Cannabis CEOs Share The Trends That Spur Their Business

The United States’ cannabis industry is rapidly expanding, but without federal legalization, large companies that do business across state lines can’t enter the market. We asked small business CEO’s and others in the industry to describe some of the trends that spurred their businesses.

 1. Cannabis-Friendly Social Media

 " Facebook and Instagram deletes marijuana business accounts, so there's an accelerating trend of cannabis consumers and companies embracing cannabis-specific social networks like the one we are creating. Consumers can share their cannabis experiences in a stigma-free environment while businesses can safely invest time and energy into building their followings without fear of getting deleted. We're excited to be on track to cross a million users."  --Isaac Dietrich, CEO of MassRoots,  a social network for cannabis consumers

 2. Vertically Integrated Business Models

 “From our perch, vertical integration in the cannabis industry is both powerful and necessary. When you control all aspects of the cultivation cycle from seed to sale, you have complete transparency and visibility into the quality and integrity of the product that you’re ultimately distributing to the consumer. The cost savings and economies of scale that exist from vertically integrated operations are significant as well.”  --Derek Peterson, CEO ofTerra Tech a vertically integrated cannabis-focused agriculture company.

 3. Regulation Compliance

 “The cannabis industry is rapidly transforming into a compliance industry- if businesses are not actively examining how compliant they are with ever-changing state law, then they aren’t going to be in business for long. It’s time for businesses in the space to act responsibly, and advents in technology allow for increasingly practical methods of enforcing and practicing compliance.”  --Kyle Sherman, CEO of Flowhub which offers point-of-sale and seed-to sale tracking software.

 4. Cannabis Branding

 "The first wave of legal cannabis branding was/is at the local level. Now, some cannabis brands are leveraging celebrity endorsement and nostalgia in hopes of connecting with consumers. Think: Marley Natural, Willie's Reserve and Leafs By Snoop - just to name a few. "  --David Paleschuck, Vice President at Dope Magazine