What’s the biggest challenge facing the cannabis industry right now, and how are you and/or your company addressing it?
Financial liquidity. Sorting Robotics provides in-house financing for all of our machines because the banking system refuses to work with cannabis businesses to provide what would be in any other industry a “traditional equipment loan.”
Where do you see the most exciting opportunity for growth and innovation in cannabis?
The production of new SKU’s for cannabis products. I love seeing new and interesting product lines. Two years ago no one knew what a “hash hole” was, but now it’s one of the fastest growing trends in the prerolls space. It’s gained enough traction that we’ve built a machine, Jiko+ Donut Maker, that creates hash holes 20x faster than manual labor.
I’ve also seen really interesting devices that change how people consume, like the “dab rig to go” or super small vape pens. These are fairly new devices that don’t have much traction yet but they provide a variety of new ways for people to consume.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone looking to break into the cannabis industry?
Work on the ground floor of a plant touching entity, ideally a processor or brand that does its own manufacturing. The cannabis industry is very different from most CPG industries because all of those industries have been around for 70+ years while cannabis has been around for less than 10. Understanding the nuances of the day-to-day will help in understanding what needs to be created so that you can help create solutions that address actual pain points..
What is the most important thing you have learned from your experiences in the cannabis industry?
In an episode of Boardwalk Empire, Gaston Means says, “The truth is notoriously easy to obfuscate” – I’d say this is true, especially in cannabis. That being said, it’s important to be one of the ones that doesn’t, and I think that precedent can set you apart significantly with all else being equal.
What do you want your legacy to be as it relates to the cannabis industry?
I want people to think of Sorting Robotics as the company that was empathetic to modern day cannabis manufacturers, and built technology to make manufacturers successful. In 50 years when they write a book about the ‘early days of cannabis,’ it would be nice to have Sorting Robotics be mentioned in a chapter titled, “Progress Takes Patience.”
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