Jessica Billingsley's first foray into the cannabis industry was a direct investment in one of the first licensed marijuana companies in Colorado. But when she was tasked with identifying software to support the endeavor, she failed to find anything. So Jessica turned that vacuum into an opportunity and developed a seed-to-sale software, known as MJ Freeway, for the new industry. In this episode, Jessica talks about her journey from interested investor to CEO of a publicly traded cannabis firm, Akerna. Jessica shares: Why she left her own IT services company to work with cannabis. The differences between heading a private firm and a publicly traded one. How the cannabis industry has evolved over the past decade. Where the next opportunities for the market might be. Who is Jessica Billingsley? Jessica Billingsley is an accomplished innovator, executive and board member in public and private international technology with more than 20 years of experience. She co-founded MJ Freeway in 2010, where she served as president until April 2018 and CEO until the company was acquired by MTech Acquisition Corp. to form Akerna. Shortly after that acquisition, Jessica led Akerna to become the first cannabis technology company listed on Nasdaq.