Last week, Congress passed the new Farm Bill, legalizing hemp crop production. This is a huge step forward for the industry, opening up access to capital and protections for hemp cultivators in all 50 states. We're particularly excited about this episode because 2019 marks the first year CanopyBoulder is including hemp/CBD products in our portfolio.

This week, we're breaking the Farm Bill down and diving into what it means for investors and entrepreneurs in the industry. We're also chatting with Matt Oscamou of Weller Snacks (welleryou.com) about CBD products and how this impacts those businesses. So check it out and get up to speed

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Applications for our spring accelerator class are open. Check that out at canopyboulder.com/apply

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Come to our Jumpstart Conference to hear from industry pros and network on Jan 15th: https://bit.ly/2BofQx7

This week, we're giving you a little recap of the Aspen High event, where cannabis industry pros meet entertainment industry pros. In its second year, the event is a sister event to Aspen Live, a music festival bringing out the big names in entertainment. It doesn't take a whole lot of convincing to get us to attend a cannabis event in beautiful Aspen, CO at the start of ski season but tune in to get our complete take-aways so you can start plotting on how to get your invitation in 2019.

We're back with our series on preparing your business for exit - a thing all young companies should at least be aware of. Even if you're not ready for this yet, it pays to understand how to get your accounting documents in line so that, when the time comes, your business is more attractive (read: higher value and payout). This week, we chatting with Matt Fargo from Kurtz Fargo, an accounting & advisory firm that helps startups navigate these waters. Learn more about Kurtz Fargo at http://kurtzfargo.com/

Like many in the cannabis industry, we spent a week full of weed in Las Vegas at the Arcview Investor Forum and MJBizCon. This week, we're recapping the experience. Both events pulled way more attendees than anyone expected, with Arcview being literally sold out and MJBizCon hitting a record 25,000 attendees. The week was a fascinating one as each year it serves as a bit of a benchmark on how the industry is progressing. Listen to our takeaways!

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Learn more about Arcview at arcviewgroup.com and check out upcoming MJBizCon events at MJBizConference.com

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Also, in case you missed it, our applications for our spring 2019 accelerator program are OPEN! Check that out at www.canopyboulder.com/entrepreneur

Studies have shown that 92% of the time, consumers purchase whatever their budtender recommends. In a world with so little consumer understanding of cannabis product options, how do dispensaries retain employees, educate them on brands and maximize profits? Best in Grow is tackling the problem with a platform that offers all things budtenders and their bosses need in one place. At just under a year old, the company has already accomplished a lot. Listen to co-founders, Jake Levin and Andrew Duffy, talk about the industry and their journey from Harvard to traditional finance jobs and finally, into this a new market.

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Learn more about Best in Grow at bestingrow.io

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Learn more about CanopyBoulder at canopyboulder.com

Banking is a huge challenge for this nascent industry. Anyone in the industry has heard the stories about (or has experienced themselves) bank accounts getting shut down. When you're a startup, handling the headache of banking is just another hurdle you don't have time for. This week, we're chatting with MediPays (soon to be Abaca) about their solution to the banking problem for both licensed and ancillary cannabis companies. So far, the team has launched web banking, is live with operators on their platform and has $5M in deposits. Listen to their journey into the CanopyBoulder program and the world of cannabis entrepreneurship.

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Get more info on the team at https://www.medipays.com/

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Get more info on CanopyBoulder at canopyboulder.com

One of the biggest obstacles to starting up and investing in cannabis is that the industry moves so fast, its hard to see whats really happening. This week, we're tackling that issue through data, everyone's favorite buzzword. Do you know what kind of data to be collecting, where to look for it or how to make it make sense? How about what resources exist to give you clarity not only into the industry, but into your business? Founder and CEO of Cannabis Big Data, Henry Finkelstein, joins us to talk about it.

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Don't want to listen? Read about it here: https://go.canopyboulder.com/news/thinking-about-cannabis-data-for-ancillary-entrepreneurs

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get more info at www.cannabisbigdata.co

Compliance. That thing that keeps all cannabis licensed businesses up at night. We've all heard the horror stories of companies losing everything over compliance violations - and, honestly, they're pretty scary. This week, we're talking with Azara CEO & Founder, Kathryn Awada, about her solution. The former bud-tender and all around cannabis pro started down this path as the first ever Metrc consultant. Now, shes using her expertise to build out a platform that helps businesses sleep at night. Listen to what shes up to.

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Visit Azara at https://www.azara.io/

Meet Jackson Rowland, CEO and founder of Green Genomix. Like many out there dipping their toes into the cannabis sea, Jackson found that some cannabis products just didn't work for him. So he decided to create a business that provides personalized cannabis recommendations through DNA testing.

Listen to his thoughts on starting up in the cannabis industry.

This week, we're recapping not one, but TWO, cannabis investment conferences in the financial capitals of both the US and Canada. Last week, we attended IMN's Institutional Capital & Cannabis Conference in New York City and Kahner Global in Toronto. The two yielded very different experiences, highlighting the differences in cannabis investing between the US and Canada. Listen to us break down the events so you can pretend like you were there too.

Get it in blog format here: https://go.canopyboulder.com/news/cannabis-investor-forums-a-recap-from-new-york-and-toronto