Founder | CEO | Artist | Community Builder | The Plug Society
The Hotbox with Dustin Hoxworth isn’t your polished PR interview. It’s me getting stoned and asking people the questions they probably aren’t ready for. These aren’t cold reads or copy-paste Q&As; I sit with my guests, usually multiple times, and I’ve likely met them in person, which gives me a window to learn who they really are before I ever send the questions. By the time the words hit the page, it’s smoke-thick honesty, not surface-level bullshit. These are cannabis conversations that showcase the voices, stories, and truths that won’t show up in the boardroom.
The Hotbox with Adam Rothstein
Every once in a while, in this industry, you meet someone who hits you from two completely different angles at the same time. Someone who shows up as a sharp, strategic operator with a vision for changing the entire cannabis supply chain, and then turns around and drops a surprise that flips your whole perception. That’s exactly what happened the first time I really got to know Adam Rothstein.
Here’s this dude building The Plug Society, a free platform designed to bring order to a fragmented industry by unifying the cannabis supply chain. Brands, cultivators, processors, retailers, and ancillary vendors can finally connect, rate each other for accountability, use project management tools, access a community hub, and get exclusive vendor deals, all in one ecosystem. It’s something this industry has needed for years.
Adam didn’t stumble into this. He earned it. He’s spent eight years in the trenches of cannabis and technology. He helped drive over $50M in revenue at his last company, built global partnerships, developed products and systems from scratch, scaled operations, and navigated a supply chain that barely functioned in daylight. What sets Adam apart is that he doesn’t just sell. He builds, thinks, executes, and creates structures where there is none. To say it simply, Adam is someone who gets things done in an industry that can sometimes feel like it’s full of talkers and people who don’t follow through.
So, I thought I had a good read on him. Then out of nowhere, he sends me one of the wildest surprises I’ve ever received during an interview. Turns out Adam is also a seriously talented artist and rapper. Raw, loud, fun, raunchy, honest, and unapologetically himself in a way you don’t see often, especially not in boardrooms.
It reminded me of where I came from. Music. Freedom. Noise. Culture. Being exactly who you are even when the world wants you to pick a quiet, clean lane. Most people bury the parts of themselves that don’t match their resume. Adam throws it all on the table and says, “Here. This is me.” And somehow, that authenticity makes everything he builds stronger.
He’s one of the coolest dudes I’ve met in a long time, and what he’s building with The Plug Society could genuinely be a game changer.
Let’s get into it. Light up.
The Hotbox Q&A: 5 Questions with Adam Rothstein
You operate on two completely different frequencies: strategic SaaS founder and unapologetic artist. How do those two sides of you fuel instead of fighting each other?
Those two sides of me were never meant to compete. They’re the before-and-after of the same story. In my early LA days as “Lucas Roth” before “Mister Lovemore,” I was writing, rapping, producing, performing, and that taught me something that most people in business never learn: human creativity is a weapon.
It trained me to think differently, move differently, and show up with confidence. And the crazy part is, creativity makes me better at deals than anything I learned in a boardroom. I’m not just selling hardware or software, I’m helping clients build. Brand concepts, product ideas, packaging direction, marketing plays, launch strategies, operational systems… all of it. You make yourself sticky when you’re more than just an invoice to people. They love having someone to bounce ideas off of and help guide them through their cannabis journey.
My creative side is what gives me the ability to see angles other people miss. It helps me walk into a room, hear what someone is trying to build, and instantly see the version that actually works. That’s why people trust me. That’s why deals close. That’s why partnerships stick.
Music keeps me honest. Business keeps me grounded. Creativity is the bridge between the two; the thing that lets me build tech, close deals, and help operators level up without ever losing who I am.
I don’t see “SaaS founder” and “artist” as two identities. They’re balanced frequencies. Discipline and chaos, structure and expression. When I let them coexist, everything I build ends up stronger.
The Plug Society is aiming to clean up one of the messiest parts of cannabis by giving brands, operators, and vendors a free, unified ecosystem. What experience made you say, “I have to build this. No one else is fixing the real problem”?
Honestly, it came from years of seeing the same messes play out on repeat.
After delivering weed on my motorcycle just to pay rent, I climbed my way into the industry. Heavy Hitters, a microbusiness in L.A. with multiple brands, and eventually Ispire for vape manufacturing, where I spent four and a half years selling into 25+ states and international markets. No matter where I went, the pain points were the same:
Operators burning capital and failing forward without knowing what vendors are needed to get started. Too many vendors chasing the same operators. Too many operators drowning in inboxes and spreadsheets. No accountability. No structure. No clean way to see who was legit and who wasn’t. Price compression forcing cut corners. Mom & Pop licenses not getting the opportunities or business education they deserve.
I kept thinking, “This industry is too smart, too talented, and too important to be operating off scattered DMs and word-of-mouth.” And I really wanted to build a system that can help any size brand, cultivator, processor, and/or retailer identify the partners needed for any given project, project manage all the way through, and rate each other based on the deal once done. This can finally clean up our supply chain, provide a baseline of business acumen for all, and streamline better ancillary business.
So I built what I wish existed when I was the one trying to survive: a trusted marketplace and workflow system that unifies everyone, adds transparency, and increases accountability without charging brands a penny.
Nobody else was solving the actual root problem: fragmentation due to trust. So I decided to solve it myself.
You helped generate over $50M in revenue at your last company, built global partnerships, and navigated a supply chain that barely wants to exist. What did those years teach you about what cannabis businesses truly need to grow?
Those years taught me that this industry doesn’t need more noise; it needs more clarity.
First, relationships are the real currency. The biggest deals I ever closed weren’t because I had the best pitch. They happened because people trusted me, because I showed up consistently, because I did what I said I’d do.
Second, companies need structure way more than they need hype. The supply chain is fragile. If you don’t have clean communication, strong partners, standardized testing, and process discipline, you will bleed money. Also, having constant innovation and consistent, quality end products are both paramount in cannabis.
Third, operators don’t fail from lack of opportunity; they fail from lack of infrastructure. Everyone’s trying to grow, but no one has the tools to do it efficiently or transparently. We say we need the village and want to be a part of it, but then run away when it’s time to be a villager and ask for help.
The Plug Society is literally the result of those lessons. A place where operators can see real partners, track deals, manage projects, compare vendors, and operate with clarity instead of chaos. It’s built from every friction point I’ve lived and seen others also live for the past eight years.
Your music caught me off guard in the best way. It’s fun, real, sometimes raunchy, always honest. How do you stay that authentic while operating at such a high level in business?
Because authenticity is the only thing I refuse to give up, even when it costs me.
My whole music journey started at a music house in Santa Monica. I met a producer who believed in me, and the “Lucas Roth” era took off. We had momentum, traction, shows, clubs, checks. And then jealousy blew it up. He locked me out of my own accounts, wiped access, and I spent what little money I had on lawyers who told me I didn’t have a leg to stand on without the right contracts.
I was broke, discouraged, and had maybe two rent checks left when cannabis saved me (again). That experience taught me two things:
- Always protect your work, and
- Never bury the parts of yourself that make you… you.
Music is where my honesty comes from. Business is where my discipline comes from. The mix is what keeps me authentic. And now with the Mister Lovemore era starting back up, with two bandmates who played and toured with Sublime and Wu-Tang, I’m not hiding any of it.
Cannabis was built by real people. The fakest thing you can do here is try to be someone else. Obviously, there are moral and ethical lines to abide by, but own who you are. Because others are attracted to genuineness at the end of the day, and you’ll be happier being yourself always.
If you could give the entire cannabis industry one piece of advice as Adam the builder, creator, and middle-finger-to-the-boxes guy, what would it be?
Stop trying to operate alone. This industry doesn’t win through isolation; it wins through connection. Let your egos go and start finding partners to share the journey and success with. Even with the consumer safety pitch memorandum I recently prepared for Congress, I’m looking for as many co-authors as possible knowing that power of numbers is important and I’ll always be better with others than alone.
We need shared systems, shared standards, shared accountability, and real collaboration. No more hiding COAs, no more shady deals, no more vendor roulette, no more consumers being put at risk because someone cut a corner.
Build transparently. Partner intentionally. Invest in real quality. Get ahead of federal reform instead of waiting for it.
And most importantly, take care of the people in this industry. The growers, the operators, the processors, the retail teams, the vendors. We’re building something culturally and economically important. If we build it right, cannabis becomes the most innovative supply chain in modern commerce. But only if we choose collaboration over chaos. That’s ultimately why I built The Plug Society, and can’t wait to continue building with and supporting our people.
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Adam Rothstein is one of the rare ones. A strategist, builder, creator, disruptor, and a dude who refuses to pick one lane because he can drive a dozen at the same time. The Plug Society is pushing toward clarity, accountability, and connection in an industry that desperately needs all three. And Adam is leading that charge with the same energy he brings to his art. Loud when it matters. Quiet when it counts. Always real.
Plug into what he’s building:
Sign up: https://www.theplugsociety.com/onboarding/quick-application/brand
Book a call: https://meetings.hubspot.com/adam-rothstein
