If you have never bootstrapped, I advise you to give it a try. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish, the problem solving skills that develop over time, through trial and error and through gut experience or instinct, the amount of balls you MUST keep up in the air, without dropping a one, and frankly the amount of vision, knowledge and the cojones that you must have as well a little luck and a lot of timing.

As we reach our 2nd anniversary (CBE officially launched our flagship website at the first MJ Biz Conference at the RIO back in November of 2014), CBE has had the privilege of observing the Cannabis Industry develop and grow — hearing the stories of hundreds of companies, that at one point, were start-ups and many that have bootstrapped their way to their 5th, 10th or 20th anniversary. As my friend and industry advocate, entrepreneur and policy maker John Davis once told me, his goal when he started NW Patient Resource Center in Seattle was to be in business for one more year. The risk and tenacity that it has taken many to survive and in some cases, certainly not all, reap the rewards of their hard work is more than admirable.

So with that in mind CBE wanted to provide our readers, sponsors, partners and followers with some of the highlights of our second year, welcome some team additions and provide a preview of the launch of our conference venture.

As many of you well know, CBE has become known for our quality and depth of content, coverage of industry leading companies, our political cartoons and commentary, our roster of industry expert contributors, and — of course — for our lists which recognize exceptional performance in the area of licensees, ancillary businesses, political influence and women leadership in the Cannabis Industry.

This strategy is paying off:

• Our flagship newsletter CBE Week is received by nearly 30,000 subscribers every Tuesday and growing every week.
• According to Alexa and Google Analytics, unique viewership of cannabisbusinessexecutive.com has increased over 70% YTD as has the involvement with our original content with average page opens per visit growing to over 2.3 and with time spent on the site jumping to over 2:15 minutes per session.

And we expect to see our reach and reader involvement continue to grow as we add content like the new series on Commercial Cultivation produced by our partners at The Growers Network. Below is a quick overview.

Commercial Cultivation Corner, Advice from Industry Experts

Commercial Cultivation Corner is a collection of interviews that features discussions with leading commercial cannabis professionals covering top issues in the Industry. Every month, we will feature a new interview about a topic that is important to commercial grow operations. These topics will range from increasing the efficiency of your grow operation to the maximization of yield and profits. The Commercial Cultivation Corner is your CBE destination for commercial cannabis knowledge.

The 100% electronic platform that we deliver content on has seen advertising and sponsorship revenues double in 2016 and we expect that growth to continue in 2017 with the addition of 3 new sales team members, industry veterans:

• Jim McNeil, Eastern Sales Director (Colorado to the east coast), [email protected]
• Lee Allan, Western Sales Director (Accounts A to H), [email protected]
• Marc Katz, Western Sales Director (Accounts I to Z), [email protected]

Additionally, Colleen Hobbs is moving into a sales and marketing administrative role.  In this capacity, she will lead customer service to assure execution and deliverables for our sponsors and advertisers.  If anybody is interested in joining the CBE sales team, we are searching for one more experienced person to cover Colorado eastward.

Lastly, CBE is pleased to announce it will be expanding content distribution through the launch of its conference venture.  Together with CBE’s conference partners – who bring more than 35 years of experience building successful conventions across multiple growth markets including the life sciences, security and surveillance, advanced technology, energy and others – we are organizing the premier cannabis business event for senior level industry representatives, policymakers and stakeholders, innovators, investors, academia, medical researchers/scientists, trade and news media, economic development, and service providers/ancillary business audiences.

Leveraging the early engagement of leaders from not only the core cannabis industry (licensees, ancillary businesses, advocates and investors) but, also, other aligned sectors (including academia, the life sciences, alcohol and tobacco), we are creating a unique, multifaceted convention platform to:

1. Bring together a critical mass of senior-level industry representatives, influencers, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders;
2. Favorably position the industry and promote its economic, medical and societal contributions to international, federal and state policymakers, influencers, analysts and news media;
3. Advance policy, practices and practicum critical to industry acceptance, development and growth; and
4. Build opportunity through leadership strategy, world-class educational programming, advocacy workshops, professional and business development, one-on-one partnering and product/technology licensing opportunities, peer-to-peer networking, industry showcase and innovation, investment and capital formation, and media relations.

The inaugural event is slated for Fall 2017.  Stay tuned for more detail in early December.

With increased access to medical and adult-use cannabis as well as Hemp farming and CBD based treatments and nutraceuticals, it is an exciting time to be part of the Cannabis Industry and CBE promises to continue bringing valuable content to help you succeed.