Question 1: Where does your passion regarding cannabis/hemp come from?

Joseph Slotin (Founder & Active CEO): Well, I like cannabis and hemp period! It’s good medicine, It’s great for the environment, and it’s a plant with a thousand uses. What’s there not to be passionate about? Beyond that, I’m a guy that always roots for the underdog. Cannabis has been the underdog for most of my life, and it deserves support. The industry has vast potential and the ability to help so many people.

calvin./CHANCE (Creative, Content Creator & Project Manager): I’m an artist. I’m a musician and a photographer that has always been highly interested in artistic creation and entrepreneurial business. On top of that, I’m overtly political in many of my works. As a rapper, I was exposed to cannabis as a recreational drug at around the age of 16. As a photographer and entrepreneur, I wanted to take my love for the plant that helps inspire some of my music and help push boundaries. I believe the cannabis plant has a mass potential to be used a fuel source, as a medicine and as a job-creator; all three of which are desperately needed in modern times not only in the United States, but internationally as well. I feel that, given the many products the plant can create, it can serve as an illustration of how people can use plants-as-medicine, as tools, and as fuel. Growing up in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (a muslim country strongly against the recreational use of marijuana), I was not as exposed to the cannabis plant as much as many of my American (and especially Oregonian) counterparts. Now, being back in the United States, I am working within the industry as someone dedicated to the cause of highlighting the creativity and transparency a legal marketplace for the cannabis plant can have.

Question 2: Is there one important thing you would like to say about the cannabis plant?

calvin./CHANCE: Of course, there are many important things to say about the cannabis plant. To name one specifically would be redundant. The cannabis plant has a role in helping man understand how to use plants as a modern-day medicine, it has the potential to create thousands of jobs and hundreds of niche industries. We are aware, as a scientific community, that cannabis can be used to create over 50,000 products. Why not legalize, tax and regulate these marketplaces? The cannabis plant provides a truly unique story in regards to it’s history with mankind. Scientists like Dr. Hanu of Israel believes cannabis recreational use could have been what helped humankind launch into it’s “Great Leap Forward.” Surely, cannabis is a plant to study, cultivate and profit off of from any entrepreneur’s perspective.

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#1

Ganjapreneurs Flock to Colorado Following Marijuana Legalization

By Abby Haglage,Caitlin Dickson

Source - The Daily Beast

#2

Cannabis Debate Rises After Obama’s Comments

by Sarah Widger

Source - Liberty Voice

#3

Let 50 Cannabis Flowers Bloom

Federalism avoids the need for a national consensus on marijuana.

By Jacob Sullum

Source - Reason.com

#4

Cannabis industry poised to become Capitol power player

By Dan Morain

Source - The Sacramento Bee

#5

Best-Selling Business Author Joins Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions Advisory Board

Executive Management veteran and award-winning author to join elite team of technology and strategic business leaders to help expand Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions’ footprint

Source - Business Wire

#6

Hemp could soon be farmed in 10 states, under farm bill

Source - Oregon Live

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Choose a Business Structure

Source - U.S. Small Business Administration

Please visit the US Small Business Administration for more information and form tools.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the most basic type of business to establish. You alone own the company and are responsible for its assets and liabilities.

Partnership

There are several different types of partnerships, which depend on the nature of the arrangement and partner responsibility for the business.

Cooperative

People form cooperatives to meet a collective need or to provide a service that benefits all member-owners.

Limited Liability Company

An LLC is designed to provide the limited liability features of a corporation and the tax efficiencies and operational flexibility of a partnership.

Corporation (C Corporation)

A corporation is more complex and generally suggested for larger, established companies with multiple employees.

S Corporation

An S corporation is similar to a C corporation but you are taxed only on the personal level.

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CE Clips 003 - Entrepreneurial Advice From Marc Ecko, Barbara Corcoran, Mike Rowe, Ann Mehl, Jason Falls, and Erika Napoletano (audio from videos) Cannabis, Marijuana, Hemp, Weed

Marc Ecko on Entrepreneurship as an Art Form

Marc Ecko, founder of fashion lifestyle brand Ecko Unlimited and Complex Media, talks about finding ideas during quiet moments.

Taking on Risk, Embracing Rejection and Other Startup Lessons From the Trenches

Here's some of the best advice from top entrepreneurs on how to navigate the path to success.

Getting Your Name Out There as a Startup

We interviewed a number of business-incubator advisers and entrepreneurs about what works when it comes to raising awareness for a bootstrapped company.

Barbara Corcoran on How to Win Over the 'Crowd'

The real-estate mogul and Shark Tank star investor answers a business owner's question about the best way to raise money from the crowd on sites like Kickstarter and IndieGogo

3 Reasons a New Hire Isn't Working Out

Business coach Ann Mehl explains the three most common reasons why an employee might not be meeting expectations.

Barbara Corcoran on Two Things Investors Look For

Here, Corcoran details the two things that go through her mind when an entrepreneur pitches her: Do I trust this guy? How am I going to make money?

Barbara Corcoran on Projecting a Big Image and Living Up to It

Highlights from Corcoran's keynote speech at Entrepreneur Magazine's Growth Conference in Dallas early last year.

New to Digital Marketing? How to Keep 'Face Time' With Customers

You shouldn't stop using traditional forms of communication just because your marketing becomes more high tech, says digital marketing expert Jason Falls. Here, he offers his best advice for making your online outreach more personal.

3 Tips for Branding Your Growing Business

From figuring out why you do what you do to determining who you never want to work with and staying true to yourself, branding expert Erika Napoletano offers her top tips.

Mike Rowe From 'Dirty Jobs': Don't Follow Your Passion, Live It

Known best for hosting the TV show Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe on what it takes to set out on your own and how he is trying to ignite the job market by shining a spotlight on passionate entrepreneurs.

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Elements of a Business Plan

There are seven major sections of a business plan, and each one is a complex document.

Source - Entrepreneur.com

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An Introduction to Business for You Not-Yet-So-Business Savvy People

By Brittani Sponaugle

Source - UDemy.com

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#1

Can a tech startup change the way people think about medical marijuana?

By Eric Pfeiffer

Source - Yahoo News

#2

Calif. Man Hopes to Build 'Anheuser-Busch of Marijuana'

By SUSANNA KIM

Source - ABC News

#3

FEATURE-High prospects for Uruguay's legal marijuana business

Source: Reuters

#4

Wash. pot business applications surpass 3,000

By MIKE BAKER

Source - Sacramento Bee

#5

Colorado approves 348 marijuana sales licenses

By Dennis Huspeni

Source - Denver Business Journal

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#1

Marijuana Market Poised To Grow Faster Than Smartphones

By Carly Schwartz

Source - Huffington Post

#2

Could hemp be next big thing?

Discussion highlights opportunities

By Ann Butler

Source - The Durango Herald

#3

Diverse Companies Apply To Grow Or Sell Medical Marijuana

By William Weir

Source - Courant

#4

With legal marijuana taxes set, all eyes on Colorado and Washington

By Jake Grovum

Source - Redding.com

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Audio Clips From YouTube

#1

Medical Pot: Will Colorado's "green rush" last?

Source - 60 Minutes - YouTube

#2

POTRepreneurs Would Be Marijuana Industry Start Ups Pitch To Investors

Source - ABCDnews100 - Youtube

#3

Cannabis Entrepreneurs

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#1

The "Yelp Of Weed": Leafly And Other Marijuana Startups Hope To Gain As Feds Ease Up On Pot

The war on drugs isn't over yet, but with the feds easing up on enforcement, startups are hoping to capitalize on bud.

By Alice Truong

Source - Fast Company

#2

Bank of America Will Accept Washington State Marijuana Revenue

By The 420 Times

Source - The Huffington Post

#3

Seattle entrepreneur testing the law with his pot delivery service

By Mark Miller

Source - Komo News

#4

Legal or not, industrial hemp harvested in Colo.

By AP

Source - East Vally Tribune

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