Nothing evokes passionate debate in the cannabis community like the threat of big business taking over. The arguments against big marijuana fill the internet. The heartfelt plea to preserve small farms is echoed throughout the US, Canada, and Jamaica. At the Marijuana Business Conference in Las Vegas last November there was even a debate dedicated to arguing which was better: Craft Cannabis vs Big Marijuana.
Op-Ed
Cannabis: The Worst Kept Secret in Athletics
For years, cannabis use has been the worst kept secret in athletics. It’s widespread in just about every amateur and professional arena from universities to the Olympics to the major leagues.
Marijuana Reform and the Politics of Postponement
While it may seem like we’ve won the war, opponents of reform have begun implementing an insidious tactic to stymie legalization: delay.
Revising the Cannabis Revisionist’s Misinformation
Knowledge is power but so is misinformation. Small investors need to understand the product and its history. It is important to remember the past, especially if it was revised.
Open Mic Night at the Cannabis Comedy Club
You had to have strong conviction to stay in this sector as an individual investor, but you also had to have a sense of humor. Sometimes it seemed like open mic night at the comedy club … you know, not always very funny.
The Cannabis Go-Betweens in a Legalization Affair
There are many ways to continue the investment affair with cannabis. Many products beside the plant could be your go-betweens.
Cannabis Heads: Figure, Talking and Rolling
New investors will have to accustom themselves to this battleground while trying to learn the ropes of investing in this sector as cannabis moves toward legalization. They should also learn to differentiate figureheads, talking heads, heads with visions and rolling ones.
Stoned? Medicated? Why not Both?
The stoner image is sometimes addressed from the investing arena as if it were the stepchild, or the sibling that didn’t go to college. But is this really accurate, not to mention ignoring a very large market?
Real Cannabis Energy or Just a Cheap Buzz?
Investors need to learn what’s underneath an image because even mainstream brands have been known to capitalize on subliminal stimuli as a means of attracting consumers.
Potholes in Ohio’s Legalization Business
The recent failure of Issue 3 to legalize marijuana in Ohio may say as much about state politics and corporate greed as it does about the progress of cannabis legalization across the country.
Gold-plated Picks and Shovels in Cannabis
The burgeoning cannabis sector is often compared to the gold rush, especially the lesson that the picks and shovels were where the real money was made. There are a few other comparisons too, and misconceptions.
The Vintage Year: 2014 or 2015 Lemon Diesel?
The cannabis sector seems to change from one week to the next. A noticeable theme at the National Cannabis Summit in Denver this past week was adaptation and change.
Dirty Laundry in the Public Cannabis Company Soap Opera
An early-stage company may have to clean house as it grows, but make sure the drama has a good ending for the shareholder and the company, and not just for the financiers.
Public Company Presidents and Chief Executive Optimists
CEOs run companies, nominally at least, but if you are an investor, especially one who has cannabis shares on the OTC market, it would be wise to remember that the acronym can also mean chief executive optimist.
Blinded by Science
You shouldn’t have to comprehend every minute detail of a scientific process or memorize the molecular chain of the latest product before you invest. You also shouldn’t need a medical dictionary just to read the latest press.
Mumbo Jumbo at the Public Cannabis Company Circus
Cannabis companies may be entering a new frontier, but descriptions of where they are going may not reflect reality.
Sins of the Fathers
Shareholders may buy into a company based on many factors, but paying off an old debt to one of the founding fathers is probably not one of them.
The OTC Hit Parade
If a company finds the need to constantly remind you about its one hit, instead of offering any new ones, then maybe it is a one-hit wonder.
Cannabis: The Epiphany Sector
There are many slang words and terms that have crept into the cannabis lexicon over the years. Many are just street terms or colorful jargon, like the many names for the plant. But there is one very ancient word that has been used quite a bit.
Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used to Be
This is one sector that may have more inherent idealism attached to the product than other sectors because of the culture that evolved with it and its connection to that generation, but some of that might be only nostalgia.
9 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Raising Money in the Cannabis Industry
As of early August, CanopyBoulder Spring Class companies have raised nearly $3 million in seed financing, and more is on the way. But don’t think that raising money or investing money is easy—it is not.
The Cannabis Medicine Show
The booming cannabis sector on the OTC might seem a little like the patent-medicine craze of the late 1800s.
Deceptive OTC Press: Creative Writing 101
Objective updates about progress should not be platforms for creative writing. Language can be revealing if you take time to think about what is actually being said so watch for signs.
Digital Cannabis: Where Loyalty Lies
Grasping the impact that their existing, loyal customers have on their long-term business viability, owners are rapidly refocusing and targeting their time and budgets onto digital technology.
Pushcart Promises: Coiffures? Cruises? Cannabis?
Entrepreneurs help create and define an industry and can start at surprisingly humble levels, like a garage. Some are storefront businesses, and some may even start on wheels like the pushcarts so ubiquitous on Manhattan’s streets.
Streamlining the Jukebox
The notion of streamlining has existed since the late 19th century, originally used as a term to describe resistance of airflow or water fluid dynamics over and around a surface.
How to Find VC-free Funding for Startups and Early Stage Companies
Entrepreneurs don’t always know what qualifies as a fungible asset. And they’re not aware that many emerging businesses can gain access to finance fairly easily if their business has the right components.
Revenge of the Stoners
The underdog nerds and social misfits of the 1980s were more engrossed in their studies and technology experiments to pay attention to the social rituals of their peer students.
Digging Up the Metaphors
If you are trying to create a picture of a cannabis company, you will definitely need perspective. You might consider these art-related metaphors when compiling your files for the companies you research. What you first learn is only a sketch and needs more detail.
The Soft Underbelly of Marijuana Investing
We were recently invited to the Harvard Club in New York City to cover a conference on cannabis investing as a roving reporter. The Harvard Club seemed to us to be rather more tweedy than weedy.
The Beginner Experts
Sometimes the most difficult plight of new investors in the cannabis sector is to know where to start learning and what information to trust.
Charts Don’t Lie, or Do They?
For new long-term cannabis investors, especially in the learning stages, daily stock charts can be like the sirens of information.
Companies Dotting the i’s and Crossing the t’s
Professional proofreaders, especially for advertising firms, consult style manuals known as brand bibles for their client companies so they can maintain consistency in their corporate visual imagery.
Inc., Inc., Ink!
New companies every week, more press releases every day! How do you keep up with all the information and what’s relevant in it? How does a novice investor assimilate all of this?
Bottom Feeders Just Can’t Get Any Respect
Having thick skin is a necessary asset when investing in the cannabis sector. Pity the over-the-counter small investor cautiously entering the cannabis sector, either the long-time advocate or someone who knows the product well from a personal standpoint.
Getting the Word Out
Join me in taking the pro-cannabis message to the masses, making an effort to extend beyond an audience of those who are open to our views and instead focusing on those for whom cannabis isn’t an issue.
7 Things to Think About When Raising Capital in the Cannabis Industry
Three out of four new businesses fail. A simple fact. So if your dream business is more likely to be unsuccessful than successful, why even try?
Cannabis Sector Evolving in Dog Years
“Revolutionary,” “history-making” and a “unique opportunity” were among the many catchphrases and adjectives repeated by the attendees of the Marijuana Investor Summit in Denver, April 20-22, 2015.
