How two Asian American engineers became leaders in cannibis industry

NABIS

Nabis founders at their headquarters in Oakland, California.

The rise of Nabis isn’t just another Silicon Valley success story; it is a masterclass in the immigrant hustle, fueled by the precision of an engineering mindset. 

Founders Vince Ning and Jun S. Lee have built the backbone of California’s legal cannabis industry by treating logistics not as a back-office burden, but as a complex code waiting to be cracked. Their journey reflects a bridge between two worlds: the traditional immigrant values of tireless labor and the modern, high-tech world of scalable software.

As childhood friends, they grew up together in the Northern Virginia area before moving on to work as software engineers in Silicon Valley and eventually founding Nabis, a cannabis distribution company.

FYI: Click here for more details about Nabis

For Ning and Lee, the immigrant experience provided the foundational grit required to enter a volatile market. Ning, a first-generation American born to Chinese immigrants, and Lee, who was born in Seoul, grew up with the understanding that success is earned through systemic problem-solving. This cultural background naturally aligned with their professional training. While others in the early cannabis boom focused on "lifestyle," Ning and Lee saw an architectural flaw that only software could fix. 

"We were 23 years old and had no capital," Lee recalls of their lean beginnings. "In the beginning, we were just in the trenches doing deliveries together... assembling shelves or desks."

Some of the products distributed by Nabis.

Their engineering backgrounds allowed them to approach the industry with cold, hard logic. They didn’t just want to move boxes; they wanted to build an operating system. By applying systems engineering, they created a platform to navigate California’s labyrinth of compliance laws. 

To them, a dispensary order was a packet of data, and the delivery truck was the hardware. 

As Ning explains, "That's just one big math problem to solve, like having every brand shipped to every [retailer]".

"With my background as a technologist, I often think about what new markets would benefit from new, improved technology," says Ning.

Today, Nabis stands as a testament to what happens when immigrant ambition meets technical expertise. Ning and Lee have proven that the "American Dream" in the 21st century often looks like a well-optimized algorithm. 

"I tell Vince all the time if Nabis were to be sold today... I would just do it all over again," Lee says. "I think that’s the life that I’m looking forward to." By honoring their roots and leaning into their identities as builders, they haven't just survived in the cannabis market—they have re-engineered it.

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