Quartz Article References Twain Talking About Future Opportunities In The Cannabis Sector

Quartz write,

How, if at all, can Canadian companies respond as their home-field advantage vanishes? Mark Twain is said to have offered this apt advice: “When everyone is looking for gold, it’s a good time to be in the pick and shovel business.”

In this case, the smart money isn’t in producing a commodity, but in developing and licensing technologies and services everyone will need to get that commodity to customers.

The real cash crop here isn’t weed, in other words; it’s data and intellectual property—the tech foundation of the future global cannabis industry.

Case in point: We evaluated investments in cannabis more than four years ago, and growers’ valuations were already sky-high and out of line with revenues. When we turned to the “picks and shovels” of the green rush, we saw a need for quality assurance. Especially in a new space, and one with a black-market past, consumers need a standard measure of safety and quality—an easy-to-understand seal of approval.

There are boundless opportunities to help producers grow better crops, process plants more effectively, and deliver products to processors, wholesalers, and consumers. Biotechnology can help companies develop new strains for medicine, or for fun.

Growers will have an appetite for improved hydroponics, HVAC and lighting systems, and software to control that hardware. Producers will need help developing dosage formats for both medical marijuana and for edible consumer products expected to be available in Canada by the end of this year.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos advises business leaders to think about what’s not going to change when weeding out ideas that won’t be sustainable. What products and services will customers always want or need? Anything that makes cannabis better, safer, cheaper, or easier to buy will be in high demand going forward, regardless of where cannabis is being grown or where consumers live.

Canadian businesses would be wise to use their head start to grow intellectual property, not just marijuana.

Read the full article at  https://qz.com/1654186/canadas-successful-weed-industry-needs-to-invest-in-tech-or-else/

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