Page 53 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

FOR MORE INSIGHTS ON THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY,
Q&A VISIT GREENENTREPRENEUR.COM

down and ask serious ques-
ith his hippie pigtails and smart suits, Steve DeAngelo perfectly embodies the tions. That doesn’t happen in
split in today’s cannabis industry. He’s an old-school activist and advocate who cannabis. People assume you
joined the cannabis reform movement in the 1970s, attending July Fourth can make tons of money. It’s a
smoke-ins in front of the White House and traveling the country to spread the fear of missing out. What I hear
all the time is “I missed out on
word on the healing powers of weed. But he’s also a canny businessman with an
the internet boom, and I’m not
expert read on the marketplace, which led him to begin with a profitable hemp
going to miss out on this one.”
company and later open Harborside Health Center, the largest medical mari-
But just like every other busi-
W juana dispensary in the world, which went public on the Canadian stock market ness, eight out of 10 cannabis
with a valuation of $150 million. His most recent venture is Arcview Group, an angel investment businesses go belly-up.
company focused on cannabis entrepreneurs. Here, he talks about where the industry is, where
it’s going, and what entrepreneurs can do to get in on the so-called Green Rush. Do you think cannabis will be
legal in the U.S. in five years?
I do. There is legislation pend-
ing in Congress called the
What advice do you give people STATES Act that will allow
trying to enter the industry? states to make up their own
Every weekend, somewhere in mind, and the federal govern-
the country there’s a cannabis ment will no longer interfere.
event of some type—conferences I expect that to pass in 2019 or
and conventions. The industry 2020. You’ll see a big move into
is still small enough that you can cannabis by U.S. pharmaceuti-
meet people like me when you go cals at that point.
to these things. You can also join
an organization like the National What does that mean for
Cannabis Industry Association small-business owners?
or one of its state subsidiar- Eventually, cannabis will be a
ies, like the California Cannabis mature industry, and the barri-
→ GREEN TEAM Industry Association. These ers to entry will be higher. But
DeAngelo’s Harborside organizations have inexpensive we are not anywhere close to
dispensary.
memberships that will entitle that happening yet. In my view,
you to receive newsletters and go when we have larger or more
to events. mainstream companies coming
Is it really true that you were opment of cannabis tourism. in, it dials down the stigma and
born at 4:20 PM? One of the big problems in You’re obviously a cannabis advances legal reform.
It is. It’s on my birth certifi- Denver and Las Vegas is that consumer. Do you need to use Small cannabis businesses
cate. Keep in mind I was born the hotel chains don’t want it to succeed in this business? need to understand their
in 1958, quite some time before people to smoke cannabis in No, but it is a requirement to strengths and weaknesses.
420 was established as a code the rooms, and they have been understand the product, your There are things large canna-
for cannabis. I like to say that I imposing very serious fines. consumers, and the market. bis businesses cannot do. For
don’t know how Mom managed You can’t smoke in the night- I’ve seen a lot of people who example, at my farm in the
to pull that off, but I will be eter- clubs, you can’t in restaurants, were successful in other busi- Salinas Valley, I’m not going
nally grateful to her for that. on the sidewalks, in the parks. nesses approach cannabis with to plant a 56,000-square-
So what happens? People come a kind of contemptuous atti- foot greenhouse with a strain
Where do you see the canna- from out of town and go to can- tude, using packaging that’s of cannabis I don’t know. My
bis industry going in the next nabis shops, and they’ve never oriented toward the typical loss will be too high if it’s not a
three to five years? had cannabis before. They can’t image of the “stoner.” winner. But a guy who’s grow-
We’re seeing a trend away from smoke anywhere, so they buy You also have the traditional ing a couple thousand canna-
raw flowers, away from the edibles, and then they overcon- business guy looking at invest- bis plants can put in 10 or 15
smoked-format cannabis prod- sume the edibles. And every- ing. Somebody who wants their or 100 of something he’s never
ucts toward socially discreet body has a bad experience. If money will give them an incred- grown before, and if it turns out
and convenient product for- you’re inviting tourists into this ibly optimistic spreadsheet say- great, he’s got a winner. Then
mats—cartridges, vape stands, legal state and letting them go ing they can invest $100,000 he can bring that winner to me,
little breath mints, transder- into shops and buy weed, you and make $5 million in a year. I’ll pick it up, and there will be
mal skin patches, tinctures. need to give them someplace to In a normal circumstance, a a beneficial system for every-
We’re also seeing the devel- consume it safely. businessperson would drill body down the supply chain.

68 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / November 2018