We are entering quarter-end season. Those who work for publicly-listed companies will know it well – I have been through 50+… The churn of numbers and financial reporting; then the finessing of the corporate narrative on top. With transparency and … Continue reading Week 19: It’s Q-end All Over Again
More industry impact this week in the news: two of the behemoth LPs, Tilray and Aurora, announced 10% cuts. $ACB did nearly $1b of write-downs. Ouch. It has become an industry standard recently to replace execs, often the CEO; to … Continue reading Week 18: The Hits Just Keep On Coming
I sent a newsletter out this week. Something new here, nothing new in itself. Just an attempt to connect the dots differently for people around the organization. It took me a few hours to work through the logistics, but I … Continue reading Week 17: Communication challenges and opportunities
Communications is sometimes about obfuscation, but that’s not the fun part of the job. Risk mitigation requires gritted teeth and a steely demeanour. Much more rewarding is ‘opening the kimono,’ letting the wonders of the organization shine brightly and warm … Continue reading Week 16: GIGO – Garbage in, garbage out.
The cannabis convention in Vancouver last week revealed several things about the state of the industry. There were far fewer Licensed Producers at the event than the year before. Budgets have tightened. The mood in the room was a bit … Continue reading Week 15: Catsuits Are Always A Bad Sign
Anyone following the state of the Canadian cannabis market will know that the whole industry is in a real squeeze right now: lack of capital; missed Year One targets in cultivation and revenue; slow roll-out of legal stores; uncertainty around … Continue reading Week 14: Substance
Cycling home tonight on the last day of the year, I was thinking about the year (and the decade!). I am very grateful for many things, professional and personal. This decade the fam grew up and they are doing ok. … Continue reading Week 13: Gratitude.
I have only been in the cannabis game for a few months, which equates to 2-3 years in an industry of more maturity. If you follow along closely enough, and that is my role, you start to see themes emerge, … Continue reading Week 12: Normalisation
The work does not seem to slow down here. We are only nearing the end of Year one of existence, so the life at a start-up does not follow along well-worn pathways and protocols. There is no time to pause … Continue reading Week 11: closing out the year, readying for 2020
The CEO matters to me. I get to work with them closely, either supporting them on projects or, at least, thinking about them and channeling the needs of the organization through the CEO as an avatar. The personality of the … Continue reading Week 10: Line of Sight
I sit on floor 31, with a view of the North Shore. The view helps clear my head when I am thinking about planning, about strategic conundrums. Of course, in Vancouver in December (or any month), the clouds can roll … Continue reading Week 9: Clear sky clarity, foggy focus
You may have heard that cannabis edibles are now legal in Canada – the first products hit the stores in December. The most commonly expected edible mechanism seems to be ‘gummies.’ Incredible care and attention goes into the development, packaging … Continue reading Week 8: Care and attention. ADULTS ONLY.
This Much We Know 