A look back at some of the most important pieces of advice published in the pages of Marijuana Venture in 2019
Finance
“The sad reality is that many advisors who are indispensable to the acquisition process have a vested financial interest in seeing that the deal closes, after which they have no responsibilities whatsoever.”
William Tolin Gay, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
April 2019
“You never want to sell on a decline; you always want to sell on the up.”
Dena Jalbert, Align Business Advisory Services
January 2019
“A lot of businesses think of M&A like their house. ‘Well, I just list it and sell it.’ It actually takes about 1,000 hours on average to do an M&A transaction. Have the right people and allow yourself that time.”
Dena Jalbert, Align Business Advisory Services
January 2019
“Since cannabis is a capital-intensive industry and access to capital has been constrained, operators have a smaller margin of error.”
David Traylor, Golden Eagle Partners, LLC
June 2019
“Your roadmap needs mile markers to see how close you’re getting to your goals, which may need to be adjusted based on changing business situations.”
Dave Roberson, Kukuza Associates
October 2019
“Do not fall into the temptation to account for your legally separate entities as one, regardless of the level of common ownership between them.”
John Terry, certified public accountant
January 2019
“The wait time and the excessive capital needs to become operational are why the average person could not do this.”
July 2019
“What you and your company have done is certainly interesting, but investors want to know what you’re going to do. The future is more important than the past.”
May 2019
Business
“As 2020 approaches and more competition enters these markets, we must be careful not to become complacent or satisfied with the status quo, but instead remain laser-focused on staying proactive, nimble and always ahead of the curve.”
Sharon Ali, Prime Wellness of Pennsylvania
December 2019
“A cannabis business can nail everything else — a great website, beautiful store and quality products — but if a customer’s impression with the human element of your business isn’t exceptional, your efforts are wasted.”
September 2019
“There’s a difference between putting out fires and creating sustainable, transformational change.
Michael Elias, Michigan Pure Med
September 2019
“The only relevant data is actionable data. If it doesn’t in some way inform the business decisions, what is the purpose?”
Henry Finkelstein, Cannabis Big Data
August 2019
“I think a lot of companies underestimated how big the wellness community really was.”
James Hull, Fairwinds Manufacturing
September 2019
“If I were to point to one thing that seems to be a common thread among successful businesses, it’s that they tend to focus on one core competency or business model.”
February 2019
“If you believe in yourself, then everyone will follow and believe in you as well.”
“The biggest lesson I wish I had learned sooner is the idea of failing. I was under the impression that CEOs don’t fail — which I have since learned is totally false.”
October 2019
“Businesses can only bear so much weight for the value without breaking the system. When we start getting into these super-bargain basement prices, at what cost is the question.”
February 2019
“The tough times have made people good at being efficient.”
Jhavid Mohseni, Tamerlane Trading
October 2019
“Without an effective supply chain, it’s impossible for a cannabis business to grow.”
November 2019
“The biggest mistake I see is putting money before ideas, focusing on potential profits instead of the product itself. That’s starting backwards.”
March 2019
“Like a lot of entrepreneurs, if you knew how much work it was going into it, you probably wouldn’t do it.”
Kevin Schwan, Denali’s Cannabis Cache
November 2019