Let’s pretend that you’re operating or want to start a cannabis business. Maybe you want to grow, make edibles or concentrates, start or expand a dispensary, or produce ancillary products like rolling papers and vaporizers.
Where do you get the funding? You can’t get approved for a standard bank account if you’re involved in the weed industry. So unless you own a scary clown mask and starter pistol, or have a wealthy elderly relative with a serious heart condition, your options are limited.
Oregon recently lifted the barrier to non-resident investment in our marijuana programs, something that many, including myself, were wary about. That concern stemmed from a deep-seated fear that Big Canna/Pharma/Tobacco would come in and buy up all our mom ‘n’ pop canna businesses. Making the transition from “chairman of the bud” to “chairman of the board” is fraught with both psychological and financial hurdles, and the exhausting process of chasing money is one of the biggest.
So it was a surprising and surreal two days I spent last week in a Marriott Hotel ballroom, at an event produced by the ArcView Group called the “Investor Pitch Forum” (AKA the Arc Tank).
