Discussion: View Thread

  • 1.  Business Plans Going to Pot?

    Posted 09-03-2014 19:35

    Medical Marijuana is the new Craft Brew Pub. Oxygen bars and Hookah lounges were short-lived fads in comparison.  For the past couple years it seems that every business plan class I teach has someone in it who thinks that they are the one professional exception to the pot head stereotype. 

     

    With an eye towards the university's reputation (and mine by extension), I keep hoping this will go away.  To my dismay, cannabis related companies seem to be getting more intensely interesting with every passing semester. These students are adamant that the best practical use of their entrepreneurship education is planning to start a licensed marijuana growing facility.

     

    Is this a regional thing?  How are you handling Medical Marijuana business plan intenders? Do you have some general university policy or person  that you can invoke or involve to discourage or disallow this sort of work? What has your experience been?

     

    Geoff Archer, PhD

     

     

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 2.  Business Plans Going to Pot?

    Posted 09-04-2014 20:12
    Geoff,

    Some of my MBAs in Seattle have also pursued cannabis ventures. I, like you, was reticent. However, they found that the industry is not a gold rush with easy money. To the contrary, it is hyper-competitive with changing regulations, an irrational supply chain, and muddled branding. In short, it is as tough as most other sectors. 

    All of the teams who headed down this path faced huge challenges that presented deep learning opportunities. Indeed, those who found niches within the value chain have been more successful than those who naively attempted to grow and sell pot.

    My only rule with these students: take it seriously. I did not allow or encourage slang, colloquialisms, pop culture references, or jokes from the entrepreneurs or their peers.

    While I am still overcoming my own biases towards this sector, my students have embraced it. Instead of fighting them, we have together created a few good ventures and many great educational lessons. 

    Ted Ladd

    On Sep 3, 2014, at 5:34 PM, Geoff Archer <Geoff.Archer@ROYALROADS.CA> wrote:

    Medical Marijuana is the new Craft Brew Pub. Oxygen bars and Hookah lounges were short-lived fads in comparison.  For the past couple years it seems that every business plan class I teach has someone in it who thinks that they are the one professional exception to the pot head stereotype. 

     

    With an eye towards the university's reputation (and mine by extension), I keep hoping this will go away.  To my dismay, cannabis related companies seem to be getting more intensely interesting with every passing semester. These students are adamant that the best practical use of their entrepreneurship education is planning to start a licensed marijuana growing facility.

     

    Is this a regional thing?  How are you handling Medical Marijuana business plan intenders? Do you have some general university policy or person  that you can invoke or involve to discourage or disallow this sort of work? What has your experience been?

     

    Geoff Archer, PhD

     

     

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 3.  Business Plans Going to Pot?

    Posted 09-08-2014 10:38

    Thanks for reaching out on this Geoff . . . very interesting topic! Instead of simply dismissing this based on my own personal convictions (I don't use or condone any drugs, including alcohol, tobacco, or even coffee), I've attempted to embrace this as a fascinating social/natural experiment. I've added a module to my Foundations of Entrepreneurship course on "Criminal Entrepreneurship" for the first time this semester where I plan to explore the business, societal, and entrepreneurial issues surrounding the legalization of marijuana and other such materials. If I could somehow gain access to data in states like Colorado and/or Washington, I'd also love to do some research to explore the implications of these issues.

     

    So to answer your specific questions, obviously prudence is important and professionalism should be applied to any business planning process, but I think allowing students to explore, confront, and overcome the unique challenges, risks, and opportunities in this area would be extremely educational and impactful.

     

    Thoughts?

     

    Good luck!

    Scott


    R. Scott Livengood, Ph.D. 
    Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship 
    Department of Management and Human Resources
    856 Fisher Hall, 2100 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210
    614-688-2130 Office / 917-232-1275 Mobile / 614-292-7062 Fax
    livengood.22@fisher.osu.edu

    Website: http://fisher.osu.edu/departments/management-and-hr/faculty/r.-scott-livengood/

    Go Buckeyes!!!

     

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Geoff Archer
    Sent: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 7:35 PM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Business Plans Going to Pot?

     

    Medical Marijuana is the new Craft Brew Pub. Oxygen bars and Hookah lounges were short-lived fads in comparison.  For the past couple years it seems that every business plan class I teach has someone in it who thinks that they are the one professional exception to the pot head stereotype. 

     

    With an eye towards the university's reputation (and mine by extension), I keep hoping this will go away.  To my dismay, cannabis related companies seem to be getting more intensely interesting with every passing semester. These students are adamant that the best practical use of their entrepreneurship education is planning to start a licensed marijuana growing facility.

     

    Is this a regional thing?  How are you handling Medical Marijuana business plan intenders? Do you have some general university policy or person  that you can invoke or involve to discourage or disallow this sort of work? What has your experience been?

     

    Geoff Archer, PhD

     

     

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 4.  Business Plans Going to Pot?

    Posted 09-08-2014 18:18
    An interesting dimension that students may or may not uncover when researching the feasibility of marijuana businesses is that some customers are very reluctant to use or be affiliated with these ventures. I have a friend who buys pot illegally from a dealer he knows (his wife needs it for medical usage to alleviate chronic pain); he could buy legally in the state in which he lives but he's concerned that purchases from legal ventures may be tracked or he may be identified in some way (e.g., cameras, customer database or purchasing data, etc.). If the laws change back, he could become a target and arrested for buying pot illegally at that point. Thus entrepreneurs wanting to start these ventures may need to recognise that they may have great difficulty getting customers to buy or use their products due to concerns that the legality of marijuana may change in the future. It's not clear that legalisation of marijuana will continue in states where it's legal or will spread to other states. How do you evaluate market demand when your customers do not want to be identified as your customers?

    Melissa

    Dr. Melissa Baucus
    Professor of Entrepreneurship
    Otago Business School, P.O. Box 56
    University of Otago
    Dunedin, New Zealand 9054
    Phone: 64-3-479 5322

    From: <Livengood>, "Robert S. (R. Scott)" <livengood.22@OSU.EDU>
    Reply-To: "Livengood, Robert S. (R. Scott)" <livengood.22@OSU.EDU>
    Date: Tuesday, 9 September 2014 2:38 AM
    To: "ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU" <ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>
    Subject: Re: [ENTREP] Business Plans Going to Pot?

    Thanks for reaching out on this Geoff . . . very interesting topic! Instead of simply dismissing this based on my own personal convictions (I don't use or condone any drugs, including alcohol, tobacco, or even coffee), I've attempted to embrace this as a fascinating social/natural experiment. I've added a module to my Foundations of Entrepreneurship course on "Criminal Entrepreneurship" for the first time this semester where I plan to explore the business, societal, and entrepreneurial issues surrounding the legalization of marijuana and other such materials. If I could somehow gain access to data in states like Colorado and/or Washington, I'd also love to do some research to explore the implications of these issues.

     

    So to answer your specific questions, obviously prudence is important and professionalism should be applied to any business planning process, but I think allowing students to explore, confront, and overcome the unique challenges, risks, and opportunities in this area would be extremely educational and impactful.

     

    Thoughts?

     

    Good luck!

    Scott


    R. Scott Livengood, Ph.D. 
    Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship 
    Department of Management and Human Resources
    856 Fisher Hall, 2100 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210
    614-688-2130 Office / 917-232-1275 Mobile / 614-292-7062 Fax
    livengood.22@fisher.osu.edu

    Website: http://fisher.osu.edu/departments/management-and-hr/faculty/r.-scott-livengood/

    Go Buckeyes!!!

     

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Geoff Archer
    Sent: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 7:35 PM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Business Plans Going to Pot?

     

    Medical Marijuana is the new Craft Brew Pub. Oxygen bars and Hookah lounges were short-lived fads in comparison.  For the past couple years it seems that every business plan class I teach has someone in it who thinks that they are the one professional exception to the pot head stereotype. 

     

    With an eye towards the university's reputation (and mine by extension), I keep hoping this will go away.  To my dismay, cannabis related companies seem to be getting more intensely interesting with every passing semester. These students are adamant that the best practical use of their entrepreneurship education is planning to start a licensed marijuana growing facility.

     

    Is this a regional thing?  How are you handling Medical Marijuana business plan intenders? Do you have some general university policy or person  that you can invoke or involve to discourage or disallow this sort of work? What has your experience been?

     

    Geoff Archer, PhD

     

     

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!