MassRoots is a social media app built specifically for the cannabis community. The company started less than two years ago, and they’re already going public!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Isaac Dietrich, C0-Founder and CEO of Mass Roots. We talked about expanding the company, scaling the mobile app, shareholders, and favorite strains. Check out the interview below for a behind the scenes look at a cannabis related company that is commanding the world’s attention.

Mary Jane’s Diary (MJD): MassRoots is a young company, but has already seen some pretty explosive growth. What has been the biggest challenges of leading a company through such rapid expansion?

Isaac Dietrich (ID):The greatest challenge in scaling a company like MassRoots is being able to generate accelerating growth in all areas of the company. We’re scaling our development team, network, shareholder base, legalization initiatives and public relations, simultaneously, so we’re constantly pulled in multiple directions. Our philosophy is that everyone should focus on the most important at any given time that will take the company to the next level, instead of getting distracted by things of minor importance.

MJD: What are some of the difficulties associated with scaling the app?

ID: We initially designed the App’s infrastructure to support hundreds of users; now that we’re up to 275,000 people on our app, things are starting to break. During peak hours of the day, there is literally too much demand for our product, which is a great position for any business to be in. We’re just now starting to bring in serious development talent, so we’re starting to build an infrastructure that can scale to millions of users.

MJD: What do you consider the biggest benefit of going public?

ID: Access to more sources of capital and the ability to build a broad shareholder base, which is another competitive advantage and barrier to entry against any potential competition.

MJD: Do you think shareholders will impact the app?

ID: What I’m most excited about is giving MassRoots’ users the ability to own a piece of our company and invest in a legitimate opportunity in the cannabis industry. I can’t guarantee we’ll be successful and there are thousands of ways MassRoots can fail; but I can promise that we will work tirelessly to build MassRoots into the leading app and software brand for the cannabis industry.

MJD: What is one piece of advice you would give to entrepreneurs getting started in the cannabis industry?

ID: Do something unique, don’t try to copy something that’s already been done.

MJD: Which do you prefer: indica or sativa?

ID: Sativa for the wake and bake, Indica for the late night chill sesh.

The cannabis industry is quickly maturing. MassRoots future may still be full of risks and obstacles, but they’ve pushed past difficulties before. In February of 2015, MassRoots (along with the help of an incredible community of cannabis supporters) successfully changed Apple’s policy against cannabis related apps.

You should check out MassRoots for iOS and Android, if you haven’t already. I think they’re doing big things, and I certainly wish them the best.

What do you think about MassRoots going public? Let me know in the comment section below.