In an audio interview of Leslie Bocskor, President of Electrum Partners, by CannaInsider, Mr. Bocskor discusses some of the ways in which new business owners in the cannabis industry have evolved over the past several years. “We’re seeing the level of sophistication, the level of due diligence, the quality and diversity of the teams being assembled, the intellectual property protections, has all been improving constantly, “he said. Mr. Bocskor’s interview touches on four main areas.
- Industry maturing
- Quality of the Company teams
- Diversity of owners and staff including the granularity of professional experience of core team members
- Strength of idea formation and intellectual property
- The level of preparation and planning going into the entrepreneur business plans
- Depth and breadth of the bench (supporting team members) has increased dramatically
- The Talent Influx
Another one of the reasons for the evolution of the legal cannabis market is that many highly experienced professionals from outside of the industry are entering the space. Mr. Bocskor references several industries where professionals are migrating from to enter the legal cannabis industry.- Science
- Medicine
- Marketing
- Distribution
- Logistics
- Industrial Hemp and the Cannabis Ecosystem
“I am very interested in industrial hemp. It is the less exciting cousin to cannabis. I believe the hemp industry is going to encompass hemp paper, hemp textiles, hemp plastics, biofuels, food products and industrial chemicals,” said Mr. Bocskor. He then expands on how industrial hemp is one part of the seven business verticals within the legal cannabis ecosystem. The seven verticals include:- Adult Use
- Medical Use
- Pharmaceutical products
- Nutraceutical
- Industrial hemp
- Ancillary market
- Veterinary
- States with Restrictive Policies
We have seen hundreds of millions in dollars pour into Washington, Nevada and California once they voted in adult use legal cannabis. While the industry is seeing traction in those States, other States such as Illinois, Minnesota and New York that initially implemented highly restrictive medical marijuana programs remain mired in slow growth. Mr. Bocskor believes that while these markets are currently saddled with restrictive policies, they nevertheless are taking steps in the right direction and will gradually ease their policies over time as the political climate evolves and the impact of cannabis tax revenue becomes clear. For States considering legalizing adult use cannabis, the idea is to review the policies of existing adult use States, determine which aspects of those frameworks align with the goals and objectives of their own State and then engage the services of professional industry advisors with real world experience.
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Find Leslie on Twitter @lesliebocskor