy haired boy watched closely as Marc Benioff demoed the Connected Toothbrush. 

A revolutionary Internet of Things technology that enabled your toothbrush to understand your brushing behaviors, store data, and spit back insights to you and hopefully your Dentist.

I remember being extremely excited thinking about the possibilities. Technology that can really help people, dentists (businesses) and researchers understand an important and non-negotiable part of your routine & body.  It's one of the reasons I stayed in technology. 

Fast Forward 13/14 years later and I finally have that sense of excitement again. The type of excitement that only happens when you see limitless possibilities and a genuine ability to help people & businesses think smarter & faster.

The type of excitement when you see real reductions in expense, real increases in revenue, leading to the number one thing we as a human species all yearn for:

Time back and the freedom to use it as you wish.

It's been so cool being part of this rebrand & launch, this time, not as a starry eyed young boy, but as someone who was fortunate to share a perspective, and be part of an world class leadership team making it happen.

BLAZE® is just getting started. Check out the video below and hit me if you have any questions, curious to see/know more, or want to chop it up in the world of AI Leadership in regulated industries.

https://lnkd.in/ggim2EPZ

#WantItALL #YourPandLPartner #AI

Open video: BLAZE: AI-Powered Cannabis Retail Platform for Dispensaries on youtube.com

BLAZE: AI-Powered Cannabis Retail Platform for Dispensaries

If you ever actually want to learn real discovery skills 


Then sit at the kitchen table with your Mom after not seeing her for 24 hours

It’s a master class in :

1. Curiosity 

2. Context setting

3. Layered questions 

4. “Reasons they are inquiring”

Next thing you know you’re walking out of there understanding 

A) that you have a problem (you are hungry)

B) the size of the problem (your hunger is preventing you from closing that 100k deal)

C) what will happen if the problem is not solved (if you don’t close it you will be an embarrassment to the family and your company)

D) 5 ways to solve it immediately ( eat the food in front of you, then read about what you jsut ate, then do it again tomorrow except for breakfast)


#lucky

Three very highly underrated aspects of selling:

-Whats App 

-Email Formatting using bullets, bolds, underlines

-Brevity

What else?

taplio

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