Everyday of the week I get e-mails and messages on social media from people trying to pitch a marijuana business idea that they have. Sometimes it’s an invention, sometimes it’s a service, often times it’s a website, and often times it’s just people trying to tout their cultivation skills and they want someone to invest with them. For a very long time, there were no big investors in the marijuana industry because they were turned off by the lack of structure and questionable legalities of the opportunities available.
My how times have changed. There are investors from all kinds of backgrounds that are flooding into the marijuana industry. Just as with the entrepreneur side, there are good investors and some not so good investors out there. Everyone is claiming to be an expert and everyone wants to invest in an expert. Wading through all of the madness and experience success takes a particular skill set.
One person I think of quickly that possesses that skill set is Doug Leighton, co-founder of Dutchess Capital. Dutchess Capital is one of the premier cannabis investment firms in the nation, and Doug Leighton is at the helm. Below is a brief description of his investment firm, courtesy of the Dutchess Capital website:
Since 2012, Dutchess has been an activist, principal investor within the legalized cannabis sector. The investments have included companies which are legally engaged in the production, distribution or delivery of cannabis (colloquially known as “touching the plant”), and in ancillary businesses which support the industry. The size and scope of our legalized cannabis investments are dependent upon the target company’s size, growth rate, opportunities and the associated risk.
As one of the leading institutional investors in this space and assisted by our ‘high value’ relationships and network within the industry, Dutchess portfolio companies are uniquely positioned to benefit with respect to the latest data, trends, products, services and ever changing regulatory environment. Further, in the quest for earnings growth, our legalized cannabis portfolio companies have successfully engaged in cross-pollinating with one another, which have resulted in business agreements, strategic partnerships or joint ventures.
While some investors sit on the fence and wait for the green rush to pass them by, Dutchess Capital and Doug Leighton got in early, right after marijuana was first legalized in Washington and Colorado in 2012. Look at how much growth there has already been in the industry in the last two years and change. With so many other states looking to reform marijuana laws between now and the next election, it’s no wonder that there’s so many people trying to cash in on the industry.
I get lots of questions from aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs daily, and almost all of them involve finding an investor. If you fit that description, you should consider attending the 2015 Spring Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago, hosted by Marijuana Business Daily. Doug Leighton will be speaking, and I’m sure he will cover the most frequently asked questions about pitching investors. There’s simply no better opportunity to find out how to pitch a cannabis industry investor than hearing it straight from one of the biggest investor’s themselves. On the other side of the coin, if you are an investor, you can get advice on what trends, products, and ideas to look for. If you want to know more about the conference, click the banner below:
